Welcome to part 2/3 of the multithreading series! If you missed part 1, you can catch that here.
Your golden path may call for starting at the top with power and building that sales tsunami based on emotional connection.
You know - the “You gotta talk with these people” calls and emails down the company directory from an exec who picks up what you’re laying down.
Four stages:
- Run the first meeting
- Make the ask
- Win the department leads
- Roll it all up
Running the First Meeting
The clock ticks fast when you're meeting with an executive. You can't pepper them with 300 situational questions. You've gotta establish credibility, find a priority, and get out:
- Show up with a PoV: Your initial point-of-view on the problem they may have.
- Drill down to 2-3 executive level problems: These should be things that hit the board meeting. Missed revenue goals, lost hires, increased costs.
- Ask for permission to come back with a recommendation.
Your goal is to show them that you can teach them something about their business. This isn't traditional champion-level discovery where you ask about a problem, solve a problem.
Making the Ask
If an exec offers the intro to their team, coach them on how to help you help them:
- Start with the specific names, not just the roles, of the people you want to meet.
- Ask for direct intros to these people, and explain why you want to talk to them.
- Ask for permission to come back with a recommendation yourself - not the people you’re speaking with.
Lynn Powers recommends then pre-setting the final exec meeting before you leave this one. This slingshot selling sets expectations that you’ll be back and puts it on the calendar.
If it helps, give them a template for an email stating [a] the thing we’re solving for [b] who you are [c] why the exec wants this person to meet with you.
They may ignore it or heavily revise. That’s fine. Let them do them as long as they make the connect.
Win the department leads
This stage is like a campaign. You need votes for when you go back to the executive, and this is how you get them - and use the support to neutralize the blockers you’re gonna run into.
Keep in mind, you still don't have a champion yet. You have an executive sponsor and your goal is to find a champion who can truly articulate the problem and support you in rallying the business case back to power.
Speaking of which, don’t leave your exec high and dry. At the end of each meeting with the department leads:
- Summarize your meeting, focused on the business outcomes.
- Explain what next steps you're taking with their team.
- Explicitly call out any input you require -- or if there is no action needed.
And if you've done it right, you're gonna go right back to that exec in no time...
Rolling It All Up
Here’s what to do in that meeting you already pre-set with the exec. You did do that, right?
- Present your findings from each department with the names and faces of the people you met with. (pro tip: use real quotes explaining their problems)
- State your business case: The quantifiable and un-quantifiable board-level problems you discussed in meeting #1.
- Explain what resources you’ll need and how you're going to make it as seamless as possible for them to solve the problem (not just dollars, but people-hours)
If you found a champion, don’t let this be the first time you share the price with the account. Pre-test it with your champion.
C-suite people have so many massive things to solve. Your thing may be a drop in the bucket. But if you get the whole team rallied behind you while keeping the exec engaged, you'll be on track to close your next 6-figure deal.
