Selling to the C Suite Blog

Why is it so Important to be Prepared When Selling to the C-Suite? It is important for sales executives to learn as much as is available in the public domain about both the executive and the organization. Understanding these current issues will be essential to helping you build the confidence and trust of the CXO. When you come in reflecting this awareness, the conversation will quickly pick up on the important and relevant topics that need to be discussed. There is everything to be gained by thoroughly doing your homework, and much to be lost if you don’t, especially when selling to the C-Suite. (Note: Be careful. In the words of one of...

CXOs turn to outsiders for help because they believe that these outsiders have the expertise and skills that they or others in their organization do not have. In order for you to be successful when selling to the C-Suite, you need to engage the CXO early and give them a reason to feel confident that you and your organization have the right experience, knowledge, and skills to effectively address their issue. When Selling to the C-Suite, Bring Your Unique Point of View It is important therefore to combine your understanding of them and their situation with a unique point of view. Without it the CXO can’t know of the prospective value you can...

When approached by service providers, many senior executives ask themselves if the issue or the outcome of the solution being presented is significant enough to warrant their attention or take any action. The best way to quickly establish the relevance and prospective value of your discussion is to present them – far earlier than you may be comfortable – with a ‘rough-order-of-magnitude’ estimate of the prospective impact of your solution(s). (“Is this a box car or a bread box?”) Since your organization has likely implemented a related solution with other businesses, you can translate those results to your prospect’s current situation to...

In addition, in order to address the CXO’s natural concerns about the prospective risks involved in your solution, you need to tell verifiable stories about how and where your organization has successfully done this before, what you have learned, and what outcomes were achieved.

Lastly, being confident, authentic, present, and energized when talking to a CXO is essential when establishing trust, making you more memorable and appealing to a CXO. Be present and do what is needed to bring this energy, confidence, and authenticity to the meeting.

When selling to the C-Suite, many sales conversations begin with practiced clichéd questions along the lines of “What’s keeping you up at night?” or “We'd like to know about your priorities.” This approach, we have learned, only annoys the CXO! Anyone belonging in that conversation should have done their homework and know their priorities and what keeps (or should keep) that executive up at night. One executive made the point, “This is a business, not a University. It is not my job to educate you.” Typical notions of ‘Discovery’ will not apply here unless your questioning starts deeper into the CXO’s specific interests and...

Surprisingly, a great number of conversations with CXOs fail to conclude with agreement as to what will happen next – concrete, specific, agreed actions for both parties, leaving the CXO confident that the right progress will be made. This is what we mean by closing. It’s not about closing the sale, but constructively advancing the conversation toward doing so, intriguing the CXO, earning their trust and willingness to begin socializing your solution. How to Close the Meeting When Selling to the C-Suite Closing begins from your very first contact with the senior executive. For example, you initially gain agreement as to the best agenda for...

When selling to the C-suite, of course, you want to win the sale. However, those who are most successful with CXOs have a higher priority than just winning the sale, but rather they truly care for the success of the CXO and his or her organization – and it shows. This important orientation motivates them to prepare more thoroughly with concrete examples and stories of what impact their solution could have, enabling them to confidently believe they belong in the meeting, with questions that empathetically reflect insight into those issues and provoke meaningful discussions and clarity. Being Engaged When Selling to the C-Suite A good...