How to GET the CEO

A CEO Is Radically Different

One of the biggest problems I see business owners make when it comes to their marketing, advertising, and sales approaches is that they use typical methods that apply only to residential consumers, and then use that foundation to manufacture a strategy for the commercial market. What they misunderstand is the fact that they are selling to a CEO or the C-Suite executive, and not just a regular individual who is motivated mostly by personal gain.

A CEO is radically different. They are different in profile, in core values, in thoughts and in actions. As CEO’s, their objectives are different – they think globally as it relates to their world. They are also mentally sharp, analytical, authoritative, demanding, precise, and always out of time. This is just the short list of attributes that would describe the client to whom you are trying to sell.

And when it comes to selling a CEO, you are going to run into a few problems. Looking at it from their perspective, here are the 4 main problems a CEO has when anyone tries to market or sell to them:

1Ignorance: You haven’t done your homework on their organization or industry so you lack knowledge. They think that you couldn’t possibly provide a legitimate solution to their company if you aren’t familiar enough with who they are and what they do as it relates to the marketplace and their competition.

The CEO sees you as mentally lazy, an attribute that they do not share; in fact, they loathe laziness. Automatically, you’ve lost even before you got a chance to begin.

2Shoo Fly… Shoo: The CEO has an important job. Their time is valuable. The rest of their organization understands this. The Board of Directors understands this fact. This is why there are many levels of staff members to protect a CEO from everything… including sales people. Especially… sales people. Get the point?

When you try to side-step his staff, you show a grave lack of respect for their authority and their company’s infrastructure. You are bucking the system. I promise you that there are very few things a sales person will ever say that will justify to a CEO why you had to break his rules. It’s like an attack on the King. And as a result, you will be attacked by his royal guard. Again, you lose even before you begin.

A CEO wants you to work with his staff. This doesn’t mean that you have to put yourself at their mercy. It just means that you have to respect the structure and find a way to work selectively within its confines and restrictions. I have developed some very powerful ways to do this and not bog down the sales process.

3No Social Proof: Everyone is familiar with the concept of peer pressure. The CEO has his own kind of peer pressure, and it is much more persuasive than normal. They are accountable to so many things and so many people.

They want to know who else is working with you who is like them. And not just clients who have similar businesses or client testimonials. But people just like them. When I talk about the concept of “grade” in a later section, you will better understand what I mean by “just like me.”

4Work For My Own Dinner?: This is something that CEO’s strongly dislike. You must put yourself in the shoes of a CEO. They have more work to do than anyone else; their work is more critical, carries more weight with heavier consequences, and they do not have time to do it all.

Unfortunately, almost every company I have ever seen mistakenly makes the CEO “work for his dinner.” What I mean by that is that the sales process itself requires too much of the CEO – attending too many meetings, hunting down too much information, organizing too many people, and reviewing too many reports or documents. You have given the CEO more and more work to do – not a move in your favor. A CEO is the person who puts people to work, not the person who gets put to work.

That’s why they have all those layers of staff. Those people are there to do the work for them. They want to listen and see briefly and then make a decision and sign something. That’s it!

In dealing with CEO’s every day and being one myself – including an Interim CEO for many companies both large and small – I can tell you that this is what you are up against. And this is why most companies are failing at getting the CEO.

All You Need To Do To GET The CEO…

is Follow The Word G.E.T

There are three main components that you need to align in order to create the types of strategies that will GET a CEO to buy from you. This is from my upcoming book entitled, “GET CEO.” Follow it and you will start to see dramatic increases in your sales to CEO’s.

The point behind this acronym of mine, G.E.T., is to get you to align your promotional strategies with my concept that…

“Message Must Match Marketplace”

In other words, the message and messenger must match the individual you are targeting. If not, then there is a serious gap in credibility. And all of the marketing and advertising and sales tricks in the world won’t close that gap. So, let’s take a look at the acronym G.E.T:

G Grade: The CEO wants to do business with someone who is at the same grade or level as them in these five main categories:

1. Economic – Same financial level or success level. Higher-level executives respect success because they are successful and know what kind of person it takes to climb to the top. It takes a person… just like them.

2. Intellectual – Someone who can match them educationally or intellectually. CEO’s enjoy weightier conversations. They deal with significant issues and information all day.

3. Social Standing – Social status is important with higher executives. Think “peer to peer.”

4. Authority – Someone with the authority that is equal to theirs. If you do not have the ability to “do the deal,” why would the top authority in a company want to talk to you?

Now I understand that matching some of these five categories is difficult, if not impossible, to do as a “sales person.” And you are right. This is why sales has always been so difficult. In the end, if you have not transcended beyond an average, everyday sales person, a CEO will just see you as no different than the day laborer or janitor. No credibility means no business for you.

E Emotional Intensity (S.T.R.E.S.S.): Everything a CEO usually does is important. Daily decisions determine the outcome of the organization, both good or bad. The problem that you will often find yourself in is that your situation has a very low level of emotion to the CEO. To them, it is no different than getting the copier fixed or repaired.

The CEO is programmed to only deal with critical matters…hopefully in a preventative way, but usually in a reactive way. You have to learn how to manufacture a higher level of emotion so that the concept that you are trying to sell shows up on his radar. This is tough to do because so many factors are involved. I illustrate those factors with the acronym S.T.R.E.S.S. Let me further explain:

S = Significance: How important is this to your customer?

T = Time Frame: How much time does the customer have to make the decision?

R = Repetition: How often does this experience occur or how often is the customer reminded of the experience?

E = Endure: How long does the impact of the experience endure?

S = Schooled: How educated is the marketplace or customer when it comes to your industry or the decision?

S = Suppressed: How subjected is the customer or marketplace to your industry or your business for knowledge and expertise?

Remember from the top of this article? “Message Must Match Marketplace.” Being able to fine tune your message so that it matches the S.T.R.E.S.S. level of the CEO will close the credibility gap even more.

T Tactical: This is the last component in the G.E.T. CEO formula – making sure that we approach the CEO in the manner that he is familiar to being approached. It is important to play to the normal activities that CEO’s perform during the day.

Think about what those activities might be. They read reports, analyze data, review and approve contracts, sign off on executive decisions, meet about important issues, sign checks, put out press, etc. If you look closely at a CEO’s day, make a larger list and then start thinking about how you currently approach them with marketing.

Notice how most of the items on the short list mentioned above have to do with ACTION and decisiveness. I can promise you this… a CEO does not read sales brochures or look at advertising of any kind. It is NOT in their job description.

So, that being said, these are the last remaining things you need to consider:

1. Strategy – What is the strategy or concept of your approach? Are you providing news to the CEO? Warning them of something critical that could harm their objectives? What is your strategy?

2. Communication Distribution – How are you distributing this information to the CEO? If they don’t read marketing materials, then it seems like any general type of advertising medium or vehicle is out of the question.

3. Validation – Proof … proof… proof. You have got to back up everything you communicate with proof. But remember, it has to also match the S.T.R.E.S.S. levels and meet all of the other criteria of my G.E.T. CEO formula.

Remember that the CEO is a more sophisticated buyer and as such, requires a more sophisticated and finesse-oriented approach. To think otherwise is foolish or naive.

Applying these principles takes strategy and planning. But the results are big. Plus, you have to remember that CEO’s make decisions and rarely change them…which means that if and when you get a CEO client, as long as you take care of them, you will have them forever.

These three components will help you close the gap between you and the CEO’s you wish to do business with. In fact it’s the only way that you will be able to G.E.T. the CEO.

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