How To Get A Meeting With The CEO

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Welcome, it's Mick Holly. I hope you're all well. Hey, I'm excited about today's episode. It's about:

how to get a meeting with the CEO.

All right, let's get going.

Now, way back in episode number six, I had an episode, it was called Don't Talk to the Monkey, Talk to the Organ Grinder, which is a referral to a quote that Winston Churchill made, never talk to the monkey when the organ grinder's in the room, because the monkey just dances to the tune.

The organ grinder is the person who's in charge, and the monkey is just, playing and dancing. So you really want to get to the organ grinder. Now, In this particular quote, this underscores one of the most vital requirements for sales success. You've got to get to the decision maker, right? You've got to get to the organ grinder.

In many situations, the ultimate decision maker is the CEO, the head honcho, the big dog, the big cheese. Now, I'm sure you've had many attempts, countless attempts, maybe, to get to that. level to that person. You've called, you've emailed, you've begged, you've been told to stop calling by their gatekeeper, and you've had very little success, and you've been demoralized, so you continue working with the monkeys, , Not in a derogatory sense, but people who don't actually have decision making authority, but they do have the power to say no, they just don't have the power to say yes.

So you need to get the person who can say yes, but the CEO has very little time.

Their currency is not one of dollars and cents. Their currency is one of minutes and seconds.

They don't have enough time. Time to get what they want. They're on a mission. They need to execute. They don't need anybody taking them away from their task.

They're very, very focused and they don't want to have their time wasted. So in order to protect that real estate, which is time, here's his, if, if somebody gives you plenty of time, you know, they're not a decision maker. Right, there's a clue. Decision makers don't have a lot of time. They make decisions quickly.

 They don't have a lot of time. They don't want to chit chat. They just get things done. Anybody that will talk to you for two hours, mm mm, not a decision maker.

All right, so what happens with the decision makers? You know that they're, that they're important. They're trying to repel anyone who tries to impinge on their precious currency of time.

And some of the things that you will have seen.

Their phone number is unlisted.

They're not in the dial by name directory.

Reception have been trained not to put you through or even give out their email.

They have a dragon as an admin. Their job is to keep you out. Doesn't matter what you say, they're going to keep you away.

And they don't respond to your emails.

So how do we deal with this? It's bloody annoying, isn't it? Well, there are two approaches to this.

 Number one, you can believe it's a numbers game, right? You can find a hundred to two hundred CEOs, or senior execs, and you relentlessly cold call them. You get up every day, you make a hundred calls, you might get through to one person.

, it's an approach. It works. I mean, I've used it, but you've got to have the staying power and discipline and fortitude to withstand being rejected 25 to 50 times per day. And that's an incredibly rare quality. And it's a quality that is perishable. I can do that for a while. Eventually I get beaten up and I feel dejected and my energy goes and I'm not really very good at it. So you can use it in, in certain circumstances.

Or, you can believe it is a hunting exercise. Getting to CEOs is a big game hunt. You're going after the big prey. It requires planning, preparation. Stealth.

You're stalking. You're stalking. You're lying in wait. Planning. Scheming. You're cunning. You're not in a lake, right? Fishing. With a hundred small fish in there, thrown out bait and chum randomly, hoping for a nibble. No, you're stalking a lion, the king of beasts. It may take weeks of trekking through their habitat, learning where they feed, where they drink, where they gather.

You learn their patterns and you only get one shot. When you finally flush them out into an area, you can see them. You better make it a clean kill or boom, they're gone. Or even worse, you get chewed up and left for dead. That prey, that account is forever gone for you. They'll never talk to you again.

So today I'm going to give you the secret to get to the CEO.

It's a strategy that requires planning, cunning, discipline, and above all, patience. And when this strategy is executed well, you'll have a successful hunt 90 percent of the time. That's a bit of a bold statement, isn't it? Well,. It does take cunning, planning, discipline, and patience. And I've boiled it down for you into five steps.

Step one, research.

Step two, the Trojan horse.

Step three, tuning in to WIFM radio.

Step four, the stalk.

Step five, the kill.

Alright, let's take each one of those steps. So research. This part of the hunt is all about preparation. We don't have the correct bait, right? We don't know what's going to lure out the prey.

