"How to Present to the C-Suite" Harvard Business Review

https://hbr.org/2018/10/how-to-blow-a-presentation-to-the-c-suite

Using a recent experience of a two-day retreat for CEO's and senior executives at a Fortune 50 company, Global CEO coach Sabina Nawaz walks us through the potential pitfalls of presenting to C-suite executives. Her plan involves four potential traps and how to avoid them:

1. An Idea Without Its Problem - create context for your ideas, first outlining the problem before presenting your solution.

2. An Idea Without a Clear ROI - show how your idea will pay for itself and how it will grow in revenue with further growth.

3. A Presentation Without Interaction - be sure to allot ample time to interact with questions and follow up (Sabina recommends leaving 50% of your time for questions).

4. Data Without Attention to Detail - have accurate data at the ready for answers, and if you don't know the numbers, don't guess, use it as an opportunity for follow-up.

Go read the whole article for Sabina's full insight into presenting to C-suite executives. She has valuable insight into these simple potential traps that can be easily avoided so you can make a bigger impact when you get time in front of the top executives from your company.

Do you have any thoughts on these topics? Please leave a comment below

"CHALLENGER SALE" by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson

This is the most recent Sales guru book. It naturally follows the lineage of sales help books that starts with Dale Carnegie, runs through Xerox Professional Selling, and then Neil Rackham’s SPIN Selling. This is the most up to date analytic framework for being successful in sales.

The authors break salespeople down into 5 types and look at their effectiveness:

1. Hard Worker - Plugs along. Gets some things done but can struggle.

2. Lone Wold - Doesn’t need or want a team

3. Reactive Problem Solver - They react and get it done but they don’t expand the relationship

4. Relationship Builder - Two hockey tickets and a beer? Effective but not as good as….

5. The Challenger - They are debaters. They are teachers. Teach the client something they didn’t know or see about the business or the future. They are the best performers.

The authors show statistics that buyers care a tremendous amount about the relationship with the salesperson. It is more than price.

Please feel free to comment on any of these recommendations and suggest other sources that might be helpful.

"LEADERSHIP" by Doris Kearns Goodwin

While most would consider this a straight up history book, it is fascinating to see how each profile uses communicating skills to become great leaders. DKG profiles four US Presidents; Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and LBJ, and looks at their leadership as a result of managing crisis. She shows that there are definite patterns and consistent approaches that work. A great read for any history buff.

Please feel free to comment on any of these recommendations and suggest other sources that might be helpful.