Dave recently asked, "If I know the Chief Financial Officer is the decision maker I ultimately want to reach, should I still call the President's office first?"

With every decision it is a good idea to think through: what you have to lose and what you have to gain.

Suppose you call the CFO first and he says, no, to an appointment. Then, you get your dander up because you know in your heart of hearts that your product/service is perfect for this prospect. In an desire to help the prospect you decide to call the boss of the CFO, namely the President and you get an appointment.

The President delegates your call to the CFO asking him/her to handle the call because your product/service sounds like a good idea. Now, you meet with a ticked off CFO. After all he said, no, and you went over his head. Even worse and adding insult to injury you scheduled a meeting with his boss. The CFO now feels (and rightly so) like you blind-sided him, undermined his authority and made him look bad all with one little ole phone call.

On the other hand if you call the President first, he/she may say, no, to meeting with you. However, in this scenario, if you call the CFO and you have not caused any hard feelings. Get in with the CFO and dazzle him or her with your brilliant product and services then, the CFO looks like the hero when presenting your solution to the boss.

Then, again you may call the President first and be referred to the office of the CFO. If this is how your cold call plays out, know that you are very well positioned with the CFO as you have arrived with a warm introduction from the office of the President.

The real kick comes when you call the President first and he agrees to see you. After you pick yourself up off of the floor and stop giggling, you will realize this is ideal positioning. Who better to meet with than the person with unlimited check writing authority and decision making ability?

No matter how you slice it, you are well served when you make your first cold call to the President of your prospect companies.

For your mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com ! Or call Cold Calling Expert, Lead New Business Development Coach, Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time) Find much more on our http://www.coldcallingexecutives.com/blog/index.html

Author's Bio: 

Author/PublisherLeslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread), is a published author, speaker and founder of Top Dog Consulting. She coaches sales executives and recruiters worldwide in raising the point of entry to the executive level.