...especially when you misuse them.

If you want to succeed at executive sales, you have to sound like you know what you're talking about. And the best easy to do that is to know what you're talking about.

Executalk-- the financial language of executive sales-- makes it easy, right? Just learn how to talk about “revenue,” “profit,” “margins,” “ROI” and stuff like that, right?

Actually, when it comes to using the vocabulary that demonstrates the business acumen required to be taken seriously when selling to C-level executives, a little knowledge can be dangerous.

Let's start with “profit.”

The CFO you’re pitching says that his company had $8.6 million in profits last year. Is that good or bad? You don't have a clue, partly because you don't yet know the company goals and metrics, but even more so because you don't yet even know what he's talking about!

"Gross profit?” “Operating profit?” “Net profit?” Unless you're reasonably sure you know exactly what he means by “profit,” ASK.

And be sure in your own communications that you don't confuse the various types of profit. It's one of the quick and easy ways we "smoke out" someone who's trying to talk a good game but is really in over his head.

Next time-- 3 (maybe 4) more financial terms that are commonly misused in C-level sales...

Tags Business acumen, CFO, Executalk, Profit, vocabulary

It's amazing how out of touch some people still are in this economy.

I've recently had some pointed discussions with what I call the "black turtleneck crowd (you know, the "who loves you baby, let's do lunch" art school dropouts that try to convince you to hire their artsy fartsy ad agency to fund their fantasizing over winning a Cleo award)." At a time like this, some of them are trying to convince companies to actually spend MORE on unproven, knee-jerk marketing to "jumpstart" sales-- sort of a "stimulus package," if you will.

Don't get me wrong. At root, I am a sales/marketing guy myself. I just "grew up" enough to realize that when you become a C-Level executive, you have to take the big picture into account. And now you're asking me to create a whole new budget for your pet initiative? FUGETTABOUTIT.  

And frankly, for a marketing exec to ASK for a separate high level budget item for a new initiative reinforces an unfortunate and unnecessary stereotype that marketing folks are all sizzle and no steak, and don't get "that we're trying to run a business here, not your own personal experiment with the trendy, flavor of the month, marketing pixie dust voodoo!"

Sure, you'll make the (very legitimate) argument that your initiative can indeed produce measurable and significant improvements in revenue and profitability.  It's all about the metrics-- yeah, I get that.  But just like I'm telling the Engineering VP that he can't hire a new team of FLEX programmers, and the Sales Director can't open that satellite office in Atlanta (even though "it'll pay for itself within 6 months!"), YOU, Marketing Department, can't have a whole new budget for "the next big thing."

What you CAN do-- and what I EXPECT you to do-- is figure out how to use what you've got more effectively.  And if you new proposal is REALLY that great, find a way to pay for it out of existing budget.  Stop going to low ROI tradeshows.  Cut some of the ad budget.  Get a second source print vendor to cut production costs.  You know-- MANAGE YOUR BUDGET.

Absolutely feel free to reallocate your resources as you see fit within those parameters.  But don't ask the CFO/Controller to cut you a new "budget" at a time like this.  Believe me, if you don't already know, you soon will, that he/she is looking for whole chunks to take OUT-- not put in.  That's just the reality of any responsibly run organization.

That said, as a financial executive I would love for you to present me with a ROI analysis of various programs and approaches and as long as it's not a cashflow issue ("I don't care HOW good a deal you can get on that Ferrari, we DON'T HAVE THE MONEY!"), I'm willing to consider shifting funding your way if I am convinced of the payoff.  Show me direct improvement in actual revenue and profits.  Specific declines in costs due to customer service, recurring revenue and customer retention, etc.  

Marketers need to stop "drinking their own bathwater" and notice that they're sharing the bathroom with more and more people who are not impressed with the "ring around the tub."  Clean up after yourselves, and learn the "Executalk" of your finance executives to earn their trust rather than expecting them to learn the "Marketspeak" about your initiatives.

Tags Budgets, Executalk, Marketing, Metrics