C-Level Relationship Selling: Selling at the C-Level, The 5 Elements: Part III - Confidence

Everyone knows that “Those with the In, Win”. Sales people want to be connected at the top, but usually struggle. Sales managers to presidents wish their sales people could get connected and were schmoozing with the top executives.

So this five part series is intended to help you easily and naturally sell at the executive level, and for more C-Suite Selling details, I will refer to specific articles at http://www.sammanfer.com/.

Part III - Confidence

Confidence is the belief that you belong with the senior relevant leader that makes the final decisions for your products and sales. Why shouldn’t you be there? You know how to interview to find out what this person wants, and you know what s/he wants is what will make the deal. You know how to offer options and other ideas. You know how to present to show fit. And you know how to ask closing questions. So you should be the one to make the final presentation to the final-final executive decision maker and his direct reports.

Unfortunately, lack of this self-assurance debilitates sales people. The reasons for self doubt are that we have been programmed from childhood to fear authority figures. So we gravitate to lower, more comfortable levels and convince ourselves that the decision is made there.

We were also conditioned that selling is a negative profession. Nobody went to college to become a sales person? Then there were your parents’ words, “Don’t bother people. Don’t ask for favors. You’ll be annoying. You’ll be indebted.” Consequently, we feel afraid of what will happen, and ashamed (too proud or guilty) to ask for introductions, information or even the order.

To destroy self-worth further, there are past rejection experiences from meetings with executives that went nowhere and rejection from subordinates saying in so many words, “You’re not important enough to go beyond me.” All of this conditioning has left many sales people without the confidence to network to the top executives and to develop senior level relationships.

The solution to this overwhelming intimidation factor is to first prepare you that you belong.  Then, prepare you to network, and then prepare you for the meetings.

Preparing you that you belong requires reprogramming your thinking to “This working person with a title is no different than me. S/he has a problem (which I need to learn more about) and I have solutions.”   I can handle this and s/he will be grateful for my suggestions and help.

Just in case you still have any self-doubt, realize you are feeling fear and/or anxiety that you are not important enough for this person and s/he will be put-off. Why shouldn’t you feel that way? Everyone tells you how busy executives are and they only want to talk with powerful people. Well that’s the gatekeepers’ weapon to keep you from going past him or her.

But your fear is just negative projection. You’re only thinking that the worst can happen. Face it; you don’t know what will happen. You are not a fortune teller. So the second step for handling self doubt is to pump yourself up to positively project. Think, “This person wants to see me and our meeting will be great for both of us. If not, it’s his/her loss – not mine.”

Preparing to ask for the meeting (networking) goes back to Part II of this series. Your focus has to be that if you don’t get to the relevant executives, your competition will and get the sale, or there is no sale and this subordinate is just stringing me along. For more on the details of getting these meetings, see my articles at http://www.sammanfer.com/SellingatC-Levels.htm.

Finally prepare for the meeting. Get help from your Golden Network - the people you’ve worked with that know the top executives. Develop and rehearse your questions on how you’ll get this person to explain exactly what he wants and how he expects to get it? Play what if’s - what could be said and what will you say in response. Finally what will you say to ask for commitment? What will you say if he doesn’t give it to you? What will you say if he shows concern during your presentation? How will you deal with his objections or issues? This is how you prepare, and if you do this you will feel so confident going into that meeting that you’ll exude believability which will glue the executive to you.

So preparation is the key to confidence, and with confidence credibility and performance can come naturally. This is what I will discuss in Part IV and V.

For more details on questions to get the executive talking and how to handle issues see my Sales Calls and Investigative Selling Articles.

And now I invite you to learn more.