TABLE OF CONTENTS People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 1778)
Understand the executive mind-set.
Learn the executive rule of two.
Know how to plan the executive meeting.
Learn how to execute and follow up on a meeting (education versus selling) with executives.
Meeting with higher-level executives can make many technicians very nervous. Once you realize that executives are driven by a different set of priorities, such meetings become easier to manage. In this chapter we finally lay open the mystique surrounding how to deal with executives and their decision-making process.
Although a little stereotypical, the executive usually thinks of a technician as someone who is likely to get into far more detail than they want to hear. Technicians are also not expected to be as polished as the salesperson in both dress and presentation skills and probably are expected to be unsure of themselves. Many executives will use these impressions to their advantage and attempt to intimidate you. Others will be the genuine "nice guy" and try to put you at ease.
An executive meeting occurs either because your own sales team, or someone from the prospect, believes that you have valuable information that needs to be provided to that executive. The executive is hoping that you have been prepared and briefed and can impart your value in a concise and professional manner. The executive is expecting that it is not going to be...
