How do you leverage executive advocacy to influence the buying committee and shorten the sales cycle?

In my experience, An executive champion within the company, someone with clout and a proven track record, can be your secret weapon. By partnering with them, you gain a powerful ally who can speak directly to the committee, highlighting the value your product brings and potentially overcoming any objections. This not only builds trust with the committee but also streamlines the process – the advocate has already vouched for your solution.

Finding an advocate at the right level can take time. Start by working at lower levels, closer to the day-to-day problems and build rapport. Work to understand more about the challenges the business is facing how you might be able to help. Begin to build a map of the org structure to identify how you can build a community of people that you can help. From there, you can begin to think about which exec might be a good advocate, leveraging relationships with the community you've built who are willing to champion your solution.

"True influence is not about imposing your will on others, but about guiding them towards discovering their own desires and aspirations."

Techniques- Understanding the stakeholders, their interest, influence is important to really leverage the role, authority they play. As an executive leader, we must advocate for our organization, our industry, our product, our services or our community on various issues and challenges we can address basis our experience and capabilities. Build trust & reliability by understanding their communication needs, desires to achieve in coming years and presenting the outcome made in the past around those needs and desires basis their communication power level style. Show case your value proposition and scalable impact around multiple tangible and intangible outcome covering risks and mitigations around security and compliance as a trusted partners.

"Influence is not about making others do what you want; it's about helping them discover what they truly want." - Unknown Identifying an ideal executive advocate is crucial; perhaps a seasoned industry veteran with extensive experience. By aligning their perspectives with the buying committee's needs, this advocate becomes a trusted voice. Leverage their insights to communicate value and address concerns effectively, thereby accelerating the decision-making process and shortening the sales cycle organically.

Contrarian view: Don't worry about building rapport on a call, worry about being perceived as an expert. You will naturally build rapport and trust with the level of discovery questions that you ask. Asking the right questions, will show that you're an expert. People will buy from those who think will solve their problems. If they like you, that is just a bonus.

Before you can build rapport or trust, you need to demonstrate that conversations with you have some value. Don't go in with a sales pitch; instead offer something of value - that might be an overview of what you've seen elsewhere in the industry or some of the observations you've made whilst working with the organisation. Once you've established that you have something meaningful to say, it's about being authentic, honest and transparent. When it comes to demonstrating the benefit of your solution, be brief, tailor your language to their interests, and wherever possible leverage quotes from employees or examples of working practices that will relate to your executive advocate.

Building rapport and trust with your executive advocate is crucial for successful collaboration. Identifying their goals and challenges, aligning your solution with their priorities, and adapting your communication style to match their preferences are key steps. Tools like Crystal or DISC can aid in understanding their personality type for effective engagement. This approach fosters a strong connection, enhancing the likelihood of a mutually beneficial partnership.

Building strong relationships with key executive advocates is pivotal in driving success within the buying process. By delving deep into their aspirations, obstacles, and focal points, you can align your offerings with their needs effectively. It's crucial to adapt your communication style to resonate with theirs, ensuring a seamless exchange of ideas and information. Leveraging tools such as Crystal or DISC can provide valuable insights into their personality traits, enabling tailored and impactful interactions that pave the way for expedited sales cycles.

Showcase how the collaboration with the executive advocate aligns with their personal and professional goals. Highlight mutual success and emphasize how their endorsement not only contributes to organizational growth but also enhances their own reputation as a strategic leader. This approach reinforces a sense of shared objectives and encourages a deeper commitment from the executive advocate, further solidifying trust and rapport.

I agree, and this is an ongoing process. Things change quickly and while overarching objectives won't change much, (as they are typically multi-year) how clients intend to achieve those objectives can shift with some regularity. This occurs due to a variety of factors. If you have a quarterly business review scheduled with your advocate, don't settle there. Be on the lookout constantly for something of value that you can share. Do what you can to bring value and remain top of mind, without creating an annoyance. Then follow up to confirm that what you offered was valuable. Building and nurturing the relationship with an emphasis on value is the best path.

