When dealing with public companies the best approach is to consider the differences between a public company and a private company and use those facts to change your approach.
1. The Cost of Business: It costs more money to run a public company. There is usually larger staff and larger operations which means larger needs. Investors believe the smaller the company the higher the risk. When looking for prospects in public companies pay attention to the info available about them so you aren’t wasting your time barking up a tree that is troubled and smaller so therefore has less growth potential and less access to capital.
2. Shareholders: When you deal with a private company you are usually dealing with a final decision maker or at least a smaller group of decision makers. Depending on the size of the public company and the impact your product or service will have on a company there can be more hurdles to jump if shareholders are involved. Do your home work using the information available online including financials to get a feel for how things are run and to whom you should be pitching.
3. Short Term vs Long Term Goals: When you deal with a private company they tend to look at long term goals when making decisions. Public companies often live the day to day life of a business in order to please share holders and continue to attract investors. This means you need to solve problems in a different way than you would for a private company. Think about the immediate positive impact your product or service will have when using a problem solving strategy to sell.
4. Savvy Management: Public companies tend to attract a stronger, more experienced breed of management which means it is more difficult to pull the wool over their eyes. You are going to have to do your home work to make a sale with a public company.
5. Public Information: You have access to a plethora of info you can use to your advantage. You can look at all the information available to make better decisions and come up with a sales strategy that will target a public company’s needs.
Using the information available about public companies financials, philosophy and management is the secret to selling.
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