Our new book - Selling to the C-Suite - which I co-authored with Nic Read will be published by McGraw Hill and available in approximately 90 days - September 2009! It can already be pre-ordered at amazon.com. Selling to the C-Suite is written from a combined 60 years of experience selling on corporate frontlines around the world. It is not only a comprehensive report of US-centric executive buying behaviors, but is the only truly global study of its kind for selling around the world. A number of sales executives and professionals around the world were given pre-release copies of the book and we were overwhelmed by their enthusiastic endorsement of it. Of the more than 40 comments we received, here is a sampling of them:

"The business world is drowning in a flood of sales books. The trouble is that most of these books are about how to sell, without a clue about how customers buy, and so they do more harm than good. This book is different. It is firmly rooted in how people buy and so it works. And an added bonus that particularly appeals to me; the book is based on research which makes it rare and welcome."

- NEIL RACKHAM, Author of SPIN Selling and thought leader on sales effectiveness.

"As an educator on the college level teaching professional selling, I found this book to be invaluable if you are interested in learning how to sell to the top executives. Not only does it help you understand when to engage the executive, it also tells you how to get access. If that was not enough the book also focuses on how to create value and build credibility with the executives. It is a must read for anyone who interacts with top executives."

- DAN C. WEILBAKER, Ph.D., McKesson Pharmaceutical Group Professor of Sales, Northern Illinois University

"This book is like a one day MBA in Selling to Executives. A must read for sales professionals-both new and experienced-who want to get better at their craft."

- TOM MARTIN, former President of North America for Miller Heiman, Inc. and President of Strategy2Revenue.

"Sales professionals who align with key executive decision makers, early in the sales process, have a higher win rate and make more money than their peers. Steve and Nic have meticulously researched and distilled the best practices that distinguish the sales people who can sell at the executive level and are seen as trusted advisors. Credibility is the foundation of being a trusted advisor. Selling To The Executive Level lays out when and how to access Executives, as well as how to establish credibility and value."

- BILL WALDEN, former Director Sales Effectiveness, The TAS Group

"If Sun Tzu lived today, he would write this book. Chinese executives seek relationships to assist their personal agenda and reduce their risk. Selling at the Executive Level is full of advice on how to become a 'relationship master'. We were pleased to partner in China on the research."

- ANNE AN, Chief Learning Officer, hi-Soft Technology International, and former manager of the Hewlett Packard Business School, Beijing China.

"I finished this book in one sitting; it is easy to read and I was very impressed. It holds practical advice on how to get to the decision-makers in the context of sales but also applies in many other situations where the objective is influence. Having learned these lessons the hard way while transforming a Chinese State Owned Enterprise into a globally competitive business, I wish this book had been available when I first started!"

- GEOFF WATSON, Vice President, Alcoa China.

The book is based on empirical research. We couldn't find any books written on this topic that held anything more than personal anecdotes of what the writers of those books did in their glory days. While trips down Memory Lane may hold some value, they only tell you the salesperson's opinion about how executives buy. Nic and I wanted to dig deeper and get inside the heads of living, breathing executives to see what's really going on in there during the decision-making process. So we commissioned groundbreaking research of our own, and joined other projects where executive buying habits were the focus of study. Our efforts were joined by Hewlett Packard in North America, the Hewlett Packard Business School in Beijing China, Target Marketing Systems, the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina, and the Center for Business & Industrial Marketing at Georgia State University. After ten years delving into the executive brain, this book now reveals what C-Suite leaders in 500 diverse companies and government bodies said in response to those interviews and surveys.

Answers to the following five questions are direct benefits of reading this book:

• When do executives get involved in the buying process for major purchases?
• How do salespeople gain access to senior executives?
• How can salespeople establish credibility with executives?
• How can salespeople create value at the executive level?
• Is executive buying behavior consistent across cultures?

As business-to-business salespeople (the primary audience) do more of the things that senior executives respond to, they can command greater credibility, close more business and make more money.

Thousands of sales professionals have already field-tested these concepts. Nic and I decided the best way to test the research was to turn it into a training workshop and have salespeople around the world put it to the test, which they did in 2002. This book is a distillation of sales best practices tested in the real world.

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The SellXL workshop was created approximately five years ago and seems to be getting increased focus by clients around the world. Clients are finding that the skill of selling at the executive level is essential in these economic times.

