You have established a great relationship with your customer and have been calling on the same person for a long time. They have been a good and loyal customer. You know that there is more that you can do for them, but your main contact has always stonewalled your requests for meeting with his boss. Now you find out that there may be legitimate threats to the business from a feared competitor. You’ve grown comfortable in your relationship and now find you have zero leverage (or so it seems) to go above him. The boss is pressuring you to “sell higher” in the organization. How do you make that happen? How do you “go around” your contact and get the meeting?
As long as selling has been a profession this challenge has existed. Before asking for a meeting with a higher level executive, you should first ask yourself a few questions:
1. What is the goal for calling higher-up?
Without a clear goal, you stand the chance of blowing the opportunity should you be granted a meeting at that next level. There is no place for “winging it” at the higher levels.
2. Do you have a message that the next level would be interested in hearing?
This ties in very closely with question number one. There have been many instances when reps have secured meetings higher-up, only to have them fall flat because there was no real value for either organization. Other than bosses getting to know each other, there should be something that your customer can gain from the meeting or you may be better of not having one.
3. Is meeting at the next level completely self-serving or can you bring something of value?
The customer exec wants to hear and see information that can help them. Do you have information that can benefit them? Maybe your company has developed industry benchmark data that can be shared. Maybe you have some best-practices based on what your other customers are doing. Or, maybe you have a strategic product or service that could propel them past their competition. If you are going to pitch a product or service, be sure that it is strategic enough in nature to be seen and heard by the boss. Otherwise you’ve blown a great opportunity. You may get the first meeting but you probably won’t get the next one.
For top reps, it’s usually not much of a problem to sell higher in the organization. Often times they’ll hear something like, “That new solution of yours is really compelling. That is definitely something Susan would be interested in seeing. I’ll see about setting up some time for us to get together to discuss it.”
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But what happens when you share a very compelling solution with your contact and he says, “That looks really good and Susan would be the one to see something like that. But I can assure you that she does not have time right now given our current priorities.” Here are some possible responses that could move the ball forward:
“I understand completely. This solution is fairly complex and strategic, so we typically bring in product specialists along with my boss to make these kinds of presentations. They are extremely busy too. When I get back to the office, let’s compare calendars and try to get something scheduled in the next four to six weeks.”
“That’s understandable. Doesn’t Susan typically attend the Industry Conference in May? My boss will be there again this year. Maybe we could schedule 30-minutes for us to get together at the conference.”
“These are indeed busy times. I wonder if it might make sense to meet sooner than later. We have some new industry benchmarking data that provides compelling information that sheds new light on consumer behavior, pricing, and promotion. Provided that Susan is interested in this information, maybe we could set something up in the next few weeks.”
“Since, as you say ‘this looks really good’, how does this dovetail with her current priorities? Is it something that could benefit her this year? If so, I want to be sure that we get in front of her before this year’s budget gets spent. Or if it’s not, we need to get ahead of next year’s budget planning cycle. Either way, let’s let her decide if it’s something that she wants to budget money for and when. How does that sound?”
Back to the competitive situation mentioned in the first paragraph, I would suggest something like this,
“Jim, you and I have been working together for a while now. It’s been a great relationship for both companies. I’m hearing that our competitor is making noises at a senior level. It’s time that our execs get to know each other and begin to develop relationships. I need your help. Let’s craft a plan to begin building some senior relationships between our organizations.”
If your champion is indeed a champion, he should be willing to grant you a meeting with Susan. Otherwise he’s a coach. If that’s the case, then you need to start building relationships elsewhere in the organization or have your boss call Susan directly while you plead ignorance.
Top reps are often able to develop relationships at the highest organizational levels. That’s because they understand their customer, the industry, and how their products and services can add value throughout the organization. Average reps are content selling at lower levels, solving no real problems. “What do I have to say that could possibly be interesting to a C-level executive? I’m just a sales rep!” That may be a very true statement. If it is – fix it! Become an expert in your industry and your customers’ business. Then you’ll have something to say that is of real value. Otherwise, that kind of self-deprecation and short-sightedness will keep average performing reps from reaching real success while their counterparts are in the C-suite selling away.
Your boss’ pleas for selling high are not without good cause. However, use good sense when selling above your contact; there is no point in needlessly stepping on toes. You may be getting outsold at the top and that’s no place to be. Work your contact strategically and carefully and you should receive warm introductions at the top. That’s ultimately where you and your company need to be.
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