All companies want salespeople who can sell to a high-level contact. Many ads claim you must be able to sell to the C-level. For some positions this is true but others it is a lower position in the company. The main point is to get to the right decision maker, but then what should a salesperson do?

Selling Power chimes in with Don’t Make These Mistakes with Decision Makers. The author provides 5 strong points that all salespeople should follow when dealing with decision makers. The first point is one I keep encountering in other articles too:

1. Failing to prepare. When a top decision maker carves time out of his jam-packed schedule for a sales rep, and that rep comes in asking questions that are answered on the company€™s 10-K, Web site or other public documents, it€™s an immediate turnoff.

Oh how true that is. Productivity demands are hitting all parts of the corporation which is putting incredible stress on a decision maker’s time. Information is available in multiple channels which salespeople need to gather.

4. Engaging in one-way communication. Executive-level decision makers are €œreally, really tired of canned PowerPoint presentations,€ says Hodge. They are immediately turned off when a rep walks in, fires up his laptop and proceeds to dump out his marketing department€™s pre-packaged spiel. Instead, they want more engagement, more interaction.

Clear communication is the balm of sales. Whether it be decision makers or sales managers, much of sales success rides on a salesperson’s communication skills. When I read #4, I immediately think of a loquacious salesperson who lacks any ability to listen. I suspect that is the real culprit behind that point.

Read the whole thing.

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Posted By Derrick Moe | Sales Techniques | |