Qualifying VITO

Want a really cool and fast way to totally qualify a VITO – Very Important Top Officer? You can use what I call a two-part qualifying question. The reason this tactic works so well is that it answers two questions that all VITOs seem to want to ask: How much is...

Your Email To VITO

Looking for a sure-fire way to get your emails open and read? Forget the catchy topics in your subject line and don’t put your product names and numbers and forget the long list of nonsensical acronyms that no one outside your organization knows or cares about. Take...
Wasting Away Again in Linoleumville

Wasting Away Again in Linoleumville

You know how I knew? Because years ago, while I was a young(er) salesperson working for Hewlett-Packard, I used to start my sales cycle in Linoleumville—just like a ton of salespeople do right now. I spent most of my day (heck, months!) talking to the “Seemores,” who...
Success Leaves Clues

Success Leaves Clues

One of the best tactics that I’ve learned over the years about giving a presentation to VITO (as opposed to anyone else on the face of the earth) is that you should put the slide you would normally present as your last slide first . . . and proceed backward from...
Who is VITO?

Who is VITO?

How many tops does a telephone pole have? That’s right: one. If that telephone pole represented the corporate “org chart,” the very top of it is where you would find the main character VITO! Why is VITO at the top? Because, like an eagle, VITO intentionally aimed for...