The Secrets to Accessing Power
Don’t get caught with your pants down!
Everyone wants to sell to Decision Makers – to sell at the ‘C-Suite’ – because that’s where we’ll understand:
- The true business value of a solution – the ROI that extracts maximum value
- Who will really make the decision
- How the decision will get made in reality
- The point in the Client’s business cycle where implementation and deployment will disrupt the least – so when to start. And therefore the best time to close a deal….and be able to forecast accurately
But getting access is a mystery to most.
Believe it or not, even those who do achieve it don’t always understand how they’re doing it
Unfortunately for us, in the real world, our Clients’ Execs aren’t interested in talking to sales people. Instead, they’re thinking…
- Sales people aren’t worth my time
- I’ve already got a trusted Manager to do the ‘Supplier Evaluation’
- I won’t understand what the sales person’s talking about
- I certainly won’t understand what it’ll mean for me or us
So let’s get real…
Execs are right!
Most sales people aren’t worth the time.
The Classic Mistakes People make...
- Sales people hide behind ‘Multi-Level’ selling to abdicate responsibility to their own Exec claiming a ‘Peer to Peer’ relationship will work best.
and / or
- Sales people will devise a clever way to engineer an Exec meeting. They may succeed in getting the meeting, but they’ll end up with their pants around their ankles
They’re mistakes because both tactics miss the real opportunity for them and their Clients. No one will be able to personalise the conversation – to make it specific to the Exec or the Client.
It’s all about Specific Value and a joint Plan
Everyone knows that sales people will only get Exec attention if they bring value
But what sales people do is dig out and then spout impressive facts and figures that that they have been told ‘bring insight’ to their Client such as:
- Industry Trends
- Ways to overtake the competition
- Investments to reduce cost or reduce risk
- Investments to exploit markets organically or inorganically
They sound good – they sound like a ‘Business conversation’
But these so-called ‘Insights’ are merely pieces of knowledge that Execs assume we’ll know.
So we don’t gain points by knowing them – we only lose points for not knowing them.
They’re like The Emperor’s New Clothes if we think they’ll give us meaningful access.
The Real Answer to Accessing Power Professionally
First of all, stop looking for a magic fix. Roll up the sleeves and get to work!
- Prepare your short, sharp credibility statement with ‘Marketing Insights’ by all means, but remember that it will only show you’ve done some homework
- Follow the path laid out in the 4 steps below
- Master and apply 5 key techniques
Here are the 4 steps
And here are the 5 Essential Techniques
How to build a relationship with the Client’s Project Sponsor – a relationship they’ll rely on
How to use that relationship to get introduced to Decision Makers
How to ‘sell’ a winning sales engagement before you pitch a ‘solution’
How to create and apply Pain Mapping skills throughout
How to tell the Client’s own story as well as position solutions through story telling
With 35 years of learning best practices and 20 years coaching salespeople, I can help you get started.
Just 30 minutes on a call
And there’s no fee.
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂
Thank you
Thank you – I will!