We don't know what we need to put out there that they can sniff, that they're going to come out of the lair, and at least see what's going on. You don't have, you don't have the weaponry, you don't have the rifle, you don't have the messaging with which to send... In a message quickly and accurately to your target, that's going to make an impact.

So what we need to do is to find a side door into the company, an easier mark. So what I would do is check out LinkedIn for the key leaders and associates, other executives in your target company. If it's a public company, these are listed in the investor section of their website.

 Then go on to LinkedIn and find somebody that can give you the inside scoop on the company. You want somebody who's going to tell you what the key issues are and more importantly, what keeps their CEO awake at night.

For a larger company. A great contact would be somebody that looks abreast of all of the opportunities, who looks at the strategic reach of the enterprise, who's looking at a more competitive landscape and wondering how they're going to grow, how they're going to adapt, how they're going to move forward.

So there are titles like head of strategy or head of innovation, or they might be Project management, strategic planning, strategic projects, or there might even be the PR department. They have a good vista of the whole enterprise.

Now for a smaller company, they might not have such grandiose titles, but they'll certainly have somebody in their marketing department or their PR department that you can get to because these people don't get called very often.

All right. So I want you to do, I want you to identify somebody, either oversees a strategic landscape or somebody who's in the marketing department.

Step two, we need to cultivate a Trojan horse, the strategic projects leader or the marketing manager. These people that called are much less frequently than the CEO.

They don't have the elaborate barriers that will prevent you from getting access. They actually want to talk to people. In fact, when you do call them up, they're actually quite pleased that somebody called them from the outside. They feel important. And that's what you're going to play on. You're going to play on their ego and you're going to ask their opinion and you're going to build credibility with them.

And when you do that, you will be astonished at what nuggets and secrets they're prepared to share.

So let's take our head of strategy and innovation. They're very forward looking, they may be looking three to five years out for the company. And so you might say,

"Hey, I'm undertaking research to see what product and services we need to develop to meet future customer needs.

We know that you are a forward thinking Enterprise in this space. In fact, you're one of our ideal customers. And I was curious to learn what projects or innovations are your, are you working on, what things are going to be in important to you? Cause I want to be able to tailor our offerings to meet your future needs"

They will be happy to tell you, Oh, we're working on this project. This is important. This is critical. We see this market shift. This is the area we need to develop inside our organization in order to make sure we're leaders, right? And then you can certainly say, and, is these kinds of initiatives driven by your CEO?

I see that he's been in place two years and, you've been there, what, three or four. So you're working together on these. Yes, we are. He's very, he's very keen on growth. He's very keen on these three or four initiatives that we're working on. Now, if that conversation goes incredibly well, you might want to say, okay, would you mind giving me an introduction to your CEO? I'd like to have a conversation.

Or do you mind if I use your name? When I approach the CEO and some of them will say, yes, you don't need that. But if that conversation goes incredibly well, you can do that.

Let's say that you're approach the marketing department. You're talking to a marketing manager, maybe a marketing director, and you can say things like,

"Hey, we work with companies like you and I'm undertaking research to see what the kind of issues you that you're facing so that we can develop our product and services to make sure that we meet your needs.

You know, what challenges are you facing in your marketing? What? What are the salespeople struggling with? What are the biggest hurdles that you're facing? And they will tell you exactly. And you can ask all kinds of questions about where they see the friction points in their organization. Where are the challenges? What's the hurdle? What do you think keeps the CEO awake at night?"

And they will tell you.

All right. So now you've amassed all of this. Inside Intel from your Trojan horse.

So step three, we got to tune in to WIFM radio.

What's that? Well, WIFM is What's In it For Me. The CEO or any buyer. They're not interested in you, they're not interested in the features and benefits of your company or how many years you've been in business.

They're only interested in the fact they've got limited time and they've got a big problem and they want to know, can you fix it?

It's like Bob the Builder, remember that? Can we fix it, Bob? Yes, we can. Of course you can, right?

So you've got to tune your radio into the CEO's wavelength. Now, your Trojan horse and research has already told you what the issues are.

You've got inside intelligence from the organization. You've got name drops. Now what you need to do is craft a 30 second pitch that would be broadcast on this wavelength. This is the wavelength. What's in it for me? What's in it for the CEO? Think about what's in it for them. They've already told you what keeps them awake at night.

