One of the most challenging things for anyone in business-to-business sales is getting an appointment, especially getting an appointment with a senior executive. Well, I've cracked that code. Over the last 30 years, I've come up with a formula that has helped me get in to see just about anybody I ever wanted to connect with.

I'm going to share that five-step process with you today so that you can get an appointment with anyone at any time. Join me for this episode of the Inside BS Show. Hey now, it's Dave Lorenzo.

I'm the godfather of growth, and today I'm giving you the five-step process to getting an appointment with anyone. And step number one is surprising. It's using direct mail.

You've got to send a letter to the person you want to meet with, but not just through the regular mail. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to send a one-page letter that outlines the problem that you can solve for this specific individual in this business, and I want you to send it overnight.

Send it Federal Express, send it UPS next day. If you have to, send it by postal service next day delivery. The idea is this package, this letter, has to get to the person in a special envelope and be hand-delivered to them.

My preference when I was living in a big city like New York and my preference when I'm doing something in the city where I live now in Miami is to have a messenger deliver it and make the person sign for it themselves. The idea is that the presentation is supposed to be special. I'll share with you a story for how I did this.

For years, as an executive in big-ticket consulting, I wanted to work with one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies on the planet, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and we had a huge issue getting into the C-level. We couldn't meet with the CEO or the chief operating officer, even the chief marketing officer. We had problems getting a meeting.

So what I did was I sent letters to the CEO after every shareholder meeting where the CEO would speak and they would highlight things. I would pick out points from the shareholder meeting that I knew we could help this particular CEO achieve, the goals I knew we could help him achieve after I heard him speak, and I would send him a letter via FedEx. One of the things I decided to do was shift my focus from FedEx to Messenger so that his assistant would have to sign for the letter personally.

And after one of these letters was delivered, I got a call and I got an appointment with the CEO. Now, this is after several months of sending packages. Here's the thing.

Sending the letters to the CEO lays the groundwork for the next four steps that will follow. I want you to do two things. Don't just send the letter to the CEO.

Also send it to his assistant or her assistant, if the CEO is a woman. You have to communicate with the gatekeeper as well as with the chief executive. So figure out who the assistant is.

Send a FedEx package both to the CEO and to the gatekeeper. That's the key to getting the appointment. Now, this is just the first step.

This is just a foundational step. If you do this right, will people call you? Yeah, 10% to 20% of the time you'll get a call immediately. But the second step, step number two in this process, the follow-up to this is also critically important.

Step number two is follow that letter delivery with an email. Now, the email can say essentially the same thing that you're saying in the letter, but the email goes directly to the assistant. The email doesn't necessarily go to the CEO or to the chief marketing officer or to the chief operating officer.

The email goes to the assistant and the email says, I'm requesting an appointment with Mrs. Big Shot because I think I can help with these five areas. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. The email goes to the assistant after the letter has gone to the principal, to the CEO or the chief operating officer, and a copy of the letter has also gone to the assistant.

The third thing I want you to do, step number three in the process, is you make a phone call, but you don't call the person you're looking to get the appointment with. You call the assistant. So now, the assistant has received the letter.

The assistant knows the chief executive officer has also received the letter. You've sent an email to the assistant following up on the letter. Now you're making a phone call.

You will get on the phone with the assistant and you've got about a minute to make your case. Look, I know I can solve this problem. Mr. Big Shot is gonna want to see me because I can help with those five things.

You read the letter. I think it's a great fit. Please set an appointment for Thursday.

Please set an appointment for next Tuesday. Please look at his calendar and let's see when we have a mutually available time to set the appointment. You're reaching out to the gatekeeper.

This is your third point of outreach. Now step number four is another step you need to take well in advance of actually sending the first letter. You need to figure out who's around this person, who's influencing this person.

So what I want you to do is look at boards that this person sits on, particularly charitable boards or nonprofit boards. Find out where this person plays golf, what country club they belong to, what social club they belong to, and then go out and meet other people who interact with this person. Your goal is to get other people talking, to get other people endorsing you, to perhaps even get a referral from someone else so that you can get walked in the door.

Now, if you can't get a referral to this person, it's fine, no problem. Just make sure the people around this person know you, like you, and trust you. Here's what I did in the case of the big pharmaceutical company.

I found out who this person talked to on a regular basis. He was on three different charitable boards. And I joined other boards where these people were also members.

And I made it my point to go out of my way to connect with these other people and to be memorable to them. When the CEO finally reached out to me, I was able to drop their names. In fact, I dropped their names, the people I knew, with the assistant in advance.

Hey, tell Mr. Smith that Joe Jones and Jane Jackson also know me and we sit on some boards together. He can call them, they'll vouch for me. And that was tremendously helpful.

It's been tremendously helpful over the years in getting appointments. You've got to get the people around the person you want the meeting with talking. You can also do this inside the company.

This is the reason why it makes sense to hold other meetings with people inside the company. If you can't meet with the CEO right away, meet with a division head. Meet with the person who's the chief HR officer.

Meet with the person who's the head of marketing. Why? Because when the CEO asks these people about you, you'll have made a favorable impression on them. And other people around the CEO will be talking with you.

A lot of people who are in sales and who help with high ticket sales or who help with B2B sales will tell you, listen, you know, it doesn't make any sense to meet with people below the level that you're targeting. I think it does make sense because you want those other people talking about you. You want those other people to speak favorably about you.

You want to make sure that those other people know you, like you, and trust you when the CEO asks them about you. The final step in this entire process, step number five, follow up, follow up, follow up. You must follow up frequently.

I don't care if you have to follow up for five years. Continue to be persistent. Send one letter every month.

Send one email every month. Make one phone call to try and get the appointment every month. Why do I want you to do this? Because frequency of communication builds trust.

If you continue to frequently reach out, the CEO is going to think that you're someone who's going to be around for the long term. And if you're reaching out to the CEO over and over again, he's going to know that you're there and you want to work with them for the long haul. You don't look desperate.

You look persistent. One time a month, email. One time a month, letter.

One time a month, follow up phone call. That's the key to success. These five steps will help you get a sales appointment with anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Now, if you want a system that will open doors for you over and over again, I want you to go to revenueroadmapguide.com. That is where I'm going to give you my system for free, my system for developing relationships. If you want to succeed in B2B sales, you want to be a great high-ticket sales leader, or you're leading a sales team, the Revenue Roadmap Guide that I'm giving you for free is my gift to you, and it's your ticket to being successful in building your business. I am Dave Lorenzo, and I'm the Godfather of Growth, and I'm giving you this gift for free.

That's an offer you can't refuse. And if you want more great sales information, please watch the video that's filling in below me. Scroll right down there.

Now you see it popping up. Hit on that video, click on that video, and I will see you there.