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Customer Behavior     
 
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Helping Sales People Get Face To Face Meetings With Ceos
Posted By: Conexus on 6/18/2004 11:02 AM (CST) 125 Points
Today it is increasingly difficult to get face to face meetings with CEOs.. what tips exisit for doing so

Posted by: JBtron Accepted Answer
6/18/2004 11:18 AM (CST)
"Selling to VITO" by Anthony Parinello
[Very Important Top Officer]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580622240/002-8784089-5147243
is the lexicon on this.

CEOs want to be treated as CEOs. and you have to be ruthless in getting past their screeners to get to them. Call very early in the morning before their screeners get in, and you have a shot.

Other thoughts will come later.

Hope this helps,

Best,

::JBtron
 
Posted by: SteveByrneBranding Accepted Answer
6/18/2004 3:24 PM (CST)
JBtron is right about early morning calls before the screeners arrive. Also, sometimes at lunchtime screeners go out and C-levels pick up their phones and evenings the same thing. Find out if they are speaking at a conference, It’s fair game to go up and introduce yourself at these events.

My advice is don’t sell them right there on the spot, just make an impression so you can contact them later and they will remember you.

Good luck
 
Posted by: SRyan ;] Accepted Answer
6/18/2004 4:23 PM (CST)
Conexus, I remember someone asking a similar question here. Here's the link to it and the terrific answers from the KHE crowd:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=1053

I also encourage you to try out the Search Questions link on the right side of the page. Good luck!

- Shelley
 
Posted by: aosterday* Accepted Answer
6/18/2004 4:33 PM (CST)
Be ruthless. Be persistent. Be ready to show value in numbers and intangibles.

Treat a CEO like a CEO, but garner respect for yourself. Show him that although you are showing him lots of respect, you are also worthy of such respect. Talk on his level.

Don't bullshit the CEO. They'll smell you getting off the elevator. But you can bullshit everyone else to get to him.
 
Posted by: telemoxie Accepted Answer
6/18/2004 7:09 PM (CST)
Can I ask a few questions?

1) What size companies are you targeting?

2) What is your product or service? Is it unique? Do you have a web site we can look at?

3) Who in your organization will be making the call - your CEO, a VP, or a salesperson?

4) Are you willing to spend money to get these meetings, e.g. FedEx, etc.?

5) How many appointments do you need?

6) What geographic territory are you working?

7) What is your timeframe for results?

8) Why are you targeting CEOs?

p.s. I have not read the book, but I have heard that Selling to VITO is an excellent resource
 
Posted by: maxblumberg* Accepted Answer
6/20/2004 11:50 AM (CST)
More and more businesses are looking to deal with CEO's and hence the number of approaches they receive is growing rapidly.

I help my b2b clients gain access to CEO's, but the competition for this access is growing to such an extent that I now usually recommend using a reputable telemarketing agency that specialises in this area.

Best wishes

Max
 
Posted by: The Consultant ™* Accepted Answer
7/2/2004 11:08 AM (CST)
Hi conexus,

There is a website which gives you very useful tips about how to contact the CEO. Here is the link. try it out.

http://www.sellingtovito.com/dr/v2/ec_Main.Entry?SP=10007&SID=41005&CID=0&D...

I hope this helps,
 
Posted by: Sharon Moderator Response
7/4/2004 12:31 PM (CST)
Make sure that the CEO is indeed the decision maker for your product in each case. It sounds great to get to the CEO but even if you employ all of the useful tactics mentioned here, if you're selling paper clips, you're wasting the CEO's (and your) time. For almost all office products now, for instance, even high priced items like high speed color printers and copiers, no one higher up than an office manager makes that decision.

Also, different CEOs have different personal interests in their companies depending on how they rose to the top. Look at the backgrounds of each CEO and adjut your pitch accordingly. Give budget driven arguements to the accounting types, talk about market share or customer satisfaction with marketing types, talk about operating efficiency with the op mgmt types. Customize and hone your pitch.

Good luck.
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
7/6/2004 3:32 AM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question. This is our standard procedure when the question asker gets busy and falls out of the conversation for a while - or isn't clear about the process for closing.

Thanks, so much, for participating!

Val (Moderator)
 


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