Inviting a C-level executive to—or, if you’re a senior executive, accepting an invite to participate in—a sales or client meeting can only be a huge positive, right?

Early in my sales career, I heard the CEO of my company say to us that he wanted to spend more time doing customer calls. So on those rare occasions when a prospect visited our headquarters, I looked for an opportunity to include him. When a prospect I had met at a conference called to tell me that he was going to be in town for other business, I thought, This is my chance. So I was thrilled to find out through the CEO’s assistant that he was available and would be delighted to make the time. Locked and loaded. I diligently sent the CEO a memo (this is pre–e-mail!) with background information on the organization and person with whom we would be meeting. I was excited. So on the day of the meeting, my contact and I visited for a short time and then we headed up to the CEO’s expansive office, which was filled with antiques. We took seats around a table in a sitting area. After some small talk, there was silence. The CEO looked at me, and I smiled and nodded back waiting for him to work his CEO magic. He began by asking questions about the client’s organization and needs. As the meeting progressed, I grew anxious. He didn’t talk about our organization as I had expected. When our end time arrived, he got up, thanked the client for coming, and mentioned that he hoped we would do business together at some point.

The meeting did not at all go as I had expected it to. On the positive side, the CEO’s questions triggered responses that included new information. Alternatively, he hadn’t delivered the company story the way I had hoped. Reflecting back on this, he was unclear about my expectations because I failed to convey them.

The Turbocharger

Turbocharger. Hear the word and you probably think robust power source. Competitive drivers and car manufacturers have used turbochargers for decades to boost engine power and race performance. In the hands of a skilled driver, this extra power can offer a competitive advantage. Putting that power, however, in the hands of someone less skilled or at the wrong time, can be fatal.

In the competitive world of selling, it is natural to seek a turbocharger-equivalent to boost performance in a sales meeting. At times this means a C-level executive—i.e., CEO, COO, CFO, CIO—agreeing to join a sales meeting or presentation. And why not? A C-level executive may be able to help advance a sale or retain a relationship, and in the process build the team leader’s credibility with a client and even his or her colleagues.

Common Traps

However, it is a mistake to take this step lightly or impulsively, even with the most receptive and charismatic C-level executive. Their presence and contributions—no different from any other member of your selling squad—may prove to be an asset or liability. Some of the following mistakes made when including a senior-level executive in a sales pitch or client meeting may ring a bell or two:

   Believing that a C-level executive’s title, presence, and personality can magically transform a poorly qualified opportunity or a poorly prepared team

   Treating him or her as untouchable, beyond coaching or preparation

   Banking on the fact that he or she automatically knows “what to do”

   Assuming that your deal carries the same importance to him or her as it does to you

   Relying on the status that executive brings and not bringing your own A-game as a result

In the preceding scenario, I fell into each one of these traps. Well, I did bring my A-game, which at the time hardly deserved an A.

Impact of a Senior Executive on a Selling Squad

Without guidance, what did my CEO do? He led, of course. He took control of the meeting, and, in that case, he needed to because there was no other team leader present in the room.

Leaders lead. And so the lesson from this story and common mistakes is that, without your effective team leadership, a C-level executive may take control of the meeting, moving you away from an otherwise winning game plan and hurting your credibility with the client. A senior leader playing a minor role can be equally hurtful. What does that convey about your C-level executive? Your organization? The profit margin in your proposal? You?

Whether you are the senior executive or the team leader who asked that leader to join you on a sales call or pitch, it’s important to be aware of how this addition changes the group’s dynamics.

As Dr. Heidi Gardner points out in her Harvard Business Review article “Coming Through When It Matters Most,” colleagues working together in important moments breeds what she calls “the performance pressure paradox.” (Gardner, HBR, April 2012, p. 83) Based on her research with cross-specialty work teams in professional services firms, as pressure rises people tend to fall back into their hierarchal roles in the organization.

Since the C-level executive’s role supersedes all others on your team, he or she will effectively take over as the team’s leader when the pressure rises—i.e., as the meeting approaches. And while your CFO, for instance, may be incredibly talented and polished, and have an impressive knowledge of the financial markets, the other team members are likely to be far more plugged into what drives the client contacts on this opportunity. No matter, deferring authority to your CFO in this case overweights the CFO’s experience and knowledge and underweights the input from other team members who possess significant client knowledge. While being smart is important, to win a sales meeting your selling squad needs to be relevant. Your team, including the CFO, needs to be aware of these natural dynamics and manage the team’s interactions, particularly in high-pressure moments, in order to make sure the team stays on its path to accomplish its performance goal.

