10 Thing Sales People Need to Know About C-Level Decision Makers
Selling to high-level decision makers is challenging at the best of times. However, it can be easier if you understand a few business principles.
C-level decision makers are paid to improve their business results. Regardless of how the media portrays these executives, their primary concern is to improve their business. This includes increasing sales, market share, customer loyalty; reducing costs, errors, or employee turnover; improving productivity, employee engagement, customer service, etc.
How does your product, service or solution address one of these issues?
C-level decision makers deal with changing priorities. Improving customer engagement may be a top priority today but tomorrow that executive may be faced with cutting $250,000 in expenses. That means they sometimes go cold after expressing initial interest in your solution.
Do you have a strategy in place to keep your solution current?
C-level decision makersare extremely busy. The average executive arrives early in the morning and stays late into the evening. They get dozens of calls every day, receive too many emails, and attend too many meetings. This means that you need to maximize every minute you have when you connect with them. This applies to telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings.
Do you know EXACTLY what to say when you connect with these individuals?
C-level decision makersrely on others. Contrary to popular belief, these high-ranking big-wigs seldom make decisions on their own. They often defer to other people on their team and ask for feedback from peers and/or subordinates. This means you need to involve these people in your conversations and include them in the decision making process.