The Only 3 Ways To Engage With Executive Level Prospects.

Are you in high-value, complex Sales?

Are you targeting senior executive buyers?

Do you find them difficult to reach, and even harder to engage with?

"Yes" to all the above?

Then you should read this article.

Why is selling at Executive level so hard?

It starts with the fact that most senior executives are extremely time-poor. They have people reporting to them, and they report to someone up. So they have a lot on their plate.

Then sales reps come along and add to the pressure:

Imagine being already busy, and then being bombarded with countless sales pitches by hopeful sales reps every hour of every day. It's incessant.

Typically, senior executives perceive sales pitches as unwelcome disruptions that divert their attention, steal their time, and break their trains of thought. To them, they are more than mere distractions. They are business disruptors that stop executives from focusing on their jobs and on what they are trying to achieve. It's personal.

No wonder senior executives feel under siege.

They react by putting up barriers. Be that by installing gatekeepers, such as their EAs, blocking unknown callers, and implementing anti-spam software.

So, their default position becomes like this image:

Figuratively speaking, they are telling you this:

"Go away. Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested!"

It's a tough gig trying to sell into that sort of hostile environment.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

So, what sales approach works for executive buyers?

You don't pitch them. You intrigue them.

And: You create a Lean-Forward Moment.

So, what are the only three effective ways to engage with executive buyers?

Number 1: Make them aware of A NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY they didn't realize they have.

Every senior executive is under enormous pressure to perform. Thus, they will always be very interested to hear of new ways to reach, and exceed, their KPIs and objectives.

Good salespeople use that inert interest to their advantage. Great salespeople even present their solutions in ways that have the prospect believe it is their idea to start with.

As for how difficult it is to pull this way of selling off credibly: It is not easy.

Sellers will need the stature, credibility and poise to first disrupt the senior executive's thinking, and then to present the new idea in ways that make it land gently on fertile grounds. A previous article of mine deals with the challenges of Challenger-style selling.

This first method is hard to pull off, but it can be done.

Number 2.: Warn them of A RISK they did not know they're facing.

Just as every senior executive is under pressure to perform, they are also under pressure to stay out of trouble.

This makes them highly aware of, and very sensitive to, all sorts of risks.

And, there are many:

Financial risk, reputation risk, career risk, security risk, privacy risk, opportunity risk... The list goes on.

Clever sellers use that innate sensitivity to risk to their advantage. Just as in point 1 above, great salespeople help their senior executive prospects to seemingly discover these unaddressed risks themselves, so that they believe it was their idea. In that way, they will welcome the seller's solution all the more.

Playing the risk card is not easy, either.

Sellers need to pull it off, without coming across as lecturing or just mongering trouble.

Number 3. HELP THEM DISCOVER that they have a need for what you are selling.

The great advantage of this third way is that it is easier for sellers to utilize, and far more scalable, than the other two.

Why?

It requires less prospect-specific research, time and effort.

Sellers still need to lead their prospect engagement with a new perspective. Some intriguing insight, point of view, or research that disrupts the senior executive's thinking, or even their view of the world.

Where to from Here?

Why not assess your current sales approach?

Discover just how buyer-focused it is right now.

Try this free self-assessment and learn how you can do better.

It only takes a few minutes.

Here's to your selling success.

Peter Strohkorb

About

Peter Strohkorb?is the Founder and Principal of?Peter Strohkorb Advisory, the international Sales Advisory firm with a growing list of clients in the b2b services and tech space.

Clients in the USA, in Australia and in the UK.

Our motto is "More Sales, Faster". That is exactly what we deliver to you, our clients.

Let's talk about your Sales.

Contact

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