12 Tips When Selling to the C-Suite: Part 1

Historically, getting the CEO, CFO, or even the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to engage early in the sales process (or at all) has been a long shot.

Most CXOs let their internal staff do the homework and vetting, and only step in toward the end of the dealmaking to verify a recommendation. But the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted that status quo and made the path to connecting with a C-level decision-maker much shorter for sales pros.

The proof? Our analysis of more than 500,000 recent sales meetings conducted by more than 100 of our clients in 10 major industries.

Since 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis really began to take hold, and many companies were shutting down offices to comply with local lockdown regulations, participation by C-suite executives in the buying process shot up dramatically. In fact, on average, CXOs have participated in buying decisions 86% more since 2020, compared to their participation in 2019.

The question for sales pros is this: Are you ready for the challenge, and opportunity, of selling to the C-suite?

The following 12 tips can help ensure that you and your team are.


Tip #1: Do Your Homework. And Then, Do Some More.

So, the first tip may seem obvious, even mundane, but it can’t be emphasized enough how much you need to prepare for a sales meeting to ensure you’re ready to engage with a CXO.

Sales professionals like to think they’ve done their homework in discovery calls before embarking on early sales meetings. You identify a champion within the organization and talk to them about their needs. But when gearing up to talk to members of the C-suite, you must take your sales prep to the next level to ensure you can have a constructive discussion about their needs.

Find out what’s important to the C-level executives at the company you’re targeting and design your pitch to make clear why your product or service is an essential solution for the company right now. If you can talk, specifically, about how your offering solves a critical business problem and delivers bottom-line benefits, you’ll have a much better chance of getting a C-level exec to green-light the deal.


Tip #2: Be Ready to Underscore ROI From Day One

Speaking of the bottom-line, your preparation for selling to the C-suite should include lining up all your data points about the economic impact of the buying decision and the expected ROI. CXOs will want to hear about these details as soon as possible — like, in your first sales meeting.

Analysis of sales meeting data shows that in the second quarter of 2020 — when the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. had greatly intensified — 71% of participation in sales meetings by C-level executives was economic in nature, not technical. It’s a sure bet this is still the case now, as the pandemic persists.

So, forget the conventional wisdom about using early meetings and calls to have technical discussions that will appeal to CTOs, chief information officers (CIOs) or chief information security officers (CISOs). Whether or not your product or service fits the company’s tech stack or has all the desired bells and whistles, is secondary to the economic benefits it can provide. With economic decision-making taking place much earlier in the sales process, it’s all about ROI.

For CFOs especially, there’s perhaps no better bell and whistle you can offer right now than the ability to quickly deliver significant ROI. (What is significant? Think 5-10x, at least).


Tip #3: Deal Size: It Matters

Having a CFO participate in a sales meeting can be nerve-wracking, even for a seasoned sales pro. Now, how about getting the ultimate business decision-maker — the CEO — on the line?

It happens, and the chance is higher when you’re pitching a small or mid-size business (SMB). That was true before the pandemic as well, but the likelihood of the CEO’s presence in a sales meeting has increased in recent months, according to our analysis of sales calls. And CEOs at SMBs are three times more likely to join a buying decision meeting than the CEO at a mid-market or enterprise business.

This trend tells us that, especially in down-market businesses, buying decisions must be made much quicker in the sales process. CEOs are being brought into the process far earlier and more often. So, sales pros, especially those who are selling to SMBs, need to be ready from the outset to communicate the value of their product or service clearly and concisely to the CEO.


Tip #4: Embrace C-suite Involvement: It Improves Win Rates

If the thought of selling to the C-suite still rattles you, consider this: recent analysis of 500,000+ sales meetings shows that win rates increase by nearly 40% when members of the C-Suite are directly involved in the buying process.

Our analysis also suggests this is a trend we’ll probably see continue in the post-COVID business environment. So, don’t shy away from early involvement by a CXO, embrace it. And know that if you can demonstrate a solid business case and realistic ROI early in the sales process, then your deal will be more likely to close.


Tip #5: Maximize CXO Impact with a Clear Meeting Agenda

C-suite executives are busy people and thanks to COVID-19, they have even more on their minds than usual. So, if you want to have their attention during your sales meeting, and not just their presence, then you need to set a clear agenda and send it along with your call invite.

Also, to be frank, if you don’t take this simple step, you increase the risk of having the C-level executive opt to not attend your meeting. Why would they join a call if they don’t know what it’s about? And you definitely don’t want to make them dig around in email threads to find out. A clear agenda for the meeting not only helps set expectations, but also gives C-level executives the opportunity to review and provide input on that agenda before you meet.

That gives you a critical advantage: When you know in advance what’s top of mind for the decision-maker, the better you can prepare to address those needs in the short time window you have for your sales meeting. (It also helps to reduce guesswork in your preparation process.)

Here’s an additional incentive to make sending an agenda a consistently applied best practice: including an agenda with an invitation to a meeting that a C-suite decision-maker is expected to attend contributes to a small but measurable improvement to stage conversion: a 3% lift.


Tip #6: Anticipate the Surprise Appearance of a CXO.

Funny thing about C-level executives: They can show up when you least expect it.

Recent analysis of sales meeting data shows that a CXO will turn up to a sales meeting they haven’t been invited to about 10% of the time. Surprise!

For sales pros, the challenge in this scenario is to come across like you had always anticipated the CXO’s participation in your meeting. To make sure you aren’t caught off guard, discuss the objectives of executive level stakeholders with your champion early in the relationship so that you will always be prepared for the C-suite discussion, whenever it takes place.

(And, of course, apply Tips #1-5, too.)

Keep an eye out for Part 2 of "12  Tips for Selling to the C-Suite..."