Having been on the inside of a bunch of Fortune 100 companies presenting an insider's perspective on what it takes to sell to Fortune 100 companies.

1. Mr. RahulVijay
Managing Infrastructure Sourcing & Partnerships
Walmart eCommerce
Audience: Australian Startups @ elevate61
Venue: Cuckoo’s Nest, 68 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA

2. Partnerships &
Sourcing
• Walmart eCommerce
• Model N
• Cypress Semiconductors
Startup
• Upriso
Business
Development
• WeVideo
• The Startup Angel
Management
Consulting
• Verizon Business
• Hitachi Consulting
Engineering
• Software Engineer: Bank of
America
• Hardware Engineer: Dell
Other Jobs
• Internal Communications
• HR
• TV Production
• Anchoring
• Therapeutic Massages
Mr. RahulVijay
Managing Infrastructure Sourcing &
Partnerships
Walmart eCommerce

3.  Really! Pull model is always
better than push model.
 A consumer product like
iPhone is still widely used in
enterprise space

4.  Why would you reject free
marketing?
 Executives & Sourcing
professionals believe media
any day compared to the
best sales guy

5.  Such a powerful point, but so
few ask
 Once you find it, use it.
 Mine is text messages.What
is yours?

6.  It is surprising how many
people do not ask.
 Most purchasing managers
will willingly share this info
 Do you have your I’s dotted
and your T’s crossed?

7.  Codebreaker is a partner or
reseller or distributor the
target company is dealing
with
 Codebreaker already has a
relationship
 Make sure they are not
selling your competitor’s
products

8.  Totally ride on his or her
success!
 As Issac Newton said, "If I
have seen further, it is by
standing on the shoulders of
giants."
 Find a sales giant whose
shoulder you can stand on

9.  Personal touch always has an
edge
 Find something genuinely
impressive or good about the
decision maker
 Then make sure you praise
them about those good
things when you get a
chance

10.  Can you create a brand
image for your company
being the quickest?
 So many people win new
deals by being the quickest
to respond
 Be on top of your
communications
 Hire an Executive Assistant
or Intern if you are
overwhelmed by the emails

11.  Additional brownie points if you
can plot on the org chart your
supporters
 Use the supporters to help sell to
non-supporters

12.  Genuinely find good things
about the customers you talk
to
 Lot of people treat decision
makers as people who stand
between then and their $1M
PO  Not a good attitude
 Take a Dale Carnegie course
to improve your LQ

13.  Can you covet the title
‘Trusted Advisor’?
 Sit with them, not across
them
 Don’t get the title ‘Pushy’

14.  If you are a small company,
try selling to smaller
companies first
 Time and resources to sell to
big companies are huge
 Long sales cycle (18-24
months)

15.  Yes, it’s like dating!
 50% might say yes, 50% might
say no
 You might not be able to buy
lunch for some decision makers
as some companies have strict
gift policy. Others you will be
able to
 Lot of executives and managers
get a pulse on the various
industries by talking to various
companies and sales people
 Even if you don’t get a sale, you
get some tips

16.  Any amount of convincing
will not move this mountain
 There are always customers
with some business
problems. Go after them!

17.  Do you have what it takes to stick
around for a while?
 Fortune companies generally like
to buy from companies of their
size.
 Be patient as you have a lot of
companies to sell to before you
reach to Fortune 100
Seed
Funding
Series A Series B Series C
Series DIPO$200M$500M
$1B $10B $50B $100B
$250B$500B

18.  How quickly can you reach
the customer’s office if they
ask for a meeting?
 Hire local presence
 Decision makers love face-
to-face meetings
 Decision makers hate con-
calls

19.  Introduction can lead to sale
or feedback; either way you
gain

20.  There are known use cases and
unintended consequences; in lot
of cases,it is the unintended
consequences that sell the
product or service
 In 1968 Hitachi magic wand was
launched as a back massager but
in recent times, it has found use
cases initially unintended

21.  Possibilities are endless on
what you can do once you
are on the inside
 Not all companies will allow
badge access to vendors, but
worth a try

22.  Companies that spend less
time redlining the contracts
get a time advantage
 Very relevant for startup
companies that does not
have full time legal staff

23.  Warm handoffs as they say
 Harder to ignore a meeting
request when intro is made
by someone you know and
trust

24.  Treat them like how you
would treat the executive
 They hold the strings
 If they like you, they will
work for you

25.  Don’t boil the ocean
 Which sub-section of Fortune
100 would you sell to? -
Pharma, Internet, SaaS,
Telecom or Banks?
 Would you rather ‘touch’ 100
prospects 3 times or ‘touch’
300 prospects once?

26.  Find if the decision-maker has
liked your product or service
 Sometimes decision makers
keep this information close to
their hearts
 But a keen reader of people can
make out and devise strategies to
counter it

27.  Models can evolve over time
 Example: A company sold to
the 1st customer@
$250/license and to the 10th
customer @ $2500/license.
They used initial customers
as Guinea pigs

28.  Catch executives when
gatekeeper is not there –
early morning or late
evening
 Gatekeepers are better at
saying no than executives

29.  Some companies just don’t
do business with startups
due to risk reasons
 Check how many startup
companies your target
companies do business with
 Some companies are open to
doing business with a startup
if they help with revenue
generation and not to keen if
they sell indirect
goods/services space

30.  Psychologically, decision
makers like to deal with
people who they consider
equals
 Can you talk to the decision
maker’s level at their level
about their problems not
putting them on a pedestal?

31.  Do not reach out to people
who are no longer with the
company
 Some even reach out to
people who are dead!

32.  Research has proven that inmail
is a very effective tool in
reaching key decision makers

33.  If you are sending
something(a package) to
decision makers, track it
 Research says 70% of items
don’t leave the mail room of
big companies

34. Mr. RahulVijay
Managing Infrastructure Sourcing &
Partnerships
Walmart eCommerce
rahulcvijay@gmail.com
+1-617-768-7161