Best Practices for Senior Executives on a Selling Squad

C-level executives can be a great asset and turbocharge your selling squad’s efforts to create a winning sales meeting. Here are five rules of engagement for a C-level executive participating in an effective sales call, pitch, or client meeting:

1. Ask

Obvious, yes? Less obvious is what it takes to prepare for that ask so that it results in an enthusiastic “yes.”

   Selling squad leader tip: Decide and convey to the executive why participating in this effort aligns with his or her goals, how it will help the client, and what is the expected impact on the sales effort.

   Senior executive tip: Choose carefully the sales opportunities on which you participate. Resist the impulse to give an immediate reply. Jumping onto a losing cause only increases your firm’s loss on a pursuit. At a minimum, the salesperson’s request for you to participate is a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of qualifying opportunities. In an earlier chapter, we discussed how selling squad leaders can qualify opportunities using four questions—ensuring there is sufficient reason for the client to change and work with your organization now, and for your firm to work with them. Listening to your salesperson’s rationale for pursuing this deal should make it clear whether this is a “Hail Mary” pass or a well-thought-out move that could win the deal. Your participation at the right times in the pursuit of qualified opportunities can be a game-changer.

2. Define and Communicate Expectations

This should include clearly conveying:

1.   Goals and roles for the meeting, including who will be the selling squad’s leader

2.   Expectations for participation in preparing for and debriefing the meeting with the team

3.   Defining how, when, and where to give and get feedback

This is an opportunity to strengthen your selling partnership should you work together again on a future opportunity.

3. Prepare Together

C-level executives should attend team prep sessions, with your understanding of the possibility of more pressing conflicts.

   Selling squad leader tip: When the executive is able to be there, be efficient:

1.   Transfer essential knowledge given your leader’s role in the sales meeting.

2.   Run through the opening, including your leader’s welcome message and introduction.

3.   Review whatever additional topics, such as a company overview, your leader will address in the meeting.

4.   Be clear on your role as team leader, including who will close and how that will be done.

   Senior executive tip: Resist the impulse to take over because the team will follow you if you lead. Seek to understand and be the intricately jigsawed piece the team needs to complete their puzzle. Also, humor and off-the-cuff remarks have their time and place. Have you ever heard a fellow executive introduce himself and refer to his role as “Overhead”? What can be funny in an internal meeting, where the audience reports to you, can be disastrous in a sales meeting. Preparing together reduces the chance of a negative surprise.

4. Set Intra-meeting Ground Rules

The senior executive should take a seat that appropriately conveys his or her role in your organization, and lines up with the customer’s senior-most decision maker.

   Selling squad leader tip: Once the meeting gets started, stay engaged and provide cues and handoffs to your teammates, including the executive, as appropriate.

   Senior executive tip: Seek a seat that allows you to make full eye contact with their senior contact, without sitting directly opposed in the “locking horns” position, or to their right, which allows sidebars. Also, it can feel odd shifting into an environment where the authority, pace, and scope is being set by others. To support the team in its winning game plan, be sure to take your cues from the team leader, keeping improvisation to a minimum.

5. Debrief Together

There are a number of follow-up activities that should be considered: thank-you notes and feedback among them.

   Selling squad leader tip: Consider drafting a thank-you note on the team’s behalf for your C-level executive to sign. Ask for feedback on your role as team leader and on other team members. Consider collecting and distilling the team’s feedback—both pluses and minuses —and deliver the key points when you are one-on-one with him or her. Also, be sure to acknowledge your C-level executive’s time in preparing for, attending and contributing to the meeting. Ask how he or she would like to stay apprised of future developments.

   Senior executive tip: You can play an important role in reviewing the team’s high and low points during the meeting. Providing individual feedback should be handled carefully. Be aware that your feedback to team members takes on extra gravity. To strengthen your impact in future sales meetings, consider accepting feedback from at least the team leader. If your experience is like mine was as a former leader and that of many C-level executives I coach, you may get very little objective feedback. This is a shame since you play such an important role in sales meetings. Your own development as a member of selling squads will strengthen your power to advance and close deals at pivotal points.

Including a C-level executive in a sales meeting can be both an exciting and intimidating move in a broader sales or client retention strategy. Such an executive’s presence alone is rarely the “magic bullet” expected and needed. In the right opportunity, setting, and timing, however, executives can play a significant role in winning a new client or retaining an existing one.

Keep the five tips above in mind for upcoming sales meetings. A C-level executive, properly positioned, can turbocharge a selling team’s sales efforts to give it the extra boost needed to motor into the winner’s circle.