Salesforce is now out selling software giants Oracle and SAP primarily because they have cracked the code of being attractive to members of the C –suite. Once CEOs are impressed chances of regular sales is commonplace. Yet this is highly challenging as chief executives rate only a fifth of their meet-ups with sales personnel as fruitful. Also the C- Suite has undergone tremendous change over the decades. While CEOs now have more personnel reporting to them, COOs have declined in number, now being fewer than CFOs. Three aspects are required to succeed in this – context, content and contact. The context here refers to the fact that chief executives are primarily interested in the bottom line and thus the focus of the discussion has to be precise. Detailed business analytics must be used up to demonstrate the value of the proposition offered to them. In terms of content, it is necessary for the firm to do basic homework about the potential client. An informal analysis on the key people must be conducted beforehand using social media. Periodic follow up needs to be maintained. Each contact created needs to be cultivated in order to provide periodic business returns.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/10/salespeople-need-a-strategy-for-selling-to-ceos