Dilemma: “I don’t relate well with senior executives and get ‘pushed down’ to the project owners. Why is this happening?”
Solution: Review last weeks blog for more on the executive conversation. You will get “pushed down” or “introduced up” to the people that you most sound like. This is true in business and in social circles.
At a social gathering you naturally move to or are encouraged to join a conversation appropriate to your circle of interest. Conversation circles develop, each have their own theme:
- Common interest circles – such as sports, hobbies or work.
- Idea circles – such as challenges, controversies or politics.
- People circles – like entertainers, news-makers or gossip.
- Other circles.
In business there are cascading circles of conversation. There are three primary business conversation circles you will circulate in, if you are successful at multi-level selling: customer business goals, business outcome and initiatives.
Executive conversation = Customer Business Goals + Your Corporate Competence
Executive and senior leadership conversation circles are about business goals. The conversation is about their goals and your company competence. They will be interested to hear about demonstrated success in their industry or differentiated ideas about what your company can do to help them achieve leadership within their industry.
Mid-level director conversation = Customer Business Outcome + Your Solution Capabilities
The circle of conversation for mid-level directors and managers is about business outcome. They are very results oriented. The conversation is about their business outcomes that can be realized through the capabilities of your solution. They will be interested to hear about the value proposition of related case studies and their achievements.
Project owner conversation = Customer Business Initiatives + Your Product Deliverables
Conversation circles for project owners circulate around company initiatives. They have been tasked to deliver results that are on-schedule, on-budget and on-specification. The conversation is about their priorities and how you can assure that all key milestones will be met or exceeded. They are interested in results that are achievable, measureable and time bounded. They want to understand bits and bytes, speeds and feeds, plans and process.
In an executive conversation you will get “pushed down” to the conversation circle that best matches your conversation. Mix and match goals with product functionality and expect the executive to recommend the next meeting to be with a project owner. Talk about solution capabilities and expect to be referred to a mid-level manager or director.
Talk about goals, ideas, innovations, differentiation and your company competence … and you will be welcome to join the executive conversation at any time.