How to sell to large companies/ board directors

[Deleted107976]

Hi All,

Was just wondering if anyone has ever sold to the board of directors or CEO's of big companies and how you did it? or know of anyone who did

 

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[mambadaboy]

This is a very broad question.

I am currently an Enterprise AE for a large tech company selling into executive positions.

Typically in the enterprise space, if you're having a conversation with a BOD or CTO, CFO etc. your product has already been vetted down stream. If your product is a fit and you've developed relationships/champions in multiple departments the conversation heads up stream.

Generally by the time you're speaking with a CEO/CTO etc. you've spoken with product, engineering, and the go to market teams (whether separately or in one big meeting, sometimes both).

Often, there is buy-in from one, or many stakeholders in a single or multiple departments. Sometimes departments conflict on priority and product value. I.e the product might expand account sign ups and growth but be a nightmare for security to implement.

The sale is often finalized with a simple stamp of approval from leadership without them ever making it to a conversation.

Now, if we're talking about selling into the mid-market or SMB. Yes, you'll talk to the C-suite and executive suite but the deals are fairly simple along with the conversations you have.

Read SPIN selling and The Challenger Sale to get your feet wet.

 

[Deleted107976]

Thank you for reply. I'm currently working with the project director of an engineering construction company and have developed a portal/website to allow for compliance and design quality with buildings.

After a trial, I'll be looking to sell this to the board of directors along with the other services I have been providing and subsequently develop a human resource system.

I've never sold anything to that level before so a bit unknown. Thanks for the recommendations will definitely buy those books.

If you were me, how would you sell this service product?

Cheers

 

[mambadaboy]

Thank you for reply. I'm currently working with the project director of an engineering construction company and have developed a portal/website to allow for compliance and design quality with buildings.

After a trial, I'll be looking to sell this to the board of directors along with the other services I have been providing and subsequently develop a human resource system.

I've never sold anything to that level before so a bit unknown. Thanks for the recommendations will definitely buy those books.

If you were me, how would you sell this service product?

Cheers

I'll give you a high level but there are a number of knowledge gaps on my end that I'd need more context on to give you a thorough guide.

This is what I know:

- tech product
- engineering/construction vertical
- compliance

Learn as much as you can about the engineering/construction vertical. Read books, sign up for Google alerts, read industry specific articles to the point where you can speak to any person in the vertical and be able to educate them on some aspect of their business. I.e you're establishing credibility and earning the right to make recommendations.

The second piece is a little more complex. You'll have to figure out what your value proposition is, why is your product valuable? Is your product valuable enough for them to spend time/money to change their current state? Using SPIN is a great way to get them thinking about their situation and potential impact of a change, especially if your solution is a product market fit.

You also need think about who you're speaking with. Are you speaking with the CEO, CTO, CRO, a product manager etc? Each of those roles has different priorities and responsibilities, how does your product help the specific role you're selling into. Who is your product buyer? What does that buyer care about? How does that buyer fit into the organizational chart?

You also have a small edge with forced compliance. What are the costs of non-compliance? Are the costs monetary. operational or both? Put this in dollars and cents and how your product solves for their compliance requirement. How does your solution take them from where they are to where they want to be.

You should build this out top to bottom. Value proposition, target buyer, talk tracks etc. become an expert on how your product solves their problems.

I am also noticing you're speaking in features not solutions. Each product feature should always be assigned to the specific problem that feature solves. Never talk about a feature unless the feature solves a specific problem your customer cares to solve (it's a waste of time). You will only know the problem by asking the questions think SPIN.

 

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[NeoDialectic]

Hi All,

Was just wondering if anyone has ever sold to the board of directors or CEO's of big companies and how you did it? or know of anyone who did

A bit of a vague question. I'm not sure if it fits, but I did sell a company for 8 figures to another company that has somewhere between 100s of millions to a billion in "assets" (purchased companies). We did talk to people on the board, CEO and others.

What about it? The short of it is if you have a company that generates income, there are always bigger companies that are willing to buy you out. So build a successful business and figure out the rest when it comes! The sale was the easy part.

 

[Deleted107976]

Brilliant, thanks guys, appreciate the time taken to answer the question and the solid advice given.

On the board will be the CEO so it'll need to be a good pitch/presentation. I think you all make valid points in not focusing on the features of the product so much but the benefits and added value. Will definitely be looking into SPIN and am a lot more clearer now.

Cheers