Celebrity Prospecting: Selling GreenTech To Sir Richard Branson

Screw it — let’s do it. The famous phrase of Sir Richard Branson, one of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs. Sir Richard Branson is Britain’s most famous entrepreneur. He founded the Virgin Empire, which is worth tens of billions. After learning all of this, we thought, who better to include on our Celebrity Prospecting series?

Sir Richard Branson himself is worth an estimated $6 billion from his business ventures (would be cooler if it was 7 billion - but who's judging). The Virgin Empire started as a student magazine aimed at providing opposition to the Vietnam War. Now, the company has spanned into some 40 industries in the last forty years.

These industries include:

• Airline: Virgin Atlantic
• Music: Virgin Records
• Space travel: Virgin Galactic
• Leisure and fitness: Virgin Active
• Health: Virgin Care
• Radio: Virgin Radio UK
• Retail: Virgin Megastore
• Publishing: Virgin Books
• Finance: Virgin Money
• Mobile phones: Virgin Mobile

It’s fair to say; Sir Richard Branson has earned his fame for a good reason. He’s one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs - a leader in marketing and selling his brand. So how did he do it?

The Principles

Here is how the entrepreneur built a globally disrupting empire:

1. An ability to think differently and ignore the naysayers
2. A positive company culture
3. The ability to delegate
4. Hiring people better than himself to fill specific roles
5. Listening and learning from his employees
6. The willingness to fail

Sir Richard Branson built the Virgin Empire around himself. He became the likable billionaire with the eccentric, often endearing personality that people gravitate towards. He has a loathing for the conventional suit and tie and often cuts people’s ties with scissors that he carries with him. People often regard him as the hippy billionaire,” with long hair and a trademark goatee beard. He’s not your ordinary billionaire from Wall Street, and he uses that for his world-famous brand.

Richard has stated, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” As a result, his marketing techniques have often broken all conventions. For example, he once drove a tank through NYC’s Times Square when Virgin started its Virgin Cola brand in the 90s, which became his biggest failure.However, the world also knows Richard Branson for parachuting into stadiums, flying a hot air balloon around the world, dressing as a female flight attendant, and jumping off casino buildings.

Furthermore, Richard continued his fame in being a visionary by becoming the first person into space who built their own spacecraft. In turn, Sir Richard Branson beat Jeff Bezos and that other famous entrepreneur in the race to space.

Hold on! Pause!

Before we keep going, let's hit a quick pause on our daydream.

As an SDR or BDR, you probably wouldn’t find yourself in a situation where you’re prospecting directly to a celebrity billionaire. Even in the wildest of fever dreams, it's a one-in-a-billion chance.

That being said it is, however, very possible that you could end up selling to companies like his. So, for the next part, we're going to combine dreams with reality! Here's our fever dream mashed together of selling to Sir Richard Branson. Based on all the REAL life skills & procedures you'd take to sell an actual product that would help solve a very real and concerning issue for his empire of companies.

OK let's continue...

So how would you sell to Sir Richard Branson?

Let’s face it; you wouldn’t be the first person to sell a product or service to Sir Richard Branson — he’s had 50 years of people selling him their products and services. It’s not easy to sell to Sir Richard Branson, but it’s not impossible either!

He’s human just like us after all! So buckle up, because we’re putting you right in the driver's seat to see what it would be like if you were to sell to an actual celebrity!

And as a sales rep, it's important to note that the information listed below to make sure your outreach does sound like fluff. To avoid this, you'll need to conduct thorough research to better understand your buyer. It’s easier with such a public profile. But even if you were selling to a director at a mid-sized SaaS company, there are things to be learned by looking over their LinkedIn profile before you reach out to them.

The Product: Dabble

Sir Richard Branson is highly interested in climate change and protecting nature. He’s even written various blogs on the subject, emphasizing a need for a carbon tax on gas and oil. And to top it off, his Virgin Empire was built around this premise:

Virgin's purpose is to change business for good and it is the very reason we exist. It is the lens through which we make all our decisions

With Sir Richard Brandson leading his empire, it can only be positively assumed that his companies would also be interested in up-and-coming GreenTech products, which are booming. Economists are valuing the 2021 GreenTech industry at USD $8.79 billion. And they believe the GreenTech market will eventually grow to a size of USD $48 billion by 2027.

This means tons of opportunities for Virgin Empire to expand in a profitable sector that perfectly aligns with their business & founder goals.

A SaaS product you could pitch to Sir Richard Branson would be DABBEL. It is an AI-powered software that helps commercial buildings reduce nearly half of their carbon footprint. You could potentially sell this technology to Richard Branson who has been heavily invested in sustainability since 2003.

With over 40 Virgin companies in some 35 countries, employing more than 60,000 people - we can only assume that Virgin buildings take up a ton of resources to run.

The Skills You Would Need

Here are the soft sales skills that will make the difference between Sir Richard Branson accepting the invitation or sending it to space (hehe get it?). Anyways, we’re talking about vital skills like:

• Communication: How well you talk about your product — and listen to the person you’re talking to.
• Resilience: How well you handle the many objections and rejections you encounter on a day-to-day basis.
• Confidence: How much you believe in the product you sell — and your ability to sell it.
• Knowledge: How much you know about the technology behind your product and the industry your prospect is in.
• Work ethic: How persistent you are in your prospecting and sales strategies to get the job done.

