3 Differences Between Normal Sales And Executive Sales

Executive Sales Training is important because it is very different from normal sales. If you want your team to succeed at executive sales, you need to ensure that you arm them with the right techniques and information. Here are the 3 main differences between them;

1) You Aren’t Selling to the Consumer

Selling something to the consumer directly is very easy because you can simply talk to them about the personal benefits they will have if they buy the product or service. In executive sales, you focus on the benefit to the organization, which means the things you focus on during the sales pitch are completely different.

There are often no emotional attachments involved – you have to focus on the business benefits of your product or service and nothing else. The emotional attachment can be between you and the executive team. You may create a friendship with them, but the product/service being sold must be sold on the basis of organizational benefits.

2) The Process is Longer and Happens over Multiple Conversations

A big part of executive sales training is teaching the sales people how to keep a conversation going throughout different times you talk. Sales to the executives may happen only after the 9^th or 10^th time you talk to them. On the other hand consumer selling often happens on the first or the second call. 

When you are talking directly to the consumer you go in guns blazing with a hook because you know that they may agree to buy in the next few minutes. With executive sales, you know that no one is going to give you a huge sales project after you talk to them for a few minutes. 

That may happen in cliché Hollywood movies but not in reality. That is also why executive sales training focuses on ensuring that you have multiple leads in development which may or may not pan out over a long time.

3) Executive Sales are Relationship Based

The most important factor in Executive Sales Training is creating relationships with the customer. You will be going through multiple meetings and conversation with the executives. They need to not just know you by name but also trust you when they are deciding to buy from you. This means that in many of the meetings you will not pressure them or focus on selling them the item or service at all. 

Instead you will focus on creating a rapport with them so you may sell something to them weeks or months later. Relationships are also the key to repeat sales which are more common in b2b sales. Most of the products and services being sold to companies are things the company would be interested in purchasing again and again.

You cannot just take someone who is good at a sales job and expect them to shine at an executive sales job without the right executive sales training.

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Change Your Sales Approach with Executive Buyers

If you want sell to the “big boys and girls,” you need to change your sales approach with executive buyers. Targeted executive sales training can help you adjust the way you sell so that you are effective at higher level sales.

What you will learn in most such training programs is that you need first to understand the executive’s role and what will grab his or her attention. No longer a simple pawn on the chessboard; you need to show that you have the business savvy, the confidence, the big picture view and the right solution to cast the shadow of a stallion.

In general, executives focus on strategies and results, not tactics. To meet them where they are, you have to address the issues that matter most to them. They are responsible for overall business results. Make sure that your solution and approach can materially affect one of the following: productivity, costs, sales, employee engagement or customer loyalty.

Executives are busy, busy, busy. Respect their time by being fully prepared. Whether you are on the phone, connecting via email or face-to-face, get right to the point. What can you do for them? And why should they care?  What will the impact of your solution be on their bottom line? Save the details for their follow-on questions or for their subordinates who may ultimately influence the buying decision.

Show your confidence. Executives appreciate a straightforward approach and respect those who can speak directly. They want to see that you believe in your solution and can back it up. This includes articulating upfront any possible risk factors involved.

Be persistent in your pursuit of an executive-level meeting. Make sure your “hook” is one that will appeal at the executive level and then try to reach your buyer through a variety of means…referral (by far the most effective), phone, or email. You don’t want to be a pest but if you truly believe that you can provide needed support, you should not give up before you have a chance to present your value.

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Paint a Positive Picture of Results to Sell to Executives

Once you fully understand the business impact your executive client is seeking, follow the advice of executive sales training experts and paint a positive picture that will build the relationship and create the smile of success.

Executives don’t have time for all the details of your proposed solution. Typically they leave the details to others who will have to deal with them. Executives need only enough information to make the decision, and the information they need is how your specific solution will bring results they desire. Usually the results have to do ultimately with increasing revenue or decreasing expenses. Your job as a salesperson is to paint the picture of how your solution will do just that. Help your executive client clearly visualize their desired result.

You can ask questions such as:

• How will the goal, once reached, specifically help the business?
• Once the problem is overcome, what will you be able to do?
• How does it look today and how will it look once solved? What is the difference?
• Who will it help and what aspect of the business will be improved?

