- sales
- Blog post
Selling to the ultimate decision maker: focus focus focus
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Michael Boyette
on June 14, 2010
There’s never more at stake than when you’re meeting with a customer’s Ultimate Decision Maker. If you handle the meeting well, all obstacles will melt away and every door in the organization will be open to you. But if you blow it, you’re done.
When you meet with a CEO, you’ll be tempted to show just how knowledgeable and insightful you are. And because you’ve worked so hard to get this meeting you’re going to try to pack in as much as you can. But that’s not what a busy CEO needs.
Most CEOs suffer from “occupational A.D.D.” Their attention span is measured in seconds. Their time is their most valuable resource, and there’s never enough of it to go around.
So you need to focus on the ONE thing they care about RIGHT NOW. And if you don’t … well, their phone is ringing and they’ve got other people waiting to see them, so why don’t you go talk to Alice in Purchasing?
When you’re selling to CEOs, skip the preliminaries, the credentials, the small talk and the technical minutiae. Walk into that meeting with one objective and one alone: to explain in the most simple terms possible how you’re going to help their company achieve a high-priority goal.
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8 Comments
CEOs may be smart people but I find it best to pretend I’m explaining my product to my five-year old — quick and to-the-point (using small words helps too).
CEOs may be smart people but I find it best to pretend I’m explaining my product to my five-year old — quick and to-the-point (using small words helps too).
Michael,
Good point about CEO’s occupational A.D.D. They often times don’t have the “luxury of a irrelevant thought”. All the more reason to be super focused when you present your ideas to help them see the value of your recommendations.
-Tom Borg
Michael,
Good point about CEO’s occupational A.D.D. They often times don’t have the “luxury of a irrelevant thought”. All the more reason to be super focused when you present your ideas to help them see the value of your recommendations.
-Tom Borg
CEOs may be smart people but I find it best to pretend I'm explaining my product to my five-year old — quick and to-the-point (using small words helps too).
Michael,
Good point about CEO's occupational A.D.D. They often times don't have the “luxury of a irrelevant thought”. All the more reason to be super focused when you present your ideas to help them see the value of your recommendations.
-Tom Borg