Selling to the C-Suite

Identifying the relevant executive for the sales opportunity may represent the best way to spend your time in an initial approach to a sales opportunity.  In the book, Selling to the C-Suite, we clearly define the relevant executive as the executive who stands to gain the most or lose the most – as a result of the application or project associated with your sales opportunity. 

The reason it is so critical to identify the relevant executive is because that executive can often exert their informal influence or power to either make or usurp the buying decision that was made as a result of the formal decision-making process.  Salespeople are usually very tuned to the formal decision-making process – it is the one that may be described in an RFP or it may be articulated by those who participate in the formal decision-making process. But in nearly every sales opportunity there is an informal decision-making process in play and salespeople eventually learn that the informal process always trumps the formal process.

Therefore, it you can identify and align with the relevant executive for the sales opportunity you can significantly reduce the time you spend trying to win the deal. And guess what – if you are not aligned with the relevant executive for the sales opportunity – your competitors probably are – and if that’s the case you will probably not win the deal!

 Identifying the relevant executive for the sales opportunity may not be an easy task. It will take time, resources and a lot of your energy – however, when you are able to identify that executive, your rewards can be great!.

In order to begin to identify the relevant executive you should constantly be aware of what’s happening in the client organization – always watching how major buying decisions are made, who wins when re-organizations take place and which executives receive the special assignments that are meaningful and significant. In addition, you should be looking for who’s connected to who within the client organization – and noticing which executives are tapped to lead the new projects of importance. You should also be discussing these events with your supporters or mentors in the client organization – and then triangulating your information to develop your conclusions.           

By using this approach to identifying the relevant executive for the sales opportunity – and aligning with that executive – you will find that you have significantly improved your odds of winning key deals!