The Key to the C-Suite
I read a book recently by Michael J. Nick called "The Key to the C-Suite - What you need to know to sell successfully to top executives".
"C-level executives make buying decisions based on the strategic effect that a purchase will have on a set of key financial metrics or levers." The book makes a compelling case for using Metrics when selling- things like Return on Assets, Return on Investment, Earnings, Debt to Equity ratios etc.
Nick suggests that you need to know how your product or service impacts these metrics. And understanding your strengths in those areas will help you make a more compelling case to help you sell.
As a former CEO, I have strong opinions of my own on how to sell to CEO's. My top 5 rules include:
1 - Respect the executives' time in all interactions. Most CEOs get hundreds of emails so keep any emails short. Most CEOs get invited to lunch or dinner daily so keep those short. Most CEOs have fairly aggressive schedules so be on time and stick to the time granted.
Anything you can do to save the executive time will help make the sale. I recall one creative sales person who offered to give me a ride to the airport so had my uninterrupted attention for 50 minutes.
2 - Make sure the CEO is the one you need to sell to. Sure it helps if the CEO is onside but many CEOs delegate decisions in many areas to their staff. I recall sitting through a detailed presentation on trucking complete with glossy brochures. After wasting an hour of my time, I simply put a post-it note on the brochure and passed it to my shipping manager "these guys presented to me - call them if you want".
3 - Treat everyone well. How you treat the receptionist, the assistant and the person doing research for the CEO will get back to the CEO. And besides, they are just doing their job and it is lower stress to be nice anyways.
4 - Do your homework. The internet makes it easy to know a lot about the company. Wasting a CEOs time asking questions that are on the web site or that can be readily obtained elsewhere is not a good way to start the sales call.
Use your valuable question time to probe for hot buttons and problems you can help solve.
5 - And after reading The Key to the C-Suite, I do think it is a great idea to know your metrics. This would fall in the category of saving the CEO time. It would also help the CEO make the case for buying from you.
People have the mistaken idea that the CEO makes decisions without having to "sell" anyone themselves. This is not true. CEOs need the buy-in of their staff to ensure good implementation of any purchase.
And finally, like all marketing, there is not only one way to sell to the C-Suite. Situations vary, people make decisions differently, companies are organized differently etc. So use multiple approaches to make the sale.
Jim Estill
3 Comments
Michael Nick said
I agree completely with Jim in his five steps to selling to the CEO. I spend a lot of ink on the research part of the equation, and of course the connection between you value and the C-Suite Metrics. I do like number 2 in that be sure the CEO is who you need to talk too. The Key to the C-suite should move beyond the CEO to the CFO and others. Look for metrics they all use to make strategic buying decisions. I make it clear a finance person will likely be involved in most major buying decisions. Jim...thanks for the post. Michael Nick Author
AustinSeoCompany said
Great advice, Jim. I would add that a good sized company has many constituencies; and the sales and marketing people need to address all of these -- not just the CEO. A good CEO's first response to a marketing is to ask one or two of his people what they think about this.
Our <a href=”https://www.semantic-ad.com/SEO.html”><b>Austin SEO services</b></a> company has a variety enterprise clients, and we try to have marketing messages and the appropriate medium for each of these constituencies. The CFO, Engineering VP and Shipping Manager don't read the same magazines, e-zines or blogs; we need to create and place our content where each constituency will find it.
Mike Sessa said
Great article! I would venture to say these are good practices to employ with any client - prospective or current. I try to think of times when I had little time & got a call for information that I needed, but took entirely too long to be conveyed. Frustrating! Remember, efficiency & effectiveness goes both ways.
Thanks, Mike Sessa