And of course, you’ve developed the most important hard skill, too: prospecting. In fact, that one skill is so critical that we’ll break it down below in more depth, with a few examples to help.

1 - Research

Do Your Research!

Learn about Sir Richard Branson, before you start pitching to him.Some of the best ways to do that are by reading up on his work including things like recent interviews, books, and blogs. Study his business patterns & identify what his companies might be focused on.

But most importantly, you will want to know more about the following things for your first outreach:

• His interests/priorities at work
• What pains might he be experiencing in certain areas
• His business motivations & goals

While learning about him as a person is great, we can't be distracted by the celebrity; understanding your prospect's company goals can't be understated. To do so, you have a few tools at your disposal that you might find handy.

For a company the size of Virgin's, they will release Annual Reports that speak to the state of the company and its business challenges. A quick google search easily leads us to the Annual Report for Virgin Media.

Read up on news coverages from third-party sources & reports the company posts on the web! If you’re looking to prospect someone who isn’t a celebrity and doesn’t have their life on display, here’s a tip. Just look at the company they are working for! Their goals should almost always align with the company.

Realistically?

But the most important factor to consider in your research is who will get the ball rolling. Who at the company would be perfect for you to reach out, connect with, and support. And in this case, it might not be the CEO but perhaps a technical building lead or building manager. Once you’ve established a good relationship with them pitching your sale to Sir Richard Branson would be much more realistic and convincing with the help of internal support.

Take note of these goals & support to show how your product, DABBEL compliments it all. Use stats, figures & examples to support your claim! Research on a normal day can feel a tad bit different. You probably just want to figure how your product can help improve, or (best case) solve an ongoing problem that your prospect has.

Why You Need Research

Gathering information before the first contact will help you do two things:

1. To Qualify. Is he someone who is a good fit for your product? If he is, why? Give solid reasons that are convincing in the long term, and solve an actual problem.
2. Perfectly tailor your pitch. With enough research, you'll know exactly what to say to catch his attention.

2 - Prospecting

It’s time to prospect! Now, you can start drafting emails, call scripts, and a strategic plan using the information from your research phase. Based on the information you have, develop condensed drafts nailing each point! There are 3 main styles to prospecting:

1. Social Selling
2. Email
3. Cold Calling

Here’s how you can take advantage of all 3 styles to connect with your prospect. This will look different depending on who you are trying to reach.

1. Social Selling

Social selling is less about sliding into someone’s DM’s with your best sales pitch. It’s often about grabbing their attention for that split second. In that second, share a value in a comment, or make a friendly personalized connection request. Make sure they remember your name when you follow up with a call or email.

So our suggestion is to start with baby steps when it comes to prospecting on social media. When you follow Sir Richard Branson on his socials, take note of who else he connects with. Interact professionally with his posts, but don’t be creepy about it of course!

Like” some interesting posts here and there. Maybe leave a comment that’s more engaging than that’s awesome!” - because for all you know he might just reply to you! This idea might not be as effective with a big celebrity like Richard Branson, but when you're prospecting to your average SaaS executive, it’s a tactic that works!

From there, you can maybe shoot him a properly formatted message on his DMs (direct message). An example of a great message you could send over would be something that is about THEM. Don’t make it your pitch. Give content to your outreach, how you can help, and then provide an easy option for the next steps.

Our free advice? The next steps should never be to complete the sale when you're just starting a conversation over DM’s.

Example:

Hey, Richard! We saw this and felt compelled to reach out to find out the truth!

Because if it is true — we thought you might find Dabbel helpful as well. A simple way to track and reduce your building's CO2 emissions.

Is this something you'd be open to learning more about?"

But what if he doesn’t respond? Worry not, here’s the next best thing.

2. Email

Emailing is one of the best ways to contact entrepreneurs and investors. But, does that mean they’ll always respond? No. Emailing is a marketing form you’ll have to learn. And on average, only 24% of sales emails are opened. So don’t give up if you don’t get an answer right away.

In fact, you might have to contact them over and over again through various channels before getting a response. In a study by Velocify, the optimal number of email messages you should send is five! However, make sure that you don’t continually pester someone’s email or you’ll end up in the spam box!

Entrepreneurs like Richard Branson — i.e., world-famous billionaires — will get thousands of emails daily. So here’s how you can be creative in your outreach style. Maybe you’ll have to look to those around him and contact his admin or personal assistants to get a response. But here are the best tips on how you can quickly stand out from the thousands of emails & waves of people trying to get his attention and book that meeting!

How you can stand out!

• Actually, reach out to the right person: In order to prospect to Richard Branson, you need the right email. Using a tool like Hunter.io will help to get the right email. Our article on the 15 best free email tools will help with more so you're always emailing the right person.
• Be brief & to the point: Richard is a busy person. Fit your message into 4-6 sentences max.
• Create a short video: Tools like Vidyard help you create a quick webcam video that can be sent and tracked. A 30-45 second video can say what 4-5 sentences of text never could.
• Make your next steps super easy with a tool: like Calendly or Chili Piper. Don’t him fumble around with days and times in a thread.
• Have a custom email: like a solid email header. And develop a generic email to help standardize & organize your incoming mail.

