A Secret to Selling Success to Executives

If you really want to sell at the executive level, you need to understand the executive mindset. 

Most executives are all about results. They do not want all the details about how your offering works…that’s for their senior management to track and figure out. Executives want to know the positive and measurable impact your solutions will have on their bottom line. How can you solve an important challenge that they face, boost current revenues, or prepare their organization for success in the future? In other words, how can you help them achieve success, personally, professionally and organizationally? 

What drives most executives centers around success. So the secret that is rarely highlighted in standard executive sales training is that you should accentuate the positive. Executives are well aware of the negative. Let others probe for the “points of pain.” Distinguish yourself and your solutions by providing positive and future-oriented business outcomes.

First you need to know their most important strategic goals. What are your executive buyer’s priorities for the organization? And how will they measure progress toward that goal? The more you can focus on their business priorities, the more you will be seen as a business partner who deserves their time, attention and respect. 

A few more hints:

1. Don’t ask too many questions.
If you’ve done your research thoroughly, you should be prepared with compelling thoughts and insights to share. If you question too much without offering value that links to their most pressing issues, the executive is apt to bounce you down the ladder to a lower level where you may well belong.

2. Make it short and sweet.
When it comes time in the discussion to describe your solution, be succinct. Let the executive probe for more details according to their level of interest and need to know. If slides are involved, keep them to an absolute minimum and pull them out only if they help to illustrate a critical point. 

3. Have relevant case studies and testimonials at the ready.
Similar stories of success in similar situations and industries can be very powerful in moving an executive toward the buy decision. Use them as appropriate and when they illustrate a success that the executive can identify with and find of value.

When you have landed an appointment in the C-Suite, remember to keep focused on the business. That is how you can impress executives, sell more effectively and earn the envied position of trusted advisor. 

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

3 Paths to Help Your Client Earn a Seat at THE Table

When you are a “student” of executive sales training, you learn all about how to talk to executives effectively and what they care most about. You learn that they do not typically want to hear about tactics; their focus is on strategy. They typically do not want to hear all the details about implementation; they only care about business results. They need you to bring compelling value and insight to each and every conversation. Executives have no time for stock presentations of what your product or service can do; they only care about what your product or service can do for them and their shareholders.

All well and good if you are actually talking to the ultimate executive decision maker. But often, your primary contact is only on the way to the C-Suite. Just imagine how much more successful you would be if you could effectively coach your customer in all that you know about how executives think and buy. If you could help your new (or aspiring) executive-level buyer to achieve trusted status at THE executive table, you would both benefit enormously…your client from the newfound status and respect and you from the loyalty earned and potential business.

Help your primary contact achieve executive status by coaching along these three paths:

1. Achievement and accountability
Make sure your contact can achieve the desired goals. This could be part of the solution you sell. Coach them so they present the solution in a compelling way that highlights measurable business impact. But, if there’s a bump in the road, coach them to own up and be accountable. There is nothing to be gained, and a lot to lose, by passing the buck.

2. Risk management
Executives understand risks; they face them with every decision they make. Be sure your contact is able to outline any risks and implications so there will be no unhappy surprises along the way. Being fore-warned is being fore-armed.

3. Political savvy
Help your contact understand the executive-level politics. Advise that they meet this new “team” on level ground as they figure out where the power lies. It is best to not make any fast alliances until the personalities, motives and success metrics are well understood.

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

Executive Sales Success – Coaching Can Make the Difference

Meetings at the top with executive decision makers are the often most angst-ridden situations for salespeople. They know how much rides on their ability to connect on a personal level, to impress on a professional level, and to bring value to the discussion. Their stress is high and yet they need to project confidence and a sense that they belong in the room and at the executive table. This is what executive sales training is all about…preparing sales reps for what they need to know and how they need to behave for success in the C-suite.

But sales training is just the beginning. Program participants become aware of the challenges and how, at least in theory, to overcome them. But learning is an ongoing experience. It comes a little at a time and as the learner is in real-world settings. One lesson here, another lesson there. In the meantime, though, opportunities may have been lost. 

We know that coaching and on-the-job reinforcement can make the difference. Our research shows that it makes a 4-to-1 difference.  Learners receive feedback from successful sales reps on what they could do better next time.  As sales manager, you owe your learners the support and development they need to succeed.

If you have enough sales coaches to accompany newer folks on all their calls, great. However, this is probably not the best use of your top talent’s time. Your best sales folks are not always available or willing to give up their own opportunities to mentor another. The result is that your newbies are “practicing” in real time. Do you even know how many opportunities have been lost due to their inexperience and the painful lessons learned while right in front of the customer?

There is an answer. Use videos. This can work in two ways. Re-enact actual selling situations…first to show how it should be done and next to get feedback.

