Annual Report Teardown - Home Depot [Webinar Recap + Recording]

Successful enterprise selling breaks down into two things: understanding the business and understanding its key players. While one enables you to cater your solution to their strategic initiatives, the other elevates your language to communicate at the level you need to.

In our “Annual Report Teardown #2 – Home Depot” webinar, Jake Dunlap and Matt Cameron (CEO of SAASY Sales Leadership) work through Home Depot’s annual earnings report to unearth the company’s next priorities and how to sell into them. Giving you an insider’s look at how enterprise sales gets done.

Using attentive research tactics, Jake and Matt quickly map out a sales strategy for approaching executives and closing seven-figure deals.

Making Public Information Work for You

The information large companies publish is a great place to start understanding your buyer’s needs. Accomplishments, improvements, customer engagement — all of these can shine a light on what’s driving their strategy and agenda.

Those highlights also help identify gaps in their market and what they’re doing to outdo their competition. In a few hours, you’ll have a detailed summary of your entry points and various angles for an executive selling strategy. However, looking beyond the report is where the real selling points lie.

In the webinar, Matt dives into the subtext of Home Depot’s report, sighting viable improvement projects, competitor metrics, and initiatives. By researching the competitor alongside the report, he shows how external and corporate influences are directing the company’s activity. His in-depth research gives him an encompassing understanding of Home Depot’s industry standing that goes far beyond the numbers they posted. 

Some key takeaways:

• Company Reports are Public Relations: the information published is all through rose-colored lenses. Public enterprises are going to shine a light on their misgivings. You have to pull back the curtains and find the subtext.
• Competitor Analysis: Cross-examining the competitor with the prospect entails a significant effort on your part; you’re not just gauging marketplace shares. There’s a distinct advantage in knowing what each company is doing to sell to their customers, how they’re focusing their efforts, etc. Focused research manifests the competitive call and response, which will help you map out how you’ll wordsmith your solution.

Related Content: Annual Report Teardown – The Tractor Supply Company [Webinar Recap + Recording]

Enterprise Selling Through Executive Messaging

The next step is digging into the chain of management and understanding their role in the company. You know how to pitch your solution around their initiatives, so now you need to look into the key players. LinkedIn will be your go-to tool for creating a detailed profile of what they do, how they’re involved (e.g., development programs), who their managers are, etc. Once you find out who handles the area your solution is catered to, that’s your go-to person.

One thing Jake and Matt place emphasis on as they work through Home Depot’s chain of management is the messaging needed to approach them. As you work through the chain of command, your messaging needs to match their focus and interests. If you’re talking to a C-level about a department trend, you just told them to relegate you. If you’re talking to a department head about saving time and functionality, you’re going to get passed down to the end-user. 

“You will get delegated to the level you sound like.” – Matt Cameron

Aligning your messaging with their role and interests, emphasizing your solution’s outcomes, disarming potential objections, and showing them that you deserve a seat at the table will ensure a response. 

“[Executives] do not take meetings to learn about products; they take meetings to learn about solutions to strategic initiatives. If you are not talking about solutions, if you’re not leading with education and a unique insight, it’s never going to happen. You won’t get that VP meeting, you won’t get those meetings at the C-level.” – Jake Dunlap

Attack Plan and Webinar Resources

Creating your attack plan for enterprise selling begins with a fortified account plan. Working through their research may seem like an off-the-cuff process, but it’s a streamlined workflow outlined in our Account Planning Template. It takes you through the entire research and discovery process from company numbers and objectives to your outreach planning. It’s the holy grail of tackling enterprise selling and booking executive meetings. 

While tools like the Account Plan Template can help you strengthen your approach to enterprise buyers, it needs context. Watching the full webinar will bring life to the process and show you how it works in real-time.

You can download the presentation slides for additional insights as well.