Selling at the Executive Level is a one-day, fast-paced interactive workshop that focuses on helping professional salespeople create, maintain and leverage relationships at executive levels in client organizations.

Steps in Establishing a Relationship with a Relevant Executive

The SellXL methodology is basically a five-step process:

1. Identify the relevant executive for the sales opportunity
2. Determine how best to approach that executive
3. Perform the appropriate research prior to an initial meeting with the executive
4. Demonstrate integrity and capability over the long-term, so as to be perceived as a trusted advisor by the executive
5. Consistently communicate value to the executive

Learning is supported by a compelling business case about a global manufacturer (JKEA International), how its market positioning is driving new corporate initiatives and the competing agendas behind the scenes. Participants study and review the case study as part of the pre-course assignment and then apply activities against the case study during the workshop.

Study and review of the case study are both instrumental to the success of the workshop. One of the reasons that the workshop is able to be delivered in one day is that all the participants are "on the same page" with respect to their knowledge and understanding of the case. Robust discussions about the case take place throughout the workshop.

An integral part of the workshop's success is the credibility of the facilitator. Each SellXL workshop is delivered by an experienced facilitator with significant business-to-business sales experience. The workshop requires facilitators to apply their expertise throughout the day. Inevitably, sales issues not covered by the workshop content arise and each facilitator must rely on his or her sales or sales management experience to address those key issues. As a result, the workshop is very facilitator dependent and, for that reason, SellXL facilitators are carefully selected, trained and certified to ensure their ability to address questions and problems that arise throughout the day.

The concepts and models used in SellXL are, in part, based on the results of interviews and surveys with CXO-level executives to learn what it takes for salespeople to stand out from a sea of look-alike competitors. The developer of the SellXL workshop has participated in original research over a ten-year period with the assistance of Hewlett-Packard Company, the Kenan Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina and the Center for Business and Industrial Marketing at Georgia State University.

The research described in the paragraph above is an integral part of the book I co-authored with Nic Read - called Selling to the C-Suite. Salespeople who experience the SellXL workshop will find out what CXO-level executives told us about what professional salespeople had to do to establish long-term relationships with them.

For more information on the SellXL workshop, click on this link: http://sellxl.com/SellXL.php

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Sales Opportunity Snapshot (SOS) is a one-day interactive workshop that is focused on helping professional salespeople manage and win their sales opportunities. SOS has been called - opportunity management on steroids - because of its fast-paced one-day approach to visually portraying the status of complex sales campaigns in a simple, easy-to-use format. The SOS Opportunity Plan is comprised of just three pages of jam-packed information that helps salespeople close their key sales campaigns!

SOS provides a structured, scalable process for qualifying and winning strategic sales opportunities where competitors are strong and customer buying protocols are influenced by formal and informal decision criteria.

The workshop content is supported by a robust tool, created and developed using Visual Basic within Excel. The tool is extremely visual, easy to use and dramatically depicts various aspects of a sales opportunity, including the following:

• Snapshot Assessment^® of the sales opportunity, based on nine key criteria
• Influence Map, consisting of an overview of key players - inside and outside the client organization - who influence the sales opportunity
• Methodology to select a sales strategy for the opportunity, including an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of major competitors
• Summary of the ACTION PLANNING process
• Unique and specific value proposition created for the sales opportunity

The tool can be forwarded to all direct and extended members of the sales team and can also be used by sales management to validate forecast probabilities and allocate resources. It can also be used to prepare and update sales executives who might be asked to call on various executives in the client organization.

Learning is supported by several short case study scenarios and by immediately applying activities against the current sales opportunities of the participants. Each module contains several activities that are applied against sales opportunities, so participants leave the workshop with an improved plan for their own opportunity. Participants also discuss and de-brief these activities in table groups throughout the workshop, thus affording additional opportunities to improve the quality of their plan.

An integral part of the workshop's success is the credibility of the facilitator. Each SOS workshop is delivered by an experienced facilitator with significant business-to-business sales experience. The workshop requires facilitators to apply their expertise in each module. Inevitably, sales issues not covered by the workshop content arise and each facilitator must rely on his or her sales or sales management experience to address those key issues. As a result, the workshop is facilitator dependent and, for that reason, SOS facilitators are carefully selected, trained and certified to ensure their ability to address questions and problems that arise throughout the day.

