The short answer is yes, you can achieve differentiation at the C-level, but you’re unlikely to get there by simply doing a better job doing more of what everyone else is doing. Why? Because most folks are doing that pretty well. After all, salespeople who are calling at the C-level are experienced and smart and have been there before. If differentiation is the goal, and it should be, you need to do something different rather than something better.
So, what might that look like? In situations such as these, where a different strategy is needed, it’s always a great idea to seek an answer by starting with the notion that you must get on the customer’s side of the table.
In this case, the person on the other side is an individual who brings a different set of pressures, opportunities, needs and level of responsibility to the table. They are more concerned about the unknown than the known. They look at the big picture versus individual snapshots. And most importantly, they are seeking to understand problems that matter.
If that is the person with whom you are about to have a business conversation, how do you stand out from everyone else? How do you bring a piece of value others will not? Let’s take a look at what doesn’t work, and then explore what might.
Most salespeople are well-schooled in having the discovery conversation. This conversation starts with the salesperson asking questions about a problem they believe the customer is concerned about. It continues with a further exploration of the problem and then a discussion about how the problem can be solved.
If this is the type of discussion you plan to have with someone at the C-level, then successful differentiation is unlikely. Why? First, it’s the same set of questions that have been asked by all the other salespeople. Second and more importantly, the time spent versus the value received doesn’t work out very well. Time is spent on educating the salesperson about a problem the senior executive already understands. This is a great way to have a short meeting and a referral to someone lower in the organization.
What’s an alternative? One option is the point-of-view conversation. The point-of-view discussion focuses on helping the senior executive learn something new about a significant problem they didn’t even know they had.
Here, questions to develop a comprehensive understanding of the organization are asked to others in the organization before the meeting with the senior executive. Substantial time and resources are spent analyzing that information to bring a point of view to the meeting about an unknown problem that matters.
This is truly consultative selling. Time is spent with the senior executive learning something they didn’t know versus the salesperson learning something the senior executive already knew. This requires hard work and expertise, but senior executives will understand and value the difference.
Closing big deals in major accounts increasingly involves interactions at the C-level. But, planning and executing successful calls with senior executives requires a different kind of conversation than those held at the middle manager and technical levels. At the senior level, you only get one chance to make a difference, so doing it different is important.