WHY SELL TO TOP EXECUTIVES?
Selling to top-level executives isn’t always appropriate. One sales manager from a consumer paper goods manufacturer kept pushing his reps to call on the highest executive levels at retailers that carried his product, until he realized he didn’t need to. Calling on buyers and merchandisers who made chain-wide decisions was just as effective. The time frame is different. Mid- and lower-level managers tend to focus on short-term issues. But “high-level executives have a strategic mission associated with their responsibilities,” says Cheri Levitan, business manager at Educore. Lower-level managers want to know how vendors can improve their performance in the next three to six months. Top-level managers look five to 50 years ahead. The selling proposition is different. If your product or service doesn’t affect a client company’s core competencies, you won’t get an audience with a top executive. If you could find a way to help Amazon.com ship books faster and with fewer errors, you might la
