Vito and Seymour*

Problem: Lisa, an account manager for a temporary staffing company, just wasn’t hitting her numbers. Her industry was growing rapidly, demand for her services was clearly there, and the company was a leader in their market. She made lots of calls and, for the most part, her prospects welcomed her visits. She often brought small gifts on her visits to set herself apart from her competitors. However, the business failed to materialize. Out of frustration, Lisa sought help.

Analysis: Upon examination, Lisa had fallen into a pattern that eventually causes many salespeople to fail. She was not getting to the real decision maker (Vito, the Very Important Top Official). Sales 101 says that you must be in front of the decision maker.
As it turns out, Lisa had several classic problems. When she started selling in her territory, she knew the importance of being in front of Vito. But getting an appointment with Vito wasn’t always so easy. Frequently, Vito asked her to see his assistant, Seymour, (aptly named since he’s the data gatherer who just wants to “see more” information). Often, Seymour even said he was the decision maker. After this had happened a few times, Lisa saw a pattern, believed it was the norm, and decided to simply skip a step and go straight to Seymour. And since Seymour was easy to get appointments with, Lisa got more appointments. This was starting to make sense after all. Her rationale was to take the easy road. If you see enough Seymours, you’ll be on the road to success. To top it off, Lisa’s company, like so many others, rated her on the number of proposals she made thinking this was the key indicator of sales effectiveness. Lisa got lots of appointments, kept very busy doing proposals, but her sales didn’t improve.

Solution: Nobody said selling was easy. If it was, everyone would be successful. Seymour will only pump you for information, turn you into an “unpaid consultant,” and lead you down the road to failure. Half the problems that salespeople bring to us are caused by their failure to get in front of Vito. Let Seymour help you, but you’ve got to sell Vito. That part is simple.
*Thanks to Tony Parinello for the Vito/Seymour concept. His book, Selling To Vito, is a good reference for anyone who sells.

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