It's time for the old "I've got some good news and bad news" routine.

First, here's the bad news. For a long time, some salespeople have been doing a poor job of selling to senior level management. This was quantified in a study conducted by SiriusDecisions (www.siriusdecisions.com) in conjunction with the H. H. Gregg Center for Professional Selling at Ball State University. They polled a number of business executives and asked about their experiences with salespeople, and here are a couple of their findings:


nearly 82% said they "almost always" or "frequently" experience salespeople "who have not done their homework in regard to my critical issues or needs"
72% of executives scored salespeople in the worst two categories in terms of "not being well informed about what my company is, what I do or how I do it"


Depressing, huh? It's this type of selling that's given us a bad name out there!

Now, here's the good news. This study also shows us what we need to do in order to meet or exceed the expectations of senior level decision makers. When asked to rate the importance of key elements of a salesperson's preparation on their satisfaction with an initial sales meeting, being "well informed about my critical business issues" was classified as important or very important by 93% of the respondents. Simply stated, we need to do our research first and put the focus on the customer.

Fortunately, the IMPAX Process gives us the tools and skills we need to do our research before we meet with senior level decision makers, and it also provides us with a presentation format to bring this research to life and impress and compel these executives.