The Executive Narrative

As seasoned account executives, we know the drill when it comes to executive meetings:

• The preparation we do up front
• How we set up the call logistically
• The pleasantries, as we open the meeting
• The value positioning to capture interest
• Asking the right questions and listening carefully to the responses
• Enhancing, in real time, the solution approach to better align with the executive’s vision, direction, and priorities
• Wrapping up the meeting with next steps.

Yet, with all this, there is but one operative word, one center of gravity for the meeting, to which all other dialog, thoughts, and ideas orbit – and its name is VALUE.

We all know what value is and how to increase it for customers by connecting our value to them, to their value to others – to their customers, employees, and shareholders. But, what makes value real? What makes it credible? Something, that customers can believe in, trusting that it is real, particularly when your solution is very new and innovative?

Any expression of value is a hypothesis. And, the credibility of any hypothesis is not based upon intrinsic factors, but on extrinsic considerations. It’s not about the good stuff in your approach that matters. It’s something else. And, the result is binary. Your Value Statement will either rock or fall dead. It can be hot, warm, or cold, but all that matters is hot from a sales standpoint. Warm does not cut it. So, in sales, hot is hot, warm is cold and cold is cold, making your expression of value sing or die. A Value Statement might resonate with an IT or operations individual, only to fall flat with an executive.

What really matters is how your expression of value, clearly and understandably, maps into the aspirations, responsibilities, and values of the person to whom it is being presented.

Every Value Statement should be specifically tailored and personalized to empower its recipient. That’s the value narrative, particularly for executives!