How do you sell an idea to the C-Suite? This is a question I’m often asked. A little background might be helpful. I’m a customer service and CX expert. I work with companies around the world, helping them create amazing experiences for both customers and employees. Some of my clients in larger organizations want to implement new software, roll out new programs, add to their training budget—basically spend more money for what they think will improve the customer experience. When it’s a sizable investment, they need approval from someone in leadership. Which brings us back to the original question: How do you sell an idea to the C-Suite?
Part of what I do is to make the complicated simple, and that is exactly what leadership needs: simplicity. By the way, I’m going to give you a very simple answer to the question of selling to the C-Suite. It doesn’t mean the answer is easy. It’s just not complicated. Once you understand the needs and expectations for someone in the C-Suite to make a decision, it is actually a fairly simple process.
First and foremost, you have to prove the ROI. It can always be tracked to dollars. Revenue and profit are at the top of the list for leadership. So, be sure to support your case with numbers. The C-Suite loves numbers.
Here’s a simple example. Let’s say you are the director of the customer support center and you’re looking to invest in a software solution that helps reduce or eliminate hold times when customers call. You hear complaints from customers about their unreasonable hold times on a regular—even daily—basis. When customers are calling with problems, they want quick and easy solutions. The long hold times are considered friction. Customers are forced to stay on the phone, and by the time they finally talk to a support agent, they are frustrated, maybe even angry.
So, you approach the C-Suite with the idea of buying software that will inform customers of how long they will be on hold or give them an option to be called back. It costs money. So, why should the C-Suite approve the investment? You must prove your case with numbers. Show that a certain percentage of those customers are angry enough to switch to a competitor. What does that customer churn rate do to future sales? How much business is lost from frustrated customers who won’t come back? What if you reduced that number by just 5%? How does that increase revenue? The numbers are there, you just have to find them.
Here’s another example. This time it’s about investing in a culture-building activity or program. How does that save or make a company money? The research proves that motivated, happy employees stay longer, reducing turnover. The cost of hiring and training new employees is far higher than retaining the good ones you have. How many employees do we have to retain to make the investment break even, let alone make or save the company money? The “people power” it takes to interview and train new employees to replace good people who leave is high—high enough that reducing turnover is, at least for some organizations, a major money-saving opportunity. Once again, you must tie this to numbers.
Keep asking yourself questions that start with the words why and how. When you present your request to leadership, they are going to ask a number of questions that begin with those two words. They will want to know why they should make the investment, how the idea will be implemented, how much money the idea will save the company, how much money the idea will make, and more. You get the idea. You have to come to the meeting with the answers, ideally as part of the presentation so they don’t even have to ask. When you make a good presentation, the answers to those questions—and others—should be obvious to those in attendance. So, the place to start is the numbers. That’s where, as they say, “the rubber meets the road.” That’s what the C-Suite loves.
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March 21, 2021 at 06:30PM
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Selling To The C-Suite: Make The Complicated Simple - Forbes
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