Are You Ready to Take the Plunge?: Presenting Your Solution to Senior Executives
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by Lisa Nirell, OnTarget, Inc.
Two weeks ago, I was preparing for my final day of cave diving in Cozumel, a tiny island off the Mexico coast in the Caribbean Sea. This was the 35th dive in my scuba 'career.' I wanted it to be something to remember, and did not want to waste my time on the boat any longer. I fastened my mask, snapped together my weight belt and vest, and waddled to the edge of the boat.
Suddenly, I noticed that my air tank wasn't functioning. Since I wasn't ready to 'take the plunge,' I returned to the main deck and learned that the dive master had inadvertently turned off my air!
What does diving have to do with making a call on a senior executive? Everything. Just as the warm, clear waters were beckoning to me, your customers and prospects will invite you in to 'make the big pitch.' Some companies will even appoint fancy nicknames and acronyms to their buying committees to make them sound more officious! Without the right preparation and checklist, however, your venture into the blue 'abyss' of corporate presentations will leave you gasping for air.
OnTarget, Inc. and the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School have conducted two series of interviews with approximately 100 senior executives to learn how they buy. We asked probing questions to uncover three key categories of information:
In every case, the senior executives told us that they expect salespeople to do their homework before they will grant them a meeting to present their solution. It takes a lot of navigating through the labyrinth of executive issues and politics before you earn the right to schedule a meeting.
Gaining Access - When Should We Call?
OnTarget asked the respondents when they get involved in buying decisions. The majority were involved in the early phase of buying. Assessing a business driver (internal or external pressure creating a need for change) and developing a task force to define the project objectives were typically their key responsibilities.
Executives then would assign the task force the role of:
In the majority of cases, executives take a 'back seat' and leave these responsibilities to the buying committee. It's no wonder that my numerous attempts to call the CIO in my accounts during the evaluation phase took me no further than voicemail!
Later in the buying cycle, most executives told us they are held accountable for having made the right investment in the right projects or initiatives. For that reason, they would engage in the buying cycle again to measure the results.
In my sixteen years of selling technology and consulting service solutions, I cannot tell you how many times I have confused a selling cycle with a buying cycle. I would get excited when a company called me and said they were looking for a software solution! I thought it was important to make an appointment and get to their offices before my competition had a shot at the business! Little did I know, my competitor helped the senior executive assess a business problem and assign the task force. I was just another vendor (aka 'chump') to help them fill out their RFP (Request for Proposal) checklists and complete their due diligence! To this day, I cringe when a client tells me they have a staff dedicated to filling out RFPs their competitors helped write.
Gaining Access - Who Ya Gonna Call?
Now that we know WHEN an executive gets involved in buying, how do we know WHO to call? Should we contact the highest-ranking executive in the company? What if they have a secretary who won't give us access to that person?
Effective salespeople intuitively look for the person with the highest rank AND the most influence relevant to this given sales opportunity. This helps them unravel the mystery of identifying the right person to call. They are constantly asking these questions before they make that 'killer' presentation:
- Who initiated this project?
- Who affects the project?
- Who is most affected (positively or negatively) by the outcome?
I remember Armando, the classic example of the executive with the highest rank and influence for a sale I closed in Miami, Florida. This technology 'guru' bought over $400,000 worth of software from our company. If you visited his office, you would never believe he had the rank or influence to spend this amount of money. He occupied a tiny cubicle that was filled with old IBM technical manuals. His phone was ringing constantly. He had no administrative support. But whenever the Executive VP had any questions regarding projects or outside vendor issues, he visited Armando's cubicle. The Executive VP never rejected Armando's purchase requests. Armando's title was most deceiving: "Data Base Administrator III." To this day, Armando influences buying decisions for a multi-billion dollar Property and Casualty Insurance conglomerate.
Politics play a big role in helping you determine how the highest- ranking influencers buy. At OnTarget, we help clients use a process called Target Account Selling(tm) to map out key profile information on each person, such as:
Once we have this information, we have a much better understanding of the political, business, and competitive landscape of our opportunity. We may determine that some executives have very high RANK, but no INFLUENCE relevant to our sales opportunity. We affectionately call these people "empty suits."
Can we jump yet? ... The water's fine!
Almost. Let's do a brain scan on the key individuals before we take the dive into the sales call and put ourselves in their wingtips. What is going through their minds when we arrive with the laptop and 89-page PowerPoint pitch? Will they send us down to the bowels of the organization, never to return to their posh corporate headquarters?
When arranging your introductory phone call and follow up presentation, this is the only checklist you will ever need to memorize. Our research participants told us that they silently test for these areas whenever a salesperson speaks to them.
If you treat each sales call as your first dive, and do your homework, you won't drift far from the boat. You'll also have a higher chance of passing muster with the executive. They will know you fulfill their expectations of a strategic salesperson. You will prove, through your preparation and dialog, that you can marshal resources, know their business, can be responsive, and are willing to be held accountable for your actions. You'll be rewarded with a treasure chest filled with repeat appointments with that executive and their key lieutenants in the account!
About OnTarget, Inc.
OnTarget, Inc. is one of the largest sales training and consulting firms in the world. OnTarget provides a complete curriculum of sales training programs, consulting services and field application tools to help companies achieve competitive advantage and strengthen relationships with customers and partners. OnTarget has delivered its offerings to more than 450 companies worldwide and can be reached at www.ontarget.com.