The single most useful thing if you want to bend the ear of any CEO (or executive, or mailroom boy, for that matter) is to be where they are. Assuming that doesn’t mean breaking into their house and waiting for them to come home (disclaimer: we do NOT recommend this course of action), a great way to do this is to attend the same conferences or events as they do.

Our next post will centre on preparing for conferences and trade shows itself, while this post focusses on how to secure a meeting once you’ve decided to attend an event your target will be at.

How to secure a meeting

We’ll assume you’ve done the background research to be as sure as possible that your pitch will strike a chord with the person you’re trying to meet. No matter what you do, selling the right product to the wrong person is likely to be a waste of everyone’s time.

If you don’t have your pitch and proposition nailed, this post might be a few steps ahead for you, since the assumption is that some market research and validation has already been done. We’ll also assume you don’t have a warm introduction into that person, since that’s the best way of all to get some ear-time.