There’s an old adage in sales about always calling high first. But is it always the right way to go?

Last week we talked about how to approach Mr. or Ms. ‘Big’. But it’s not always appropriate. The most obvious situation is when you know nothing about the challenges the company you’re calling on is facing and can’t find enough out through your typical external resources. Then it makes sense to call lower within the organization to find out what you need to know prior to placing the call to Mr. or Ms. ‘Big’.

One word of caution is appropriate here. One of the reasons the old adage exists is that once we get to people of responsibility, they’re usually the ones that don’t want us to ‘go over their heads’. So, if you want information first, start even lower than normal. Those people won’t generally get upset when you go upstairs because they won’t be involved in the decision making process.

If this won’t work, (and only you’ll know your marketplace), then use something like Linkedin or MY N10 to find someone who either used to work there that you can be introduced to, or find someone in your network that can introduce you to someone within the organization that could give you some direction without becoming a later roadblock.