Fundamentals of Selling at the Executive Level

Introduction

Selling at the executive level is typically a critical component of winning a sales campaign. Rarely, in a business-to-business sales campaign, can a significant deal be one without some executive level contact in the client organization.

If you're pursuing a significant sales opportunity you ultimately have to identify what we call the relevant executive for the sales opportunity.We define the relevant executive as the client executive that has the most to gain or lose from the outcome of the project associated with your sales opportunity.

Experienced salespeople know that it's these relevant executives in client organizations that determine who wins the key deals, because these executives can often use their power and influence to circumvent the formal decision-making process for major purchases.

The chart below illustrates the steps you have to take to be successful in this and future sales campaigns as it relates to establishing relationships with relevant executives in client organizations.Some of you may already be implementing these steps almost unconsciously and on a kiss and a consistent basis.Other should follow this guide to enhance your chances of winning the deal.

Steps in establishing a relationship with the relevant executive

1. Identify the relevant executive for the sales opportunity
2. Determine how best to approach that executive
3. Perform the appropriate research prior to your first meeting with the executive
4. Conduct an effective first meeting with the executive
5. Demonstrate integrity and capability and subsequent meetings to become perceived as a trusted adviser by the executive
6. Consistently communicate your value to the executive

This document will provide you with tools that can help you successfully implement each of the six steps.It is meant to provide you with a self-directed approach to create, maintain and leverage relationships at executive levels in your client organizations to help you win each sales opportunity.

This document contains many of the tools and techniques that are used in the one-day selling at the executive level (SellXL) workshop.They're packaged and presented in this format to help you immediately realize some of the same benefits that you could achieve from that one-day workshop

In this document your have the opportunity to complete seven activities, each with an associated worksheet, to help you formulate your thoughts and ideas on identifying, accessing and maintaining relationships with key executives in your client organizations.They were all developed with a single objective in mind: to help you improve your odds of winning a sales campaign.

I urge you to test these tools in your current sales campaigns you begin to see how they can not only help you pair quickly and more effectively but also increase your self-confidence as you operated executive levels in client organizations you'll find that they will provide you with additional insight and perspective into your clients organization that will enhance your chances of winning key sales opportunities.

Fundamentals of Selling at the Executive Level

Table of contents

Introduction
Activity One: Analyze Your Sales Opportunity
Activity Two: Use the Internet to Research Your Client
Activity Three: Resolve Your Approach of Contacting the Relevant Executive
Activity Four: Prepare Your Telephone Approach to the Relevant Executive
Activity Five: Identify the Key Business Issues Facing the Relevant Executive
Activity Six: Prepare Your Initial Face-To-Face Call on a Client Executive
Activity Seven: Create a Value Proposition
Summary and Close

Excerpts

Metrics help you develop an understanding of the client's business

Graphics tell the story

Objectives describe exactly what you need to do

Step-by-step guides help you prepare critical deliverables