If you can translate the desired results into a graphic, all the better. We know that a “picture is worth 1,000 words.” Illustrate the best possible outcome…revenue gained or expenses reduced. Perhaps you will be working with the sales team to increase revenue. Show how their smarter behaviors and more targeted sales activities will boost earnings. Use a graph to show current sales and predicted sales performance once the changes are made. Show all the positive attributes of your solution. They could include improved employee engagement and a happier sales team, renewed energy in the marketing department as they see real results of their efforts, and increased customer satisfaction as customer needs are more expertly handled. 

The more you can focus on the desired results and how the business picture will brighten, the closer you are to a sale and the closer the executive is to enjoying the results of a problem solved. 

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How to Establish Credibility When Selling to Executives

To sell effectively at the executive level you need to become as knowledgeable as you can about your C-suite prospects…what they care about, where they fit in the company, who they listen to, etc. This is the only way you can put together an executive selling game plan that can work.

The great advantage of selling direct to executives is that you have reached the decision maker and are likely to close the sale faster than having to make your way through the ranks. But the great challenge for most salespeople is that they have not learned that, in order to be successful, they need to adopt a different selling strategy from the one they use with lower level customers. Executive selling training helps you understand how to capture executives’ attention, establish credibility, and ultimately move them toward a sale.

1. Ensure Your Brand and Content is at the Right Level
   Make sure that your company has a professional-looking web site that conveys executive-level solutions to executive-level problems.  That includes all the social media channels like LinkedIn and Facebook for both you and your company.  According to salesforce.com, 64% of executives use LinkedIn and 55% use Facebook to keep connected and informed.  If your personal brand or corporate messaging does not resonate with the C-Suite, your chances of changing an executive’s online impression of you and your firm are low.
2. Learn all you can.
   Once your personal and professional brands are in alignment with your executive buyers, then do research on your target companies. Learn as much as you can about the industry, the marketplace, the organization, and their challenges. Use every investigative tool at your disposal…the internet, financial records, annual reports, letter from the CEO, and, of course, your network. You need to develop a working knowledge of the challenges at the company and a compelling plan for how you can help them succeed. If you have contacts there, get the scoop from insiders. And certainly, if you have internal supporters, ask for a referral. A warm introduction from the right person can give you almost instant credibility. 
3. Be ready to make your case.
   Gather the right data. Most executives are impressed by meaningful insights and compelling data. They want to know what your solution can bring them in terms of measurable business results compared to the alternatives at their disposal.  And most executives during the sales process like to know the actual numbers behind how you have helped other companies in similar situations.
4. Prepare and practice your pitch.
   Design your executive sales presentation to begin at the end. Use your punch line up front. Executives don’t want to waste time in a “warm-up.” They want the bottom line first. Then if they are interested, answer their questions with more detail. And make sure you focus on the value of your solution with regard to what matters most to them and their business…how it will spur growth, or save money, or open new markets. Then practice your spiel so you can present with confidence and as concisely as possible.

When you are fortunate enough to sit across from an executive, be smart about planning an approach that works.

Read About The First 3 Steps Required To Win High Stakes Presentations

5 Difference-Making Tips When Selling to Executives

You learned in your executive sales training program that it is critical to be fully prepared when you are selling to executives.  You need to know their business inside and out.  You need to bring value in the way of expertise and insight to each meeting. You need to help them succeed.  But here are a few additional tips that can make the difference between success and failure in selling at the C-level.

1. Continue to qualify the opportunity and the value.Certainly you asked the pertinent questions at the beginning of the sales process to determine if the opportunity was worth pursuing. But don’t stop there. Keep on asking the right and hard questions to make sure that you can help your executive buyer to succeed. Change occurs often and fast. Be sure the opportunity is still worth your while, that you can still effectively compete, and that you still have a reasonable chance of winning.
   


2. Make sure you have enough executive support.The trick here is to be sure you have more than a nod but that you have real commitment to your proposal at the highest level. Too many deals have been lost simply because an executive overrode the recommendations of lower-level managers and made their own choice. The other trick is to be sure you have the support of the relevant executive. Often the key stakeholder is not the CEO but a senior manager who has the most to lose or gain with the decision to buy from you.
   


3. Make your value visible.As you develop relationships throughout the client organization, make sure that the value you bring is visible and appreciated at all the right levels. Unless you show and communicate your value, executives may be entirely unaware of “what you do and know” that can help their business to succeed compared to the competition. This is how you can differentiate yourself and your organization.
   


