eMarket2 Blogs

Hello again.

Last week I was musing on how, in today’s cash-strapped technology marketing environment, the power to make big buying decisions has shifted from middle and lower level managers to senior executives. The problem being that, unlike in more buoyant times, buying decisions are now driven more by cost and less by budget.

With this in mind, today I’m going to share some hard-won wisdom on how exactly to connect with that elusive breed – the tech marketing C-Level executive.

As anyone in business to business sales and marketing will testify, job titles can be extremely misleading. So don’t be misled into thinking that the manager with the impressive sounding title who’s been so amenable on the phone is necessarily the person who controls the purse strings. Indeed, you’ve probably noticed that people frequently talk up their responsibility and influence. So, rather than simply assuming that your contact is the ultimate decision maker, actively enquire: “Could you talk me through the decision making process?”

Attempt to draw a picture of the organisation according to roles and buying groups. Take a multichannel marketing approach. If possible, and when appropriate, suggest that you deliver a presentation to all interested parties. This way you won’t have to rely on a middle-person selling “up the line” on your behalf, which can be a sure-fire recipe for failure.

It’s lonely at the top

Business development people often tell me they could sell more if they could simply get exposure at the right level in key target technology companies. And yet at the same time they’re firm in their belief that gaining access to the CEO, CTO, COO, CFO, etc, is almost impossible!

Senior technology marketing managers are indeed well protected from salespeople. In most cases they see just a small number of trusted salespeople each month; they seldom read unsolicited mail and respond to very few voice messages. And while they may be receptive to overtures from major players like IBM, Microsoft or Cisco, they seldom make time to engage with smaller potential suppliers.

Our own B2B sales and marketing research reveals that accessing C-level executives in major UK companies is 50% more difficult when compared to five years ago. That said, this doesn’t mean it can’t be done!

In fact it’s possible for even a start-up company to get its message in front of the CEO, CFO, or CTO of any Fortune 500 company in the UK, Europe or USA. It simply demands a more sophisticated and systematic approach.

The first thing to be aware of is that access is not the only issue. After years of dealing with lower ranking buyers, many sales and marketing people struggle to communicate effectively with C-level managers. On one level it comes down to confidence: senior executives can frequently be intimidating when being sold to. But it goes deeper than this; it goes to the core of the salesperson’s approach.

The fact is most sales people stick to a default ‘features – benefits – objections – close’ format when presenting their products. But while this approach may serve them well enough at lower levels, it seldom cuts much ice with seasoned executives who’ve “heard it all before”.

So the number one IT marketing challenge at C-level is not to come across as a salesperson. Instead your task is to cast yourself in a consultative role. It requires a completely different mindset. And while it goes against the grain, you must leave your salesperson’s hat at the door. Rather than “asking” for the order, your task is to position your product as the inevitable choice. In other words your prospect will feel they are “giving” you the order.  More on this in part 3 next time.

That’s it for now.

Thanks for reading.

And always to a higher response!

Norman

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