How You Can Help Every Executive Feel Appreciated

Imagine you've put your heart and soul in an organization, bringing it up from a start-up to a profitable entity, then some "solutions provider" comes along thinking they can do it better. Like most executives, you'd be hesitant to do business with anyone who doesn't recognize the efforts you've taken to get the company this far.

No matter what you think of how a company operates now, the executives involved have done something right or they would have gone out of business years ago. You can motivate an executive to purchase when they sincerely know you appreciate what they've done right to this point.

Position yourself as an expert there to help them get more of what they desire by making available new resources that extend their capability. This approach always wins over the sales person or marketer with the "We can fix you attitude."

Actions to take that help executives feel appreciated:

• Acknowledging their contributions,
• Understanding their objectives,
• Recognizing something they have overcome,
• Noticing what makes them unique,
• Leadership in their marketplace,
• Effectiveness of direct reports,
• By noticing recent media coverage,
• Connect their leadership to time in business,
• Identifying their business as special,
• Highlighting key accomplishments,

This isn't an exercise in flattery; you must sincerely admire the traits of this accomplishment or be genuinely impressed with this individual. To make the most of this motivating factor, get them talking about themselves.

As the most powerful motivating factor, it's easy to miss its value to close new business opportunities. It takes serious resource into an executive's interest, contribution, company history, and more to know what spark an executive's pride.

Lightly presented this motivating factor makes for a good opening in a direct face-to-face sales presentation. A simple statement as, "I really admire the professional atmosphere of staff I've met so far, it really reflects great on their attitude about this company."

It's always best to first allude to the executive's contribution rather than come straight out and tell them of their great leaderships. Direct statement like, "... it reflects on your good leadership" looks like flattery. Instead, ask them questions that connect their efforts to certain identifiable results.

Get to know each executive you work with and you'll find particular areas where they feel they could use a little recognition. Executives are just like any other person, they want to be noticed, and they want to be recognized for their efforts. So many people depend on them, but so few really say thank you.

Listen closely, most executives will tell you what they have gone through to get their company to where it's at today. Look for a unique trait to which you can be sincerely interested, acknowledging your appreciate will motivate an executive while building rapport and admiration.

If done with tact, a little appreciate can turn any executive into a customer for life. Make a list of five things you know about each executive you work with. You'll be surprised what nuggets you'll discover that can motivate an executive to buy from you.

© 2005 Justin Hitt, All rights reserved.
/ executive-relations | motivating-factors /

Justin Hitt, a copywriter and executive relations advisor for Hitt Publishing Direct. To contact him, or learn more strategies for selling and marketing to executives, visit http://hittpublishingdirect.com/

This is the last chapter in this special report "Seven Motivating Factors That Help Executives Decide To Buy From You." Before you leave this report, make a list of 20 things you can apply with your sales or marketing team in the next 90-days, then choose one to start with this week.

Table of Contents

Seven Motivating Factors That Help Executive Decide To Buy From You

1. Three Ways To Demonstrate How Your Solution Increases Revenues,
2. Why Decreasing Employee Turnover Motivates Executives To Buy Now,
3. Why Is Customer Retention So Important To Executives In Business-To-Business Firms,
4. How Demonstrating You Can Improve Response Time Will Motivate Executives To Buy,
5. If You Can Decrease An Executives Operating Expenses They'll Have No Reason Not To Buy,
6. How To Close With Executives By Demonstrating A Reduction Of Costs Of Sales,
7. Are You Minimizing An Executives Risk By Purchasing With You?,
8. How You Can Help Every Executive Feel Appreciated,