There are a ton of ways you can continually optimize the email experience, but these are the most important points. Here's an example of an email you could send to Sir Richard Branson.

Example:

"Hello Richard!

As noted in Virgin's Annual Report, the environmental crisis certainly is a pressing matter - for companies and individuals. Your spearheading of the effort towards creating a more sustainable environment with initiatives like OceanElders and the Virgin Green Fund is truly admirable.

At DABBEL, we help buildings optimize their energy and live greener. We work with Fortune 100 companies just like yours to optimize their energy use, through innovative software.

Are addressing greenhouse emissions a priority for your team in the coming quarters? Happy to send along more information if you're open to continuing the conversation.

BDR - DABBEL"

3. Cold Calling

We saved the scariest for the last. If all else fails, but you somehow score the lottery and get hold of his phone number - here’s how you can seize that opportunity to sell to Sir Richard Branson! Cold calling can be scary but if you’ve done it a million times - it's still scary, just slightly less.

Here are the best tips to make a successful cold call:

• Be polite!
• Straight to the point. Introduce yourself quickly; your name, who do you work for, and why you reached out. Practice saying this until you’re confident when you say it.
• Prepare an elevator pitch.
• End the call with an easy way to contact him for a follow-up.

But be prepared, this channel of outreach will probably be very challenging to secure a connection when dealing with this level of celebrity prospect. Cold calls are still very much alive, but when, where, and who you use them needs to be selective.

What next?

Congratulations, let's say you nailed it and he wants a demo next week.

What do you do now?

First, send a follow-up to thank Richard for his time & provide him with more information about the product (especially if he asked about anything important).

Next, set up the time & prepare for the demo using all your information from research! Contact your Account Executive and maybe even draft up sample prices. Be prepared for everything.

3 - Demo Day

Ok, you got lucky & landed that meeting with Sir Richard Branson. Here comes the best part. Actually pitching to Richard Branson. In the spirit of Richard’s favorite quote, screw it, let's do it.” Here’s the quick mental prep checklist you’ve got to check before hopping onto that meeting.

1. Make sure you create a meeting agenda and understand how the demo will go.
2. Double-check your material! Make sure that all your tech is working & you have the back-ups ready.
3. Remember — as much as you want to pitch, you need to perform 'discovery' and learn about his needs first to properly tailor your product demo.
4. Practice saying some of the important points over and over! Make it sound natural.

Now, comes the best part! The call is happening, what do you do? Make the call about him - show him how you are the solution to a problem he didn’t know was bothering his bottom line before!

He accepted the meeting because wants to know more about how the product can improve his life. And as you already know from your research, Sir Richard Branson is famous for his focus on environmentalism & sustainability. So it’s vitally important to make the call about what DEBBEL can do to help him & his team provides better results in the workplace!

Conversation Tips

And almost always, the person asking the questions controls the conversation! So make sure you’re asking all the right questions that can show Sir Richard Branson how DABBEL can help him! Questions you can ask:

• How much do you spend on energy bills for office spaces?
• How much power does each building use? And are there current optimization plans when not at peak operation?
• If you could cut that bill in half, would it better support your current goals of changing businesses for the better?
• What other plans does the Virgin Empire have to combat climate change that can work in conjunction with DABBEL?

And when you are showing the product, make sure you highlight the important points that specifically would appeal to Richard & his team. Give real examples that simulate a day in Richard’s & his team’s life. Most importantly, make sure you provide some extra time for questions and cover key areas of scrutiny like security details, implementation process & estimated costs (pre-implementation loss, and post-implementation gains)

4 - Follow-up

Congratulations, what a successful demo! Wow! You’re done (sorta!). You’ve managed to pitch to Sir Richard Branson, book a discovery/demo and now it’s time for a follow-up. Here are some things you can do to offer a personalized follow-up:

• Listen closely and take notes of key questions during the call that you can provide additional data or context to.
• Send a thank-you email with all the important details that Richard and his team can reference & review very shortly after the call.
• Don’t be too pushy. Value their time but don't oversell.

Sir Richard Branson often states how he likes to go off his gut feeling. So if you don’t manage to sell to him on the phone, an excellent follow-up will probably give you another opportunity. Never give up” is the best advice you’ll ever receive in sales, especially when you’re selling to the CEO of a billion-dollar company!

In Conclusion

Ultimately, the goal is to help Sir Richard Branson understand how DABBEL can continually benefit the Virgin Empire and contribute to their success in achieving their goals. During these stressful times, especially with the pandemic, having an extra tool to help with the environment and cost management is great!

Take this opportunity to create a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Learn more about the sales process with Uvaro

If you’re thinking of the path for an excellent career in tech, you’ve made an incredible choice looking at sales! And Uvaro is just the resource you need!

Uvaro is 'Your Career Success Company'! We offer the courses and the career services needed for you to succeed in tech! Ready to get started? Apply now and start selling to the Richard Bransons of the world!