Ryan Fixell, MBA

When working with C-suite executives, I've found they mainly focus on two key concerns: "What tangible value am I gaining compared to the costs of the contract?" "How can I be confident that our implementation will prevent a major breach or headline?" Based on these priorities, I prioritize identifying the critical metrics or use cases that need to be measured. They often aren't interested in individual cases, app usage, or the number of users—these are simply seen as costs. Instead, the emphasi ...Read More

This is something that must evolve and scale in step with increased spend or additional products added to a contract. Contracts are growing larger, and with companies becoming more cautious about costs, deals that once required only VP-level approval are now moving up to multiple C-Suite leaders or even Board-level oversight. If you don’t expand your relationships and build connections across the C-Suite, you risk facing more barriers to growth. Worse, you may encounter downsell or churn if seni ...Read More

My best advice is to take the risk and reach out, but be sure to clearly communicate your purpose. Avoid coming across as a new sales rep merely trying to close a deal. Instead, leverage your relationships with the sales team and develop a plan to strengthen those connections. Executives are often more receptive to talking with CS because there’s no immediate price tag attached. Once you secure a meeting or engagement, use that time wisely to ask discovery questions, especially during or after a ...Read More

A clear sign that you’ve earned an executive’s trust is when they reach out to you directly. Executives can contact anyone they choose, so if they choose you, it means you’ve established credibility. The opposite is also true—when trust is lost, they’ll stop engaging with you and instead go through someone else at your company. Keep in mind, executives are busy, so slow or infrequent responses aren’t necessarily a red flag. However, if they no longer see value in the relationship, they won’t mak ...Read More