How do you get the Csuite team to buy into a new pitch deck?

First off, great job on finding a problem and bringing people together to fix it! I'd suggest having a little bit more curiosity and empathy around why the CSuite members are hesitant. I'm guessing there might be more going around the IPO and that there isn't actually a desire to be "consistently bad." In situations where I feel like things are non-sensical I try to pause and listen harder to see what isn't being said. In terms of selling the new pitch decks, I'd suggest positioning it as a "pil ...Read More

If I was an exec at your company, I’d want to understand what is awful about this pitch (share research, client feedback?), what evidence you can provide that it is hurting my business (do an a/b pilot?), and what you think good looks like (comparative/competitive examples?). If you brought that to me, I’d hope I would listen. Then, if I was you I’d try to listen really carefully to what this executive is worried about. Bad timing, overwhelmed sales team, something else? Maybe you can then addre ...Read More

In these types of situations, I’ve found that data can be a useful persuasion tool, because it’s objective. Have you considered surfacing win rate numbers? Or an even more granular metric in the sales funnel, like a lack of deal progression from early to mid/late stages? If execs are expected to take you at your word that the pitch isn’t working, based on anecdotal evidence, that can be a tough sell. Their thought process is likely, “how bad could it be? We’re doing well enough to merit an IPO.” ...Read More

Getting the C-suite to buy into a new pitch deck depends on whether or not execs feel like a new pitch deck is needed. If Execs feel like the company needs a new pitch and puts you/PMM in charge of that project, you're in good shape because you'll get the attention and cooperation you need to gather requirements, talk with customers, test with account teams and all the other cross-functional work needed to get to an excellent, brief (think the 10-12 slides that Salesforce trains everyone at the ...Read More

Bad content is so frustrating! I generally use one or all of these tactics when I’m facing headwinds like this: Try to understand the cause. It sounds like what's behind the c-suite pushback is fear of change, and in my experience, CxOs (like the rest of us!) sometimes just need to be reassured that everything will be fine. You can help everyone feel better about trying something new with a little social proof (e.g. at most software companies, the corporate pitch gets a refresh every 3-6 months) ...Read More

There are already a few good answers here, but no one has mentioned jumping on the impending IPO - what's the pitch for that? There should be a story followed by great metrics. The story for an IPO shouldn't be divorced from the customer pain and adoption the company solves.  Also, on the pilots - find some reps who are respected, but not in the top 5%. You want people who want your help, but not the ones selling on years of knowledge and relationships. You also don't want reps in the bottom 50% ...Read More