1. Your top talent can show learners how it is done.
Re-create the conversations between your experienced sales rep and customer executives. Throw in obstacles and challenges to the sale. Learners have a chance to observe how such problems are addressed. They can learn the language and attitudes that work. They will see how well prepared they must be, that executives are interested in business results rather than technical details, and that they should come armed with something of value like a fresh insight or special subject matter expertise.

2. Video your learners in real-world scenarios for coaches to observe and critique.
Give learners a chance to practice, review their performance and reflect upon feedback from coaches who can watch the videos when convenient for them. Learners can practice again and again in a safe setting. 

Soon your executive sales trainees, with the video help of your top talent, will be ready for the big time.

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

Executive Sales - How to Better Speak the Language of Executives

It is the foundation of all executive sales training—when you want to influence executives, you need to speak their language. Executives look for business results; they are not concerned with the tactics (the how) as much as the strategy (what will be gained). If you want to persuade executives and earn a place at their table, follow these tips to carry on a discussion at their level.

1. Answer the why. Your approach and solution needs to show why it matters and how it fits with the company’s strategic goals. Be clear about how your plan will improve current and future business in a way that matters most.
2. Be ready for objections. Expect that you will need to argue your case. Savvy decision makers will want to test your initiative from all angles. They will want you to prove that you have investigated and researched your plan thoroughly and that it makes sense compared to other alternatives.
3. Maintain a broad perspective. Understand that your proposal will be weighed against others. Where does yours fit in the priority list of the executive team? Paint a picture of how your plan will benefit the company as a whole. 

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

How to Make Points with the Executive Chief in Your World

When you want to make points with a decision-making CEO, you have to think like a chief executive. Whatever it is that you are trying to sell—a solution, a new plan, the need for more resources—your best chance at a successful conclusion is to take a page from an executive sales training primer that teaches how executives think. Then you are prepared with the right approach, the right perspective, and the right level of detail. 

Here is what executives tell us they want to hear from you in order to seriously consider your request:

1. Begin with the end in mind. Start with your conclusion. Don’t waste your executive’s time with a long build-up to what you want. State it at the outset and then spend the rest of the valuable audience time explaining your rationale.
2. Look forward not backward.  Focus on the future, not the past.  Clearly describe a vision of how your proposal will specifically improve the situation going forward in an area that matters most.
3. Be outcome focused.  Think results, not process. In the initial buying stages, executives are more interested in what you are trying to achieve and less in the means to achieve it.
4. Be prepared at the right level.  Do your homework. Anticipate all possible questions and have clear, compelling and reasonable answers ready – along with the strategic and business implications.
5. Be clear and precise. Use simple vocabulary, relevant examples and avoid clichés.
6. Be aligned and customer-centric. Be sure your proposed solution aligns 100% with the top 5-10 strategic priorities of both the executive and their company.   If, for example, the organization is focused on belt tightening and you have an innovative idea that will save costs, go for it.  Remember it is about helping the client to succeed, not hitting your sales targets.

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

The 2 Best (and Fastest) Sources of Information for Your Executive Meeting

What you learned in your executive sales training was right…to capture the attention of an executive you need to bring value. And that value comes in the form of insight or expertise.

Proper preparation for your sales meeting is critical. But sometimes you have little time between the meeting with your usual contact and the opportunity to meet with the CEO who happens to have an open 15-minute slot. Time is of the essence.

Here are your fastest and most readily available sources of information to help you gain the background you need to confer at the executive level:

1. The Letter to Shareholders
   Even though it is written only once it year, it is often a treasure trove of information on the external factors affecting the organization’s business, significant trends in their marketplace, strategic initiatives and predictions for the future. Pay special attention, too, to any business metrics they highlight so you can link your solution to the financial measures they care about.
   
2. Financial StatementsLook for changes, up or down, that can present opportunities for investment in your offering. From the income statement, try to identify significant shifts in their product/service mix and sales by region, business unit or product. You should analyze the balance sheet to get an overall snapshot of the organization’s assets and liabilities so you know if they are growing or shrinking.  

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

The First Step to Selling Successfully at the Executive Level

The very first step to having a productive outcome from a conversation with an executive is proving that you understand their world. This is the foundation of all executive sales training…establishing yourself as a trusted and insightful partner who can provide value at the highest level.

Selling successfully to executives requires that you understand what is important to them and be able to offer insights and suggestions that are relevant to what matters most – personally and professionally. Show that you are comfortable in the C-suite by being prepared, self-assured and compelling. As with any customer, take just enough time to build rapport so that you can engage in a mutually frank and revealing dialogue. And don’t be afraid to ask challenging questions that prompt your customer to think differently about the situation…the “what would happen if” and “have you thought about” questions. Then be ready to prove that you have the background and knowledge and solutions ready to tackle their problems and provide measurable help to them and their business.

• Do your homework. 
• Prepare thoroughly. 
• Practice role plays with colleagues. 
• Get candid feedback.
• And then take that first step.

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