The Essential Secrets Of Talking To Executives

May 17th, 2019

Summary

Sales, marketing, and product leaders often struggle to communicate effectively with senior executives. Common mistakes include overcomplicating the message and failing to adapt the message to the situation and the executive’s preferences and interests. Leaders who master speaking to executives can get faster approvals and elevate their personal brand.

B2B marketing, sales, and product practitioners must work together to crack the code of many challenges such as account planning, messaging, and product portfolios. One of the most challenging codes to crack is how to talk to executives (VP, SVP, or C-level) when seeking project or budget approval or other outcomes. Those who lack this capability often find themselves locked out after too many failed attempts. In this report, we define foundational and situation-dependent skills for communicating with senior executives.

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