Over the years I’ve been writing in these pages, I’ve made the case that much has changed in selling.
But there’s one thing that will probably never change: the biggest decisions in any company will be made at – or require support from – the top of the organization.
The most important commitments a company makes are decisions involving, for example, operating philosophy, policy, strategy, budgets, significant changes in employee count, major purchases and key supplier relationships. Such decisions determine the very fate of the enterprise. The bigger the commitment, the higher it must travel up the ladder.
Although many traditional corporate hierarchies of old are morphing into strange, new organizational structures, it’s hard to imagine a time when there won’t be some version of the “people at the top.”
Yet the notion of calling on senior management is frequently met with resistance from salespeople – plenty of resistance. Have you heard any of these objections before?
• We’re already calling on the decision-makers.”
• We’ll alienate our regular contacts.”
• Senior management couldn’t care less about our products – and besides, executives don’t see salespeople.”
• It’s a rubber stamp at that level.”
These spoken objections reflect one of two distinctly different realities:
1. Salespeople who know that they should be calling at the executive level but don’t know how to do it or what to do when they get there – which is, ultimately, a fear-driven reality; or
2. Salespeople who truly believe that all these objections apply to them – which is, ultimately, a reality driven by a traditional sales mindset.
What executives want to see
The fact is executives do want to see sales professionals – if those sales pros know how to meet with them. Moreover, you won’t alienate your lower level contact if you’ve proven yourself to that contact as a credible business resource, not just a glad-handing vendor who’ll embarrass him in front of his boss (remember, your contact’s name may be on that meeting).
Unlike other customer meetings, it’s certainly true that a bad meeting with a customer executive is worse than no meeting at all. And actually getting to senior management is harder than simply knowing that it’s important to do so.
But if you’re committed to doing what’s necessary to get out of your own comfort zone and to demonstrate to your customers’ executives that you are truly a business resource who brings value and is therefore worthy of their time, then on the strength of that commitment alone, you’re well on your way to success.
The starting point to learning how to get to executives is to first understand the purpose of the executive meeting. That’s because its purpose – confirming alignment – is so radically different from the mainstream argument of “getting the decision made.”
Traditionally, getting to executives was considered important by salespeople primarily because they thought they needed the executive “involved in a decision.” Frankly, that erroneous basis for the executive meeting was the reason for so few successful outcomes. Instead, the focus of executives, as far as supplier relationships are concerned, is centered more on the strategic “fit” or “alignment” between their company and a supplier.
For years, my experience with clients has borne this out. I’ve consistently found that executive access efforts based on alignment are always more successful than those based on getting the executive “involved in the decision.”
Getting to executives is among the more complex subjects in all of selling. And I hate to use clichés, but there are no executive access “silver bullets.” However, once a salesperson internalizes the proper context for the executive meeting – confirming alignment, not getting the exec involved in the decision – all other aspects of the process become a little more clear.
Correctly understanding the executive meeting’s purpose also goes a long way toward breaking down the gatekeeper tendency which so many lower level contacts would otherwise have. Telling a subordinate that you want to “get the executive involved in the decision” is a pretty sure way of provoking opposition. Softening that suggestion with “confirming alignment” language is no guarantee of support, but it will help.
