Why Salespeople Don't Call on Executives Stephen J. Bistritz, Ed.D. Co‐author of Selling to the C‐Suite www.sellxl.com © 2013, Learning Solutions International. All rights reserved. www.sellxl.com Why Salespeople Don't Call on Executives Stephen J. Bistritz, Ed.D. www.sellxl.com Interviews with thousands of top salespeople selling to executives confirm their fear of calling on senior‐level client executives. Fear of failure is often cited as their primary concern. They are absolutely right when they view this type of executive call as a high‐stakes game and blowing a call at the executive level can deny them return access for an extended period of time. There is never a second chance to make a first good impression! Their second fear is lack of self‐confidence. This is hard for many salespeople to admit. Their ability to review the technical details of their solution at lower levels in the customer organization is typically beyond reproach; however, they are, at times, intimidated calling at higher levels. The fact is that many salespeople are out of their comfort zone selling to executives at the top levels of the client organization. The third fear is their lack of equivalent position. At times they feel they have to be of "like rank" in order to call on senior‐level executives. To compensate, they bring one of their company's executives without briefing them beforehand. The result is a "glad‐hand" call that simply wasted the time of the customer executive. In most cases, this fear of equivalent position is one that is not well founded. Most client executives are more focused on the potential value that a salesperson can bring to them and their organization, rather than the salesperson's rank. In any event, the three fears cited above can all be mitigated by effective preparation for that critical first call on a client executive. As I have said in numerous articles and countless interviews, a salesperson, in selling to executives, should focus on three areas of acquiring knowledge about the client; namely, the client's industry, the client's company and the client executive herself or himself. Knowing how to access and acquire this information using the internet is today's new skill that is a requirement of being a professional salesperson. And the most important of these is skills is the one associated with acquiring information about the client executive. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook can provide invaluable information on the executive ‐ or give you information about people you may know who are already connected to the executive in some way. Armed with this level of information, the salesperson can be much more effective in that initial face‐to‐face meeting with an executive. When the Chief Information Officer of a large technology corporation was asked: "Why would someone at your level meet with salespeople?" his reply was, "because salespeople can often offer solutions to my business problems that even people in my own organization can't address. I want to meet with them because of their experience in solving problems in other organizations and the subsequent value they can offer to me." © 2013, Learning Solutions International. All rights reserved. www.sellxl.com Only when salespeople demonstrate that they are willing to understand and listen to the executive's key business issues, articulate the business value they can deliver to them and demonstrate a consistent ability to be perceived as a trusted advisor can they begin to overcome their own fears of calling on and selling to executives at that level. About the Author Dr. Steve Bistritz has more than 40 years of high‐tech sales, sales management and training management experience. He is a published author and lecturer in the field of sales, sales management and selling to executives and is the co‐author of the new book, Selling to the C‐ Suite, published by McGraw‐Hill. Steve spent more than 27 years with IBM in sales and training‐related positions. He then led the development of sales training programs which were delivered to tens of thousands of salespeople worldwide. He holds a doctorate in human resource development from Vanderbilt University and is currently president of his own sales training and consulting firm, based in Atlanta. Steve can be reached through his website: www.sellxl.com © 2013, Learning Solutions International. All rights reserved. www.sellxl.com