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Preface
 Steak…or…bologna.
That’s the
entree choice
given by most of
the compensation
plans that sales
people work
under. If you
are successful
and “hit your
numbers” you eat
steak. If you
don’t make
quota, you eat
bologna. This
book is focused
on helping sales
professionals
upgrade their
menu. The tools
and templates of
the Wall Street
Selling
Methodology™ are
unique and
unlike any other
sales method.
This is not a
book filled with
“fluff ” or
“feel goods”
that promise
results. It is
not a
repackaging of
personality
definitions, and
it doesn’t walk
you through ten
or fifteen or
twenty yes/no
questions to
tell your
managers that
your deal is
qualified. This
methodology will
transform the
way you approach
your sales
tasks, because
if you are
dealing with
senior level
executives,
you’d better be
able to align
your product to
the strategies
that the CEO is
pursuing. This
book will
provide you with
a new set of
tools to compete
– and excel – in
this
environment.
This book will
allow you to:
1. Become fluent
in the language
of business.
2. Gain a unique
understanding of
a company’s
strategies and
align your value
proposition with
them.
3. Build a
clear, concise,
compelling
C-Level case for
change that will
help you close
sales.
Sales teams need
these tools
because
comparing
today’s business
environment to
the one just two
decades prior is
like comparing
the latest
Corvette to a
‘65 luxury car
with torn seats,
fading paint,
and a faulty
fuel pump. If
you don’t
realize it yet,
let me be the
first to welcome
you to the
commodity
marketplace. In
the 1990s,
demand was high,
and mid-level
managers had a
budget. Deals
could get closed
by focusing on
feature
function. In
today’s world,
it’s decision by
committee, and
nobody cares
about features.
CEOs focus their
daily actions
like a laser
beam towards
one thing –
satisfying Wall
Street. Your
competitors have
someone working
and focused on
the C-Level in
your accounts,
and unless you
can compete –
and
differentiate –
you run the risk
of losing market
share. (When we
mention C-Level
in this book, we
will generally
refer to people
with the word
Chief in their
title - like
Chief Executive
Officer, Chief
Financial
Officer - as
well as other
senior level
executives such
as President,
Division
President, etc.)
While an MBA is
an excellent way
to learn about
business
principles and
hone
decision-making
skills,
B-School
programs don’t
teach you to
uncover Profit
Strategies with
the objective of
closing
business.
This book will
take your
professional
sales career to
the next level.
It will allow
you to
differentiate
yourself from
all the other
solution/value/target
selling people
that compete for
your prospect’s
dollar.
It will teach
you to Think
Like the CEO you
are targeting,
as you integrate
your product
with the Profit
Strategies he is
using to satisfy
“the Street.”
This book is
based on a
methodology that
I developed and
practiced in
selling large,
multimillion
dollar software
and technology
solutions. As I
took on
management
responsibilities,
I taught my
teams to use
these same
tools. They
developed the
confidence to
sell high in the
organizations
they were
targeting by
thinking like
the CEO’s they
were selling to.
The result was
increased sales.
By putting my
experience into
the writing of
this book, you
won’t have to
learn the
concepts by
trial and error
and then spend
ten years
perfecting them.
You will be able
to implement
these concepts
immediately,
just like my
sales teams did.
Organization
While learning
about financial
statements gets
most people
about as excited
as getting a
fruitcake for
Christmas, we
will focus on
giving you an
understanding of
financial terms.
In the first
part of this
book, called
The Language of
Business,
we will teach
you to quickly
analyze only
what you need to
in order to
Think Like a
CEO. I promise
to boil down the
relatively
complex world of
business
analysis into
language and
structure that
the average
non-MBA non-Mensa
member can
digest.
The second part
of the book is
called
The Wall Street
Selling
Methodology™,
the objective of
which is to
understand your
target company,
its industry,
and how it
stacks up to its
competitors.
After the first
two parts of
this book, we
will take a look
at different
business
strategies, and
how you can
uncover them by
reading the
“numbers.” We
will look at
many samples of
different
business
strategies, and
spend a chapter
looking at “blue
chips,” as well
as companies
that failed
miserably.
The final
section,
Value
Integration,
will teach you
how to deal with
senior level
executives and
how to present a
compelling value
proposition that
aligns with the
CEO’s strategy.
We call this
value
integration, and
it is the only
way to sell your
product today.
Ideal Audience
for
Think Like a CEO
The concepts in
this book are
applicable to
all types of
products and
services that
companies – and
individual sales
teams – sell.
While it is easy
to see the
importance of
these concepts
if you are
selling capital
equipment or
software worth
hundreds of
thousands or
millions of
dollars, the
concepts are
just as
important if you
are a
salesperson
selling to a
small business.
For example,
let’s say that
you are
responsible for
selling products
to independent
convenience
stores. Using
the concepts in
this book, you
can find the
financial
returns of a
publicly traded
company in the
convenience
store industry,
and find out how
they have
performed.
Engaging your
client around
industry metrics
and how his are
similar will
allow you to
begin
integrating your
value
proposition to
his objectives.
By asking a few
pertinent
questions, you
will uncover his
Profit
Strategies and
begin to align
your products to
them. While this
customer might
not be a Boeing,
you can bet they
are focused on
the same results
as Boeing’s CEO.
Now it’s time to
get down to the
very serious
task of learning
the language of
business. While
this might sound
like your first
shot of bad
tequila—tough to
swallow and
almost
tear-inducing—I
promise to make
it more like
Cuervo Gold. A
nice lubricant
to get to the
really good
stuff that comes
afterwards. So
hang on.
Mark Kuta, Jr.
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