Selling to the CFO with Michael Cremen

In this episode of The Revenue Builders Podcast,
hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan dive deep into the critical
role of the CFO in sales deals, especially in uncertain times.
Michael Cremen joined us when he was the CSO of Elastic. The
discussion revolves around the importance of understanding and
addressing the CFO factor, failing fast, and asking the hard
questions. The episode provides valuable insights for sales
professionals on navigating financial implications, engaging
champions effectively, and using strategic language to secure
deals.


KEY TAKEAWAYS


[00:00:36] Competing Beyond Competitors: Salespeople must
recognize they're not just competing against direct competitors
but against all the other potential investments the CFO could
make.
[00:01:44] Stacking Up Against Priorities: The real competition
lies in how your cost justification compares to all the other
initiatives the CFO is juggling.
[00:03:24] The Timing Dilemma: Discussion on whether to go early
and seek advice or go late and face critique from CFOs. Emphasis
on the importance of early engagement and seeking guidance before
formal proposals.
[00:05:08] Champion Dynamics: The significance of going with a
champion and the potential pitfalls of leaving them out of
crucial conversations with CFOs.
[00:07:36] Strategic Language: The hosts and Michael Kremen
discuss the importance of using precise language that conveys the
value proposition and justifies the presence of the sales team at
the CFO level.
[00:09:28] Embracing Paranoia: Encouragement for sales teams to
be paranoid and vigilant, especially when dealing with
high-stakes deals and engaging CFOs.


HIGHLIGHT QUOTES


[00:08:18] "The best sales teams on the planet are paranoid, like
viciously paranoid. If you think it's going to sail through and
everything's fine, be careful, be paranoid."
[00:10:09] "People rarely argue with their own conclusions. When
you ask them to walk you through a scenario and they realize that
they've just answered the question, it just makes it a lot
easier."
[00:11:38] "It needs to be in their language, in their
parameters. If you're forcing your goals, the way you read
things, the way you're measured onto your customers, they don't
understand it."


Listen to the full episode with Michael Cremen
through this link:
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/connecting-to-value-with-michael-cremen


Check out John McMahon’s book here:
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4


Check out Force Management’s Ascender platform
here: 
https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/