Selling to the CEO

Written by Adrian Davis

When your salespeople have an opportunity to sell directly to the CEO, the most important part of their preparation is not what they are going to present. In fact, when selling to the CEO, they can leave their PowerPoint slides at the office. The most important part of their preparation is knowing what to listen for. Notice as you read this, there is no manipulation involved. It is just about engaging at a higher, more strategic level.

Fundamental Difference

The fundamental difference between selling to the CEO and selling to anyone else in the organization is what I call bi-focal vision. On the one hand, the CEO is very focused on quarterly results. On the other, CEOs are also focused on the long term vision of their companies. They must be the visionaries who see what the world might look like in 5 or 10 years and who can envision their company's place in the world. It is this longer term view that drives a very different sales conversation.

When selling to business managers, the focus of the conversation is around needs. We must carefully understand their needs and the implications of these needs. We must then present solutions which address these needs. When selling to CEOs, the focus of the conversation must be around vision. Where do they want to take their companies? Our "solutions" must then focus on how we can help them get there.

Questioning Methodology for CEO Selling

I have developed a powerful questioning methodology for salespeople to use when selling to CEOs. It has 5 steps that can be easily remembered with the acronym A-SALE:

A is for Amenity.

Amenity questions are designed to create small talk and to give the subconscious mind of the CEO an opportunity to get comfortable with your presence. While talking about the weather, sports or the latest news, the CEO gets the opportunity to look into your eyes, listen to your tone of voice, monitor your rate of speech, and observe your body movements. If at a subconscious level, the CEO remains uncomfortable, it is highly unlikely that your salesperson will uncover any meaningful information

S is for Strategic Context.

Most salespeople will immediately want to focus on needs in order to figure out how to address those needs. When selling to CEOs, however, we must remember they have bi-focal vision. As stated earlier, they are concerned with current needs (for the most part, they delegate addressing these needs to their direct reports). As CEOs, however, they are more concerned with creating the future of the company. Where most sales reps want to have a conversation that says, "Here's what you need and here's what I have.", you want your reps to have a conversation that says, "I understand where you are going. Here's how I can help you get there."

A is for Attention-Focusing.

Attention Focusing questions are designed to focus on what is not happening that should be happening or what is happening that shouldn't be. This is where the sales rep gets to focus on immediate needs.

L is for Linkage.

Linkage questions are designed to connect the needs uncovered with Attention Focusing questions with the Strategic Context uncovered earlier. The power of Linkage questions is allowing the CEO to formulate the connection themselves. Even if there is no obvious connection, your sales rep should not attempt to help make the connection. All your rep should do is ask the question, What does (need just uncovered) have to do with (strategic context uncovered earlier). When CEOs make the connection, they immediately recognize the strategic value of their current need. This will move the need from one of many needs the organization has to a strategic priority.

E is Envisioning.

Envisioning questions are designed to create emotional energy around the new future. Here your sales rep simply asks the CEO to paint a picture of what the future of the company will look like when the current needs and frustrations have been resolved. This is a very emotionally satisfying experience for the CEO and it stimulates the emotion of desire.

Conclusion

Using this questioning methodology when selling to CEOs will enable your sales reps to go beyond the standard "what do you need?" style of questioning to the more strategic approach of "where are you going and how can I help you?" Remember, it's lonely at the top. Chief executives appreciate having people around them who they can really talk to. The sale to the CEO is much more about the CEO feeling understood than it is about making the CEO understand the virtues of your product, service or company.

Adrian Davis
		About the author:
		Adrian Davis is a business strategist and trusted advisor for chief executives and business owners. He has been studying sales methodology for over 25 years and is often referred to as The Sales Scientist. He has an in depth understanding of what it takes to drive sales performance. He has critical insights to share with business leaders to help them overcome the challenges of a soft economy. As President and CEO of management consulting firm Whetstone Inc., he has worked with organizations such as AOL, KPMG, Motorola, Dupont, Aviva, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. His highly talented team has developed a reputation for leading organizations to innovative and practical solutions that enhance customer value and dramatically increase sales and profitability.
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