Sharing industry trends, best practices, case studies, or testimonials is great, but it's important that you tailor that to the executive. You don't want them to think you're bulk sending content and they don't have the time to read what you send to look for what might be relevant. Highlight the pieces for them that you think can help them in their problems and perhaps offer to make an introduction to the author or someone who can talk in-depth on the subject.

"Value is not determined by those who set the price. It is determined by those who choose to pay it." - Simon Sinek Begin by offering value and insights to your executive advocate that directly align with their goals and challenges. Tailor your communication to showcase how your solution addresses their specific needs, providing a personalized perspective that goes beyond generic offerings. By consistently delivering valuable information and insights, you position yourself as a trusted resource, strengthening the partnership and influencing their advocacy within the buying committee.

I believe that consistently providing value and insight to your executive advocate is key to gaining their support. I share relevant industry trends, data-driven insights, and case studies that highlight the benefits of my solution. By offering actionable intelligence and demonstrating how my solution can address their specific challenges, I position myself as a valuable resource. This approach not only strengthens the advocate’s confidence in my offering but also equips them with the information they need to influence others effectively.

If you want to shorten your sales cycles, take a parallel vs. sequential approach. Rather than going from one gatekeeper to the next, on your very first call map out all of the decision maker's in that companies buying process. That way you're not relying on your executive advocate, you're taking the matters into your own hands.

In my experience, I would want to fully understand the buying process at the organisation and ensure that whatever solution I'm proposing has been properly socialised with the majority (if not all) the committee decision makers before it is formally taken for review. Executives don't like surprises and your idea can get shot down quickly if the wrong person thinks that someone might be trying to work around them. Don't rely on a single executive - try to build support for your proposal with a number of stakeholders before any decision process. Take the benefit of their broad experiences and use it in your proposal.

Empower your executive advocate to effectively influence the buying committee by providing them with tailored resources and key messaging. Equip them with compelling data points, success stories, and clear value propositions that resonate with the committee's priorities. Foster collaboration by co-creating presentations or materials that align with their communication style. By arming your advocate with the right tools, you enhance their ability to sway the committee, ultimately expediting the decision-making process and shortening the sales cycle.

Enabling your executive advocate to influence the buying committee involves providing them with the tools and support they need. I supply them with tailored presentations, key talking points, and data that underscores the value of my solution. Additionally, I offer to assist in meetings and provide any additional information they might need. By making it easy for the advocate to communicate the benefits and address potential objections, I enhance their ability to sway the buying committee and shorten the sales cycle.

I find it helpful to: 1. Understand your customers organizational priorities and strategic objectives via 10k, shareholder meetings, other publicly accessible material, and open dialogue. 2. Sell on value by demonstrating to your executive advocate how your solution helps to accelerate business value leading to a prioritized organizational priority or strategic objective. 3. Educate your advocate on time-to-value and the cost of delay. 4. Leverage your advocate to understand their specific organizational approval processes and procurement timelines. 5. Offer to co-present and assist in building the internal business case.

Leveraging executive advocacy involves identifying key advocates, aligning solutions with their goals, showcasing success stories, facilitating executive-level presentations, and building trust through consistent value delivery, all aimed at influencing the buying committee and expediting the sales cycle.

Additionally, it’s important to stay engaged and adaptable throughout the process. I regularly check in with my executive advocate to address any new concerns or questions that arise. Flexibility in adjusting my approach based on feedback and the evolving dynamics within the buying committee can make a significant difference. Building a network of advocates within the organisation can also help reinforce my message and create a stronger, more unified push towards a decision.

1. Early Buy-In: Get your executive advocate involved early in discussions to set a positive tone and align the buying committee's objectives with your solution. For example, if an executive champion speaks highly of your product, it can expedite decision-making. 2. Peer Recommendations: Executives often rely on their networks. Encourage your advocate to introduce you to other key decision-makers or share your proposal in high-level discussions to bolster credibility. 3. Use Case Validation: Equip the executive with real case studies or pilot project successes to present in internal meetings. This data-driven approach can create urgency and trust within the committee.