Get Out of My Office!

About the Book

Get Out of My Office explores the true nature of what executives want from the people who fill up their calendars each day. Written for individuals and companies who seek to elevate their exposure and value to their clients, the book addresses fundamental issues all face when dealing with business-to-business selling and relationship building. Managing expectations becomes one of the first orders of business. You will consider what perceptions your client’s executives have of you and discover ways to begin to work within those expectations and eventually craft new expectations of the value you can bring. Clearly and accurately identifying the correct targets for your selling or delivery relationship efforts is critical. Suggestions are given to help develop a working definition of executive that will enable you to sift through the layers of titles, positions, and responsibilities present in any organization and clearly identify by function those who are acting and serving as executives. Consideration is also given to why executives would want to have any kind of business relationship with you that moves beyond the normal transactional interests they have with your company. Several key inputs from senior executives are given that will answer the question: If there is a relationship with an individual supplier or vendor, what would you want out of it? Taking these insights, the author knits together a solid foundation of understanding that enables you to safely and effectively accomplish the task of building executive relationships. Having an unclear or many times unrealistic view of your value causes challenges when entertaining the idea of building executive relationships. Perhaps this might explain why salespeople who go into a meeting with an executive to “pitch their wares,” addressing the impact they can bring to the functional department silo, lose the executive’s interest. While this “stuff” (which is how the executives usually describe it) is important to the salesperson and possibly the functional silo, it does not capture the executive’s attention or address the value they most care about or are looking for. The response that usually follows sounds something like, “This is very interesting. I would like you to continue this discussion with my director of manufacturing,” thus effectively ending the opportunity to build any kind of relationship with this executive. In essence, they have received the proverbial, “Get Out Of My Office!” Executives are NOT managers. They have people to take care of the tactical efforts of a function or project. The executive will LEAD and determine the direction of the silo and team up with their colleagues to lead the company. Yes, the executive can and will talk the talk, look the look, and walk the walk with technical, functional silo language, but at the end of the day, the value that they are looking for as an executive has not been addressed in this type of exchange. This book unlocks the value that executives are looking for but will not ask for. Relationships are then built on the validity of the unexpected value you bring to them. Get Out Of My Office gives you the basics for laying that foundation to build executive relationships.

About the Author

Kevin L. Stinson is CEO of The Stinson Group, Inc., founded in 1992 as a practical skill-based international consulting and training firm focused on sales success and business management. Kevin’s corporate experience includes serving as Director of Development for an international humanitarian aid organization and executive leadership positions focusing on Organizational Leadership Development, Corporate and Private Sector Fund raising, Leadership Training, and Sales Development. Mr. Stinson is a frequent public speaker delivering keynote addresses and Leadership and Relationship Training sessions both nationally and internationally to over 10,000 business professionals across the globe. He has provided Sales Training, Relationship Building Training, and Sales Process consulting in the telecommunications, information technology, petroleum and mining, energy, hardware/software, semi-conductor, manufacturing, and engineering industries since the inception of his business. In the past fifteen years, Mr. Stinson has worked with CEOs, CFOs, company presidents, corporate boards, VPs, and management teams. He has served as a consultant at the executive level for sales process development, account mapping and planning, client satisfaction and loyalty survey and analysis, as well as customer relationship management. In addition to on-site consulting, Mr. Stinson is active in the development of client-centered, customer-specific sales training courses offered through The Stinson Group, Inc. Mr. Stinson resides in southwestern Ohio with his wife. Together they have two grown children.