“Sell higher, sell more!” is the message sales managers deliver to salespeople today. The logic is clear — get into senior execs’ offices and the opportunity increases to make larger sales and develop strategic alliances.

Seize the opportunity

Earning the right to sell higher is only half the battle. Some salespeople squander the opportunity by treating senior executives as they would any other prospects.

Dealing successfully with senior executives requires an understanding that the audience is unique and must be treated differently than other prospects.

Goals are different

The goal in a first meeting with a senior executive is not to make an immediate sale but to develop a solid relationship that will be regarded as valuable by the prospect and will lead to many sales over time.

Conversations are different

Conversations with senior executives have different objectives. Research by The Forum shows that the most successful conversations with execs address five critical areas:

1. Strategic priorities: Confirming the prospect’s business goals enables salespeople to verify the accuracy of their assumptions and demonstrates that they have done their homework.
2. Time-bounded goals: The salesperson who asks targeted questions about the senior-level exec’s goals over a set time period demonstrates knowledge of the prospect’s areas of focus.
3. Opportunities and problems: Asking questions about opportunities and problems the prospect faces may provide insight into pressing issues and possible solutions.
4. Benefits and insights: Salespeople avoid discussing product features and functions, and instead offer new ideas that’ll help them form business partnerships.
5. Criteria for a business relationship: By establishing themselves as credible and insightful, salespeople drive conversations toward central questions, like “What does the prospect look for in good business partnerships?” and “What will it take for us to work with the prospect this year?”

Becoming a business partner

Senior-level prospects are looking for salespeople who can help them develop new strategies, not just identify solutions to predefined problems.

Salespeople who sell successfully to senior execs are able to:

• engage the interest of executives and draw them into meaningful, in-depth conversations
• educate high-level prospects, not only about the sales organization’s products and services, but also about industry trends and business issues, and
• enlighten high-profile prospects about new possibilities and act as a source for innovative ideas.

Be prepared

The research shows that salespeople who succeed in establishing relationships with senior-level prospects do three things exceptionally well:

1. They treat their initial conversations with senior-level prospects as if they were interviewing for the job of business partner.
2. They prepare a questioning strategy tailored to their own organizations and prospects.
3. They offer information and insights oriented toward the future.

Superior execution

Salespeople must develop a deep understanding of each prospect’s company, its products, services and markets, and its organizational strategy, mission and structure.

They must learn the industry issues and trends affecting each prospect’s company, as well as the profile of the prospect’s competitors. They must also learn the major problems and issues facing each prospect today and in the immediate future.

Know the audience

Here are 10 questions a salesperson may want to answer before meeting with a senior-level prospect for the first time:

1. What products or services does his or her company offer?
2. What are its major markets and customers?
3. What are the most important issues or trends in its industry?
4. Who are its major competitors?
5. How is it organized? Who are its top managers?
6. What strategies are key to its long-term success?
7. What is its mission or vision?
8. What important initiatives are being implemented right now?
9. What problems or hot spots is it facing?
10. How has the organization performed over the past year or so? How does it measure success?

The price of admission

With other prospects, those questions might form the basis for conversation. At the senior-level, knowing the answers to those questions before the conversation begins is the price of admission.

It demonstrates credibility and insight, building confidence and trust, and it gives the salesperson the chance to become an indispensable business partner.

Tags: conversations, engage, goals, parnternships, research, strategies, The Forum