Do you prepare well before meeting a CXO?

As I sit down to draft a mail on the above subject, I can’t help but remember an old number from a 1957 Bollywood classic movie, “Pyaasa”. I reproduce the YouTube link here for you to watch at leisure. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlDwgYWnJWY)

What the lyrics convey is the heart rending cry of a patriot asking, “Where are the Indians who take pride in their country?”

Which leads me to the theme song all CIOs and CXOs must perhaps be humming, “Where are the IT salesmen who really understand me and my needs?”

BTW have you been met by a “financial adviser” who sits down with you using a structured spreadsheet and wants to “help plan” your investments? Sooner or later s/he veers around to his / her favorite insurance company or mutual fund and you kind of roll up your eyes and think to yourself, “There s/he goes again!!” It’s the same with the real estate broker; they are also called consultants these days.

Have you considered how our customer’s / prospect’s CIO or other CXOs must think of us when we call on them? Do they look forward to meeting with us because of the insights we bring about their business, or are they also rolling up their eyes because they know we are back again to push our agenda? I spoke to several CIOs and they say they are tired of the IT salesman who pops in and wants to know, ‘what keeps you awake at night” or seeks to do extensive and in depth interviews to understand their business and pain points.

I know it’s a delicate balance between having to meet quarterly numbers and therefore wanting to push an offering on one hand and on the other, appearing insightful and empathetic for providing deeper value.

As we seek to Defend & Grow our accounts it is increasingly important to develop the latter skill to gain credibility, differentiation and consequently a larger wallet share.

And it all boils down to PREPARATION – a facet of consultative selling that we all know only too well but perhaps don’t do as often or as deeply!!!

We perhaps need to make this significant change in the way we approach and engage our prospects / clients.