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Make the Most of C-level Face Time
November 03, 2006
You've got 12 minutes: Explain how your product can help a prospect succeed
By Betsy Cummings
Pitching top executives early in the sales process seems like an ideal strategy. So why aren't more salespeople doing it? Or, rather, why aren't they doing it strategically? In an ongoing study of executives nationwide by The Real Learning Company, a sales training firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., 80 percent of 115 executives interviewed over the past four years say that they are involved in the decision-making process when it comes to company purchases. But too often salespeople lucky enough to find themselves face-to-face with an executive lose the sale. Why?
Part of the problem may be that salespeople are poorly prepared when they finally get invited into an executive's office. "My guess would be that fewer than ten percent of salespeople understand the business" of companies they visit, says Lou Schachter, senior vice president of The Real Learning Company.
Schachter says too often sellers make the mistake of using top-tier executives' time to ask questions rather than demonstrate how their product or service can strengthen the prospect's strategy and market position. "Executives clearly tell us that salespeople should not walk into a meeting with an executive asking them questions the seller could get the answer to elsewhere," Schachter says, asking questions such as: "Who is your customer base?" and "What was your performance over the past three years?"
Instead, Schachter says, sellers should be using the average 12 minutes an executive allots a rep to not tout product features but clearly explain "how feature X will help them accelerate their business results."
But not all experts agree that selling to top-level executives is the key to faster or larger sales. "The dangerous part is you can create enemies" among lower-level decision makers by leapfrogging over them to reach a top-tier decision maker, says Laurie Brown, owner of The Difference, a sales and training consultancy in Detroit.
Even Schachter says his company does not advocate selling only to top executives all the time. Certain organizations are better suited for that approach. Small to mid-size companies, for instance, are best for top-tier selling because top executives are more likely to be involved in decision making, says Bette Price, president of The Price Group, a business and leadership consultancy in Dallas. And even then, referrals from lower-level managers can be the key to maneuvering up to executives without stepping on other employees' toes. A big key, according to The Learning Company's research: executives said internal and external referrals, more than any other method of approach, are more likely to open their doors to sellers.
Ultimately, Schachter says, top-tier executives can be a faster way to close deals if they're targeted effectively early in the selling process. "Executives are giving business to salespeople," he says, "who come into that meeting understanding their business." —Betsy Cummings
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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