Whenever you have a great idea, you have to sell it upward as well as downward. This means getting buy-in not only from your team and your peers but also from your bosses—top management or even the board. By following a few key principles you can make the higher-ups as keen on your ideas as you are.
✓ Understand that selling new ideas is a key part of leadership. So, be ready to articulate new ideas and directions to other colleagues with whom you share power.
✓ Prepare, prepare, prepare.
• Accumulate as much backup information as you can find. The more
novel or controversial your idea, the more supporting documentation
you will need.
• Rehearse your presentation beforehand with a colleague, a friend in
the same field, or your mentor. Remember to put together a written
package to support your presentation, and have your ‘‘test audience’’
review that as well.
• Tap into the hot topics of the day. Know beforehand what’s on the
agenda of your audience so that you can align your needs with theirs. For example, if senior management’s focus is on cost cutting,
emphasize how your idea will save money.
• Research the values and beliefs of your audience so that your pitch
will be in sync with those attitudes.
• Make sure your promises and predictions or claims are realistic.
Senior management can usually smell snake oil from a mile off.
• Try out revolutionary ideas on a skeptic, not your friends. Friends
are likely to tell you what you want to hear rather than the truth.
Allow the skeptic to tear your idea apart, giving you the opportunity
to prepare answers to the most difficult questions.
✓ Present like a pro.
• Greet the executive(s) warmly. Shake hands firmly and hold the
handshake a second longer than usual. Smile with your whole face.
• Project optimism. Be an evangelist. But don’t try to hide a bad idea
behind hyperbole. Ideas delivered with enthusiasm get more buy-in
than those wrapped in a cloud of gloom.
• Focus on benefits instead of features. Senior people are not interested
in how things work—that’s the function of the operating employees.
What they want to know is the likely revenue or savings impact of
the new product or service on time, money, or other resources.
• Speak the language of the audience that you are pitching. What kind
of people are they? Are they analytical? If so, be prepared with the
numbers. If they are more likely to be driven by emotion, be ready
to supplement your presentation with anecdotes about people and
motivation.
• Be brief and to the point. Senior managers operate under severe
time constraints, and their attention spans can be quite limited. If
you have a lot of supporting documentation, make up a handout to
go with your presentation.
• Check for understanding from time to time without embarrassing
the audience. Glazed eyes, lack of eye contact, and looking at
watches are clues that you’ve lost their attention. To regain your audience, change the pace briefly by modulating your voice or asking
for an opinion.
• Help others to see your ideas. Build a picture in their minds or show
them what you are after. The better your listeners understand, the
more likely they are to buy in. Remember, a picture is worth a
thousand words.
• Make sure that you do not run over your allotted time, and provide
adequate opportunities for questions.
• Keep your eyes on the audience at all times. Do not look at notes or
the screen—you will seem to be displaying lack of conviction. Worse
still, you won’t be able to see subtle changes in body language that
will give you clues about your audience’s level of enthusiasm.
• Avoid too much detail. Typically the listeners will be big-picture
people who are interested in your conclusions (that is, the benefits)
rather than the details of your research. Should anyone need further
detail, the numbers can be provided in useful handouts.
• Choose your words carefully. The right words can captivate and the
wrong words can spell disaster. Avoid exaggeration and words such
as ‘‘always’’ and ‘‘never,’’ or adjectives that connote lack of factual
evidence, such as ‘‘amazing,’’ ‘‘fabulous,’’ or ‘‘exceptional.’’ You
could be challenged to show the evidence behind your hyperbole,
and that could damage the credibility of your entire presentation.
• Make sure that you are being understood. Listen to and show interest
in the reactions of your audience, and respond to them. This will
demonstrate the importance you place on their opinions.
• Engage the audience—without getting sidetracked—whenever possible.
• Give compliments if they are appropriate and where they are due.
Genuine compliments, especially those on topic with your idea, will
warm your audience to you and encourage further interaction.
• If you don’t get immediate buy-in, determine the objections and
request a follow-up meeting at which you can address them. And
don’t whine.
✓ Follow up quickly.
• In a memo, thank the people who attended your presentation as
soon as possible. This memo should address the main issues raised
by the audience and indicate your determination to deal with them
immediately.
• Gather information about outstanding objections (if there are any)
and implementation (if you got immediate approval) and put this
information in a report to senior management. Don’t let the idea
rest until a decision is made.