From the course: B2B Sales Strategy: How to Effectively Engage Executives

Choosing the right executive for your sales engagement

From the course: B2B Sales Strategy: How to Effectively Engage Executives

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Choosing the right executive for your sales engagement

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- Sometimes it's clear who the key executive is for your products or services, but more often the answer isn't straightforward, as with complex enterprise opportunities where there tend to be multiple levels of decision makers. You might be used to thinking about who your executive sponsor should be using the conventional approach, which starts by identifying who controls the finances and budget for your products or services, and who's the senior leader with the ultimate authority to decide? I'd like to suggest adding one more criteria that flips the script. It starts with identifying which executive's priorities would be the most impacted by the strengths that your company can offer. The difference in the two approaches is subtle, yet incredibly powerful. Instead of employing traditional thinking about who your executive target is based on your sales process, the flip the script method helps you carefully consider which executive would find the most value in engaging with you and your company. Executives will only make time for salespeople if they believe they will gain value during the meeting. The flip the script approach will make it easier to secure a meeting with the person of influence that you're targeting. Let me tell you a story about Mia, an account executive and new client who is struggling to determine the best executive sponsor for her technology services. Mia had recently lost her biggest prospect to a competitor who garnered the support of a critical senior leader before Mia was granted a meeting with that leader. She knew from this painful experience that establishing a relationship with the correct executive sponsor for her next big opportunity was essential to her ultimate success. So the next time Mia found a big prospect, she flipped the script. Mia targeted the executive who would find the most value in a relationship with her and her company. She shifted from an about me perspective to an about them perspective. Using value alignment as her guiding criteria led her to the correct executive sponsor. Mia is now poised to move forward with clarity and a high likelihood of success. I want to introduce you to a simple but powerful tool that will help you do the same. It's called the 100% Readiness Executive Engagement Guide, and it's specifically designed to help you apply all that you're learning to an upcoming executive meeting. It's a straightforward fillable pdf, and we'll take it section by section. If you use this guide consistently, you can expect to be 100% ready to successfully engage key executives, not just once, but over time. Take a moment now to consider your executive selection criteria using the Engagement Guide, or use the notebook area on your LinkedIn Learning dashboard.

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