"How to Sell to the C-Suite?"

In the first few newsletters we’ve discussed ways to think about your career: pivoting, if careers are a jungle gym or ladder, and if you should leave things off your resume to get hired. This week, I thought it might be interesting to talk about something very tactical and specific: how to engage new sales prospects. I hope that you continue to share your advice and point of view with the community too – because your experiences and wisdom are equally valuable!

Dear Can We Connect? B to B selling has changed a lot in the last 15 years. I've worked for Microsoft, Oracle and currently Google. Being an executive like yourself, what is your advice on how High-Tech sellers can be successful in engaging with completely new prospects?

Dear David, Great question. My simple answer is put yourself in my shoes. Like most C-suite executives, I’m pressed for time and under pressure to deliver results. I’m not looking to be sold, I'm looking for ways to grow my business. My advice is do your homework, sweat the details in your outreach (e.g. don’t misspell my name or send me a cut and paste email) and get to the point. This may seem obvious, and yet based on the majority of inbound I get, it’s not. If someone can’t handle the basics, I’m not trusting you to help me solve the bigger things.?

For those of you who may not be as seasoned as David, let me add, while business has evolved in many ways, I don’t think how you sell effectively has fundamentally changed. I learned the art of strategic selling in 1994 from Steve Heyer when he led sales at Turner Broadcasting. Steve (who went on to be COO/President Coke, CEO of Starwood etc.) taught us to sell like management consultants. This meant that we aimed to build long-term relationships focusing on solving the client’s problems rather than on individual sales. The process for how to sell effectively was laid out in Robert Miller’s seminal book Strategic Selling and I’m still a big fan of the Win-Win concept he introduced.?

But assuming you’ve read that, here are some specific suggestions I have for being an effective B2B seller when working to land a new client:?

• Go deep on homework. There is a lot you can learn about a client’s business from the outside – from articles, financial filings, their website and social channels. Conferences can be a gold mine of information. The ANA’s Masters of Marketing is a key one if you want to hear from CMOs. For example, keynotes, like “Transforming Home Improvement” given in ‘ 21 by Lowe’s CMO Marisa Thalberg. She shares great insight into what challenges she is focused on and how she is moving her business forward. In person conferences also can give you the opportunity to make direct contact with an elusive prospect.
• Leverage social media. Most clients are on social media today. Read their recent posts to get to know them and what’s top of mind for them. The more you know about them the more effective you will be pitching and building a relationship with them.?
• Get right to the point. When writing to the prospect, start with why your product/service can benefit a prospect's business or solve their problem. Hone your writing skills and your elevator pitch and lay out succinctly how you can help them.?
• Work multiple angles. When trying to get to the C-Suite, how you think about your outreach is key. B2B selling is complex and requires the buy-in of several stakeholders. Leverage your personal and professional network to get to different entry points. Look for ways your company may do business with your prospect. I’ve seen salespeople use a prospect company’s procurement relationship to land an introduction with the C-Suite. Also for bigger deals, you will likely be required to bring several key folks along. For example, while the CMO may be the ultimate decision maker on a marketing software they will likely rely on input from the team and the company’s CTO.?
• Find a potential partner. There are times when the way into a client is through a partner. This isn’t about selling the partner. Rather it’s about finding a way to co-sell to solve the clients' needs. For example, when I ran national sales at Gannett we partnered with a shopper marketing company as a way to co-sell to retail clients. This allowed us to better understand the client and how their business operated and set up a three way Win-Win. It was also a great way to get to new prospects.?

I hope these tips are helpful. Also I want to thank Evan Messinger for confirming my tips. He is one of the best strategic sellers I know who is VERY adept at engaging C-Suite clients.?

Thanks for engaging in the conversation. Questions can be submitted here .

Feel free to share with anyone you think would benefit from the conversation or who you think might have a question they’d like answered.?