So, As an example, the, you know, the marketing department told me, Oh, yeah, we, we, we can grow, but we know we just can't get product out of the plant. The manufacturing is awful. We've got labor issues, we've got productivity issues, we've got overtime, the costs are going up, the product's not coming out.

It's terrible when we've got sales teams, and they're going to market, but we can't service the customer. So, knowing all of that, I might say. Hey, this is Mick from Acme services. I was talking to Steve Richards in your marketing department. And he mentioned that you're struggling with maintaining productivity and servicing your customers, particularly in your Illinois plant.

I can help you increase productivity by 20 percent and reduce your overtime, which I calculate is worth 3. 5 million to you. Do you have 20 minutes for me?

See what a powerful message that is very tuned to. W. I. F. M.

Now, you need to stop right here.

Do not pick up the phone. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200.

You need to role play that conversation with somebody in your company, the spouse, anybody so that you become At ease with that conversation, people can critique it and say, well, I felt that, you know, you didn't really believe it and work on it until you have perfected it because you only get one shot.

You only get one kill, so you don't want to mess it up. You've done all this work, you've gotten to this point, you need to hone that message, work on it, practice on it, role play, handle objections, build the muscle. And when you've got it down pat, then you can work, work, move on.

To step four. Now we're stalking the big game, right?

They're wary and you're only going to get one shot. So don't blow it. Now the CEO has gatekeepers. We've already talked about that. So don't call, don't waste your ammunition. Don't call in normal hours, right? CEOs aren't, you're going to have to go through the gatekeeper in normal hours. So try calling first of all, step one, try calling between 7am and 8.

30 in the morning. Or, 5 in the evening to 6. 30, you're much more likely to be able to get through. If you're really, really lucky, the CEO's name will be in the dial by name directory, and you can get them, uh, that way. I mean, I've called as late as 7 o'clock in the evening, and somebody from the gatehouse picks up.

And I've said, oh yeah, I wanted to speak to the, Steve, the CEO. Can you put me through? And they do. They don't know any better. They'll put it, they'll put you through. So, so try outside the hours. That's your first step. Do that several times. Try that for several days. Don't leave a message on the voicemail.

Don't waste your ammunition, right? You've only got one shot. Don't waste it. Then what I'd like you to do is send them an email. Saying that you're going to be calling, and this is, you know, a quick, very succinct, I want to talk about this. You know, I've talked to several people in your organization, I've talked to so and so and so and so, and I have some insights that I want to share with you, and I'm going to be calling.

Then go through normal hours and And you'll probably get their admin or their gatekeeper and say, look, I'm following up on my email. I've also spoken to Steve in, in HR. And he said, you know, he told me some of the issues that the company's facing. And, he said, these were the kind of things that were on the, the agenda.

for the CEO. And I'd like to talk to him. I've got some things I want to share. They may well put you through because you've name dropped certain key people. You've referenced the research that you've done. You sound very legitimate. Or, you know, they might put you on pause a little bit and then talk to this, to the, to the CEO, or you might actually get a time to speak because you've, you've done all of this work.

You've followed the protocol, you've got name dropped, you've got credibility, you've sent an email, you've passed a lot of tests. Step five, the kill. You get the decision maker, you get the CEO on the phone. Remember, the currency is time and they're a decision maker. Whenever you meet with a decision maker, give them a decision to make.

You don't want to end, you know, I don't want to go into a big old dialogue, right? Put your value proposition forward. You rehearse that pitch. Deliver your pitch, deliver your name drops, right? Make your, make your offer and ask for, can I get 20 minutes in your calendar? Or even better, can we sit down and have coffee together?

And then. If you've done your job properly, the CEO saying, Hmm, this guy seems to know a lot about my company. He has a lot about my issues. He knows what's important to me. He's articulated some benefits that I think are really, really important to me, the CEO, W I F M radio. I'm prepared to have a meeting.

So there you have it. You follow those steps, right? You do, you do your research, right? You find a Trojan horse. You build a very specific message on what's in it for me, radio. You stalk. You wait patiently, you try several times until you get through. And in the kill, you deliver a message and you get the meeting.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this. Podcasts? Go get those meetings with those top dogs. The big game. Happy selling.