Virtual Meeting with the C-Suite? Don't Enter Without This!

Landing a virtual meeting with the C-Suite is a golden opportunity to leap past conversations about features, functions and price and engage in more strategic discussions while setting the bar for your competition. But here's the thing: decision-makers quickly weed out salespeople whom they perceive as not up to the challenge of partnering with them or their team on a strategic level. In that first meeting, your decision maker is evaluating you--not just on industry or product knowledge--but on your confidence, credibility, empathy and ability to listen – in other words, your Virtual Executive Presence.

What is Virtual Executive Presence?

You’re probably familiar with the term Executive Presence. It’s the ability to inspire, and influence people’s thoughts and behavior without authority. Executive Presence makes it easier for others to listen, to trust, and to be open to following your lead. Virtual Executive Presence is simply the ability to adapt and convey these qualities on virtual calls where initial meetings with the C-Suite often take place.

Why Virtual Executive Presence Doesn’t Come Naturally

If you have Executive Presence, you should be able to easily transfer that to the small screen, right??Wrong. Most sellers (and leaders) struggle to make the same impact virtually as they do in person.?And initial meetings with decision-makers quickly turn into last meetings when sellers fail to convey the confidence, credibility, authenticity, or active listening that decision-makers demand. To avoid this outcome, it’s crucial to understand how the key qualities of Virtual Executive Presence are conveyed on camera.

Key Qualities of Virtual Executive Presence

1.?????Confidence

Decision-makers seek confident partners. They want assurance that you are not easily intimidated by being invited into the C-Suite and that you believe in yourself and your ability to add value. Because if you aren’t a believer, why should they be?! Maintaining an equal footing is important, as customers don't simply want a "yes-man" who agrees with everything they say.

But it's not enough for sellers to simply “feel confident.” In virtual meetings you need to be able to “convey” that confidence, or avoid behaviors that undermine your confidence.?Rapid movements and lack of eye contact are major offenders. Studies show that we associate averted eyes with a lack of confidence or guilt. While most sellers are experts at maintaining eye contact in person, not so in virtual meetings where customers often only see the eyelids or foreheads of a salesperson. Eye contact on camera is a counter-intuitive but vital skill if you want to see “eye-to-eye” with decision-makers.

Additionally, sellers often lose confidence when confronted with decision-makers who do not have their camera on. This often leads sellers to engage in endless monologues, repeatedly check in, and answer their own questions.?All of which only make sellers appear more insecure.

Virtual Executive Presence is the ability to confidently engage with audiences – whether you can see them or not.

2.?????Credibility:

Building trust and establishing yourself as a reliable partner plays a vital role in the decision-making process. Decision makers naturally exercise caution when it comes to trusting vendors, and building it takes time. However, certain behaviors can quickly earn or lose their trust. For example, eyes that quickly shift from camera to screen, back and forth arouse suspicion and sow seeds of distrust.?Rapid movements indicate a nervousness that the seller may not feel. And the all-too-common incongruency between a sellers words body language and facial expressions on camera sends off red flags can cause red flags to appear for your customer.

3.?????Authenticity

Decision makers want to see your genuine self and consistency in how you present yourself. But many sellers have taken authenticity to the extreme in virtual meetings, disregarding professional dress, backgrounds, and attentiveness - even basic on-camera framing or lighting. It's crucial to remember that first impressions matter. Adhere to the standards you would follow in face-to-face meetings, projecting professionalism and attentiveness. The rule is simple: if you wouldn't do it in person, don't do it on camera.

Virtual Executive Presence is showing up as professionally and attentively as if you were in person.

4.?????Active Listening

25,000 business leaders were asked how sellers could build trust with them. Their number one answer??"Listen."

But even salespeople who pride themselves on their listening skills are surprised to discover that their customers don’t feel heard in virtual meetings. That’s because active listening cues we use in person, like looking at the other person or those small verbal acknowledgments, like “hmm, uh huh” are lost on camera.?In order to make your decision-maker feel heard, understood and valued, it’s vital to know how to replace those in-person listening cues with clear virtual active listening cues.

It doesn’t matter if you do “hear” your customer – if they don’t feel “heard.”

Don’t leave your meeting with the C-Suite to chance.?Level up your Virtual Executive Presence and turn those initial meetings with decision-makers into trusted partnerships for a successful sales career.

Don't Let Your First Meeting Be Your Last!

Want to learn more about how to develop your Virtual Executive Presence??Check out my new Virtual Presence for Sales Pros Course, Workshops, Assessments and Coaching programs.??

Cheers!

Julie Hansen

JulieHansen.Live