Gaining confidence & developing long-term business relationship with "C" (CEO,CMO,CFO, President,Directors etc) level decision makers is becoming increasingly challenging. Having observed & experienced these interactions for a long time, it was interesting to understand how senior executives handle sales-marketing executives.

There are typically three types of sales executives; "Tactical", "Strategic", and "Consultative". The interactions of these sales people with the senior decision makers results in one of the three decisions; being sent down to a junior associate, or be considered for future discussions or to give continued access with the senior level.

The following chart captures; typical impression being created, experience of the interaction, conclusion of meeting & decision being made by the senior decision maker.

	Tactical	Strategic	Consultative
Impressions about the sales person	Product expert	A potential Resource	Business consultant
Experience of the interaction.	Interruption	Sales talk	Business discussion
Conclusion of meeting.	Due diligence completed	Creative ideas explored	Compelling value proposition
Decision of the meeting	To be sent down	Can be considered	Continued access

The decision makers view the "Tactical salesperson" as a product expert and conclude at the end of the meeting, it was an interruption and that waste of time. Such a sales person is immediately referred down to the staff working at lower levels in the organization who deal with the product and technical issues these tactical salespeople are comfortable discussing. Through diligence and consistent efforts, the tactical salespeople may be able to schedule an initial meeting with an executive, their inability to address the issues critical to the senior decision makers, converts an extraordinary opportunity into wasted time. Their ability to gain return access to the same senior-level executive becomes virtually impossible.

At the other end of the skill, the "Consultative salesperson" is seen as a business consultant who, demonstrates compelling business value and also gives reasons why the relationship should continue. It results in granting them contuinued access to the senior decision maker. The decison makers cite the continual value of dealing with salespeople, who have helped solve similar business problems for other customers. The consultative salesperson can relate to business problems at a very high level. They understand that their solution may not be the only solution, and they deliver business value by helping explore various options. The objective is to discuss and develop realistic solutions, not give a slick sales presentation.

So give me an honest answer-How many of your sales engineers have consultative sales approach?