The ONE Thing You Must do when Selling to the C-Suite

While it is commonly known among salespeople that if they engage top-level managers (otherwise known as the C-Suite), they would have higher chances of success. After all, if the salesperson can size up the ultimate decision-makers and fulfill their needs, it is much likelier to lead to better outcomes than if the salesperson were to engage with junior-level customers.

However, despite knowing the benefits of approaching C-Suite customers, many salespeople cannot get a meeting or strike up meaningful conversations with them. Research from Forrester showed that up to 75% of B2B buyers need to see the value in interacting with salespeople.?

Certain risks are associated with reaching out to the C-Suite, especially early in the sales process. If one's approach with the C-Suite does not land well, one may not be able to secure subsequent appointments with the C-Suite again. Worse still, the salesperson might even lose the opportunity to sell to the C-Suite's company.

Hence, I created this poll on LinkedIn, asking, "When selling to C-Suite customers, what will be the most important insights you want to have BEFORE you approach them?"

While many sales training providers emphasize the importance of building rapport with the C-Suite by understanding their communication styles, hobbies, and interests, these are not critical factors based on the poll. An overwhelming 86% of the respondents believed that understanding the C-Suites' priorities is the key to connecting with the C-Suite.

Here's what some of the respondents said:

• "What I'd like to learn about the corporation first things first is their direction and overall plan about certain areas."
• "Know their priorities first and prepare compelling reasons for how you can assist them. You can adjust during the meeting to best align with their decision-making and communication styles. During the rapport building, you should be able to discover hobbies and interests. You earn the privilege to meet with them by investing your time to learn how you can assist them in meeting their challenges and opportunities."
• "It's important to take time to know their outcomes for the year/quarter and lay a pathway to help them achieve it. Most C-suites are already busy people, and better preparing oneself is key to adding value to them. "
• "Knowing what they care about will help us to sell only what is relevant and thus more effectively."?
• "C-Suite selling is a bit different than other levels. First, it's about impact and results for the business, not for a piece of the business. Secondly, it's about the level of commitment, disruption, and transitioning."
• "It takes time to find out after value is delivered, trust built, and bonding well down the path - but find out their agenda (this can come from other sources). If an SVP/EVP, it could be a promotion to C-Suite. If C-Suite, it could be securing their legacy - which might be the current or upcoming digital transformation they are leading. Then work smart to show how your personal and company value can help advance such agenda."”

While the above is excellent advice for salespeople when approaching C-Suite customers, the question then is: how? What things can salespeople do to successfully reach out and sell to the C-Suite?

Here's a step-by-step guide on how you can do so:

1. Map out what the job of the C-Suite is like and what possible outcomes they might want to achieve
2. Identify what gains they might want to achieve and what pains they want to avoid, then match the features and benefits of your solutions accordingly
3. Communicate how you can add value by helping to achieve the C-Suite's desired outcomes?

1.?Map out what the job of the C-Suite is like and what possible outcomes they might want to achieve

The hardest part in selling to the C-Suite is to find out what outcomes and priorities those C-Suite has, especially when the salesperson is relatively inexperienced and does not know much about the C-Suite's industry. Furthermore, while many salespeople may understand the work their C-Suite customers are doing, they cannot derive the "so what" or the implications of achieving those outcomes.?

Hence, one of the critical things salespeople need to do is understand their customer's business to find out how their customers make money and manage their operations. This can be done through a Business Model Canvas exercise or through reading up about the customer's industry.

Salespeople would also go beyond asking questions about their customers' immediate buying needs and seek to understand these customers' current and emerging priorities. Simple questions such as "What will be the key focus for your business in the next year" that can be raised casually over a meal or drinks can give a lot of insights about those priorities.

2.?Identify what gains they might want to achieve and what pains they want to avoid, then match the features and benefits of your solutions accordingly

After identifying your customer's priorities and desired outcomes, the next step will be determining which aspects your customer wants to improve and what challenges your customer wants to resolve. Then, match the solution that could help your customer achieve these objectives.

One mistake I saw many technologically driven companies make is over-engineering their solutions and trying to impress customers with their state-of-the-art tech. However, customers will not be paying for solutions that do not fit their needs, especially if the over-engineered solutions are perceived as overpriced. The word "solution" suggests that it has to address specific problems, or else it would not be a solution.

3.?Communicate how you can add value by helping to achieve the C-Suite's desired outcomes

Finally, the salesperson must communicate the solution to the customer to gain buy-in. The salesperson must demonstrate how the solution will be a good fit to help customers achieve their outcomes.?

As different customers might have other preferences on how they digest and perceive information, the salesperson must ensure the message lands well regardless of those preferences. The communication may need to cover the following aspects:

• Why? Why this solution, or even a re-cap of why the customer's desired outcomes are important to them
• What? What are some key features of the solution, and how do those features address the needs of the customer
• How? How will the solution work? How to implement the solution?
• So What? What happens when the solution does its work? What will be the impact on the customer's desired outcomes??

In conclusion, while selling to the C-Suite is a vital process for many salespeople, many salespeople are unwilling or unable to do so. In essence, there is ONE thing salespeople must do so that they engage with C-Suite customers successfully: address the customers' key priorities. While many salespeople may not have the business acumen to understand what outcomes the customers want to achieve, there are steps that salespeople can learn and apply to ensure their solutions fit the customer's needs.?

When salespeople match the suitable solutions to the C-Suite's priorities, they will achieve quantum leaps in their sales success. As one of our poll respondents said, "Always sell the right solution compared to what they need.... and build a relationship that will give a better impact".

?c.j. is a sales performance coach and co-author of Sales Map – the only scenario-based assessment tool to evaluate the sales person’s strengths and weaknesses at every step of the B2B sales cycle.?He is a PCC with ICF, and a IAC Masteries Practitioner?.?c.j. can be reached at?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/cydj001/ ???

c.j.是一位销售绩效教练，也是“销售地图”（sales Map）的合著者。“销售地图”是唯一一个基于场景的评估工具，用于评估销售人员在B2B销售周期中每一步的优势和不足。他是ICF的PCC，也是IAC? 的Masteries Practitioner。 你可以通过 https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/cydj001/ ?联系到C.j.。