4. Mitigate the risks to your executive customer.Executives always balance risks and rewards in any decision they make. It is up to you to understand their perspective and do what you can to demonstrate how investing in your specific solution presents less risk than the risk of not buying and implementing it.
   


5. Link your solution directly to a business result the executive cares most about.This is your value proposition. How will your solution affect a business outcome that greatly matters to your customer? First you must understand the goals and objectives of your client. Only then can you define the business value of your solution in the client’s terms. 

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/executive-selling-training-coaching/

Executive Selling – Empathy Helps Understand Their Point of View

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Does the idea of empathy in a business setting make you queasy? Is it a bit too soft-sounding for you to think it has a place in your hard-driving sales organization?

There was a time not so very long ago that many business leaders did not recognize the value of emotional intelligence. They focused on the hard, more technical skills and did not appreciate how skills like good communication, social intelligence, dependability and, yes, empathy could contribute to the success of their teams and their organization. 

Today, however, business leaders understand that a person’s emotional IQ is a critical factor in building relationships both internally and externally. Especially for customer-facing employees in sales and service, the higher their emotional intelligence, the more effective they can be at helping their customers to succeed. Empathy can help you succeed in sales…especially at the executive level.

Think about it. If you could see things clearly through an executive’s eyes (that’s what empathy is all about), imagine how much insight and compassion you would have into your customer’s perception of you and your offering, their buying style and decision making, and, ultimately, whether or not they are likely to sign the deal. Empathy can serve your business goal of increasing sales revenue and helping your customers to succeed. With empathy, you do more than sympathize with your customers. You can use your understanding of them and their situation to make smart decisions about the way you interact, the way you present your solution, the way you follow up, and the way you add measurable value to the executives you sell to.

How can you develop empathy? Executive sales training experts say you need to stop and think deeply about the other person’s perspective to understand their needs, their wants, and their motives. This is, by the way, what successful sales negotiations rely upon…having a complete understanding of the other side’s point of view.

To better sell to executives, you need to learn how to:

• Listen truly…with your ears and with your eyes for non-verbal cues.
• Be fully present.
• Be encouraging and smile to show you welcome customers’ thoughts and feelings.
• Be genuinely interested in what makes people tick.

As you build your capacity for empathy, you will find you are better able to persuade and help executive-level buyers. Fundamentally, empathy does have a place in executive sales because it helps build relationships that are trusting, long lasting and mutually beneficial. Isn’t that what you look for in your executive-level client relationships?

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/executive-selling-training-coaching/

How to Score a Meeting with an Executive Using LinkedIn

There are so many reasons why it is smart as a salesperson to meet as soon as possible with executives.  Executives:  

• are likely to be the decision makers
• wield power and influence over lower level contacts
• control the budget and 
• link directly to the strategy that drives their business

Yet, there are also many reasons why it is difficult to score a meeting with these high level folks.  Most executive team members:

• are super busy and 
• often find sessions with traditional sales people a waste of their time

From your executive sales training, you feel confident that you can handle the pressure of a coveted appointment in the C-Suite. You know the company and have done the necessary research. You understand what problems the company is facing. You have pulled together a persuasive list of potential solutions for their most pressing problem and have crafted a brief but compelling pitch with the client at the center.

First, however,  you have to get the meeting on your calendar. The most effective way to get an appointment with an executive is via a warm referral. This is where LinkedIn can help. Here are the steps to follow to use LinkedIn for warm referrals:

1. Identify your top target clients…the ones you love to work with, who appreciate your solutions the best and where you should win at least 75% of the time.

2. Ask if they would be willing to have you reach out to their connections. If they have been truly delighted with you and how you have helped them grow their business, they are likely to say “yes”…especially because it’s easy and quick to do so on LinkedIn. Make your request short and sweet so it takes little time for them to read it. And be sure to make it clear that you will use only a few of their contacts and only those with problems you feel qualified to solve.

3. With your top clients’ permission, use the “Advanced Search” option to sift through connections that are most likely to bear fruit. For the step-by-step process, see https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-get-referrals-from-linkedin-business-4-steps-angela-lin-ca.

4. Send an invitation to the selected executive connection citing your common contact. Suggest a time for an introductory meeting based upon a compelling idea or insight that makes sense for their unique situation and your referring contact.

Using technology to filter through contact lists for executives most likely to need your services is the smart way to get those referrals that win you a seat in the executive board room. Now go for it!

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/executive-selling-training-coaching/