I want a relationship with the top executive before I need it.

I want a relationship with the top executive before I need it.

Executive relationships take time to build, and the moment you need one is often too late to start. A renewal, an RFP or a leadership change goes better when the executive already knows and trusts your team.

Five questions to see if your team can do this job today:

1. Does your team know which executive will make the big decisions on your key account two years from now?
2. Does your team have a relationship with that executive today?
3. Does your team know the risks that keep the top executive up at night?
4. Are you building champions among the leaders who have the top executive's ear?
5. Are your proposals written in the executive's own words and from their point of view?

Two or more no's, and your first meeting with the decision maker may come after the decision is made.

Several years ago, I was competing with 12 other vendors in my service area in an account that had 100s of suppliers. The top executive was the Founder and CEO of a $5B global corporation, leading over 60 locations worldwide and ranked #1 in their industry. I was a small fish in a vast sea of vendors. But without a connection to him, our chances of elevating to a Vital Partnership would be next to impossible.

One day, a VP of Operations called me with the same question he'd just asked the previous 4 vendors on his call sheet. He needed our proposal by COB the next day.

I asked him, "How did this issue land on your desk? This seems like a regulatory matter." He explained, "This came from head of legal with the CEO's blessing." That was the opportunity I'd been looking for: a way to gain access to the executive by helping him mitigate a risk that could impede their revenue growth.

I found out how the CEO described the issue, because I would use his exact language in our proposal. Then I quantified what was at stake. A conservative estimate put their cost of nonconformance above $70M.

Our newest Champion, the VP, presented our solution the following week, and we won the award: $5M+ annually in new project revenue, $70M saved for our client, and new access to the Founder and CEO.

The fastest path to executive access is helping them protect what they can't afford to lose.

Our system, the Vitality Index, shows your key account teams where they stand today, the work it takes to level up, and how to do it, until they reach a vital partnership that lasts.

Which executive will decide the future of your key account two years from now, and do they know your name?

We built a free, 4-minute Key Account Risk Assessment. It gives you a risk score for your key accounts across team alignment, account planning, account transitions, and visibility. Link in the comments.