No matter to which industry or segment you belong, selling to the c-level executives will impact your business tremendously. But for your surprise, most of the salespeople don’t even know that they should try selling to senior executives.
The research by Steve W. Martin states that only 31% of salespeople can converse effectively with high-level executives. So, where are the others? Why are they unable to sell to c-level executives? It might be because of negligence, improper implementation of strategies or incorrect strategies altogether.
To help you with this aspect, we listed seven hand-picked techniques for you. Every salesperson must know it before initiating the conversation with the high-level prospects.
1. Identify the Right Executive to Target
One of the significant challenges is to identify the right target for your brand. Determine which c-level executive will show interest in your product or services. Make a list of such prospects ahead of time and plan accordingly. If you do not have email lists of c-level executives, you can buy one from vendors online.
Once you prepare the list, invest some time to study their rank, influence patterns, and organizational dynamics. This study helps you to find the right executive who can have maximum benefit from your brand.
2. Pick the Right Form of Approach
After identifying the target, you must determine the steps to approach them. In this scenario, you can befriend subordinate officers to the executives and develop a staunch ally with them. It will help you in building a better relationship with the high-level executives in the long run.
Behind every top-level officer, you can find an executive assistant who makes their lives better. And, these people can block you or help you in achieving your sales goals. Maintain a good relationship with them, treat them better, and take their help to schedule a meeting with the executives.
3. Learn More about Your Target Executives
Now you have a list of your target audience and also a laid out plan to build a relationship with their subordinates. But, before proceeding with the next procedure, you need to learn more about the high-level executives in your list. Understand their position in the global market and also about the trends or technology that affects their decision.
Various business websites or journals provide you with all the essential information about the CxO’s you are planning to target. The more you research about them, the more you will get to know the problem of their company. Besides, this study helps you in identifying the strategy that can resolve their issue.
4. Make Sure Your Solution is Applicable
Since there are multiple levels in CxO’s where each one of them deals with different aspects of business, you must ensure that your solution will be of help to their role. You can segment your high-level executive’s list based on their level or position, and send only relevant messages without annoying them.
You should also consider the benefit of an organization. If your solution is capable of offering them half of the revenue they expect, they may not consider your answer at all. A detailed study of the organization and their problems will aid you in this strategy.
5. Create the Best Content Strategy
Content plays a crucial role in B2B companies. To connect with the relevant c-level executives, you must have the best piece of material with you. One must craft a content that provides all the essential information to the target audience and also capable of driving the conversation further. Besides, make your content available in a different format and different places.
Since it is critical as well as time-consuming to create the contents that are eye-catching, you can hire people to do this work for you. And, ask them to create engaging content in the form of eBooks, whitepapers, emails, blogs, newsletters, and more. Later, you can publish them in your website or any business journals to quickly gain their attention.
6. Give Importance to Your First Impression
If you have researched well about your target c-level executives, you can effortlessly communicate with them without sounding unprofessional or pushy. Create the best impression in your first meet or phone call with the information you have about their company and its problems. Pose some intelligent questions about the issues they face and listen attentively to their answers.
Once you feel comfortable conversing with them, share your services or products that can solve their problem quickly. Also, you can offer references that add more value to your conversation. You can conclude the meeting with a plan of action and schedule the next meeting with them based on their convenience.
You can bring along a solution manager with you in your next meet to demonstrate your product or to give expert guidance. This strategy helps you to move your conversation to the next level and thereby the chances of closing the deal with the c-level executive’s increase.
7. Your Credibility Matters Too
Your credibility plays a vital role while selling to the CxO’s of the company. The high credibility and reliability ensure your trustworthiness in the market. Be it any CxO such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), or Chief Marketing Officer (CMO); credibility is the primary factor they are always concerned.
Now It’s Up to You
Selling to any c-level executives is challenging most of the time. But when you follow the few basic business principles mentioned here, you can do it like a pro. It might consume some of your time or effort. But it is truly worth it if you are capable of engaging the executives in the right way.