Find out why clients across the globe are using SOS as their approach to opportunity management by clicking on the following link: http://sellxl.com/SOS.php

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All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships
By Andrew Sobel
John Wiley & Sons: April 2009

Book Review by Steve Bistritz

Readers of this Newsletter should be aware that one of my favorite business books is Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Develop Breakthrough Relationships by Jagdish Sheth and Andrew Sobel. Andrew Sobel has just written this new book - All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships - and I was probably among the first to acquire it earlier this year.

One of the reasons I also like his books is that they contain practical ideas and models that can quickly be implemented by professional salespeople. Another key point is that I believe my thinking is very much aligned with his. He didn't disappoint us with this new book - which I quickly read and wholeheartedly endorse!

An example of a practical model, described early in this new book, are the four things that you should strive to achieve in an initial meeting with a client executive. Those goals are as follows:

• Establish rapport quickly
• Confirm your understanding of the executive's key business issues
• Demonstrate some level of capability
• Create next steps that involve the executive

Sobel also outlines six levels of professional relationship that vendors can have with clients and he breaks them down into the following areas:

• Level 1: Contact
• Level 2: Acquaintance
• Level 3: Expert for Hire
• Level 4: Steady Supplier
• Level 5: Trusted Advisor
• Level 6* Trusted Partner

The new thinking in this book is where he differentiates a Level 5 Trusted Advisor from a Level 6 Trusted Partner - and I think he is on the right track with that thinking. The Level 5 Trusted Advisor is someone who Sobel believes the client sees as "trusting their judgment and using as a sounding board for tough issues." The Level 6 Trusted Partner is someone the client sees as "a long-term partner in growing our business."

To that point, clients today are demanding more value from their external advisors, and consolidating their business around a smaller number of firms. These trends are forcing a variety of service providers - from consulting firms to large banks - to confront a series of difficult challenges: How do we create an 'all-for-one, one for all' culture in which the whole is greater than the sum-of-the-parts and we succeed in leveraging our global network to deliver value to clients?

How do we mobilize the right people, resources, and ideas - across a multitude of organizational and geographic boundaries - into each and every client relationship?'; and, 'How do we evolve from a trusted advisor to a trusted partner and build multi-year, institutional relationships?'.

All For One answers these questions with an innovative and comprehensive model for developing enduring, institutional client relationships - what Andrew Sobel refers to as Level 6 Trusted Client Partnerships. It offers readers ten specific strategies that are thoroughly supported by case studies, best practices from leading firms, and implementation tools. The individual professional is principally responsible for five of these strategies, while the firm-the institution-must support and drive the other five.

When you successfully execute against all ten of these building blocks, you develop long-term, professional-client partnerships that provide great value to the client and high levels of personal satisfaction and profitability for the service provider. Andrew Sobel is a leading authority on the skills and strategies for building enduring client relationships. He is the author of Making Rain and Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Develop Breakthrough Relationships, and his work has appeared in a variety of publications including the New York Times and the Harvard Business Review . As president of Andrew Sobel Advisors, he helps organizations build lifelong client partnerships.

A nice addition to this book - not seen in earlier books by Sobel - are the anecdotes he adds in sidebars throughout the book. For example, he adds the following quote that he attributes to a CEO that I thought was particularly appropriate: "I can always tell how experienced a consultant is by the quality of the questions they ask me. Experience is best conveyed indirectly - it's more credible then."

If you are a professional salesperson or business development executive, I recommend that you acquire this book for your business library - but more importantly, for ideas that you can put to use immediately.

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About Steve Bistritz

Steve Bistritz is founder and president of Learning Solutions International, an Atlanta-based sales training and consulting company that helps professional salespeople do a better job of creating, maintaining and leveraging relationships with senior-level client executives. Steve also has a powerful opportunity management workshop offering that has been described as "the next generation in opportunity management". Steve is available as a speaker for sales meetings and client conferences around the globe. He speaks on a variety of topics including the following:

• Selling at the Executive Level
• Establishing Credibility with Client Executives and Becoming a Trusted Advisor
• Developing Alignment with Key Client Executives
• Effectively Assessing Sales Opportunities

Click here to see video clips of Steve delivering his presentation on Selling at the Executive Level.

You can contact Steve by calling him in Atlanta (eastern time zone in the US) at (404) 256-1801 or sending him an email using steveb@sellxl.com

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