🎵Please, please, please, don’t bring me to tears when I just did my pitch deck so nice 🎵 No need to stress — Miriam O'Donnell's got you covered with a fool-proof way to prep your leaders for exec alignment meetings and avoid embarrassment. 😉
“Ghosting is one thing, Closed Lost is another—I beg you don’t embarrass me….” 🎶 Let’s talk about prepping our executives for executive alignment calls…to avoid embarrassment for all…. Here’s a template I like to use, added to internal Slack or Notion prep doc: - Establish the Basics: Share the who, what, where, when, and WHY - Outline the Prospect/Customer: Detail objectives, news, and changes to their business, setbacks/successes in the partnership (if a customer) - Define Desired Outcomes: Outline what the client gains (most important thing!), executive's role, and insights they can use to gain credibility and add value - Map the Landscape: Share key contacts, both engaged and unengaged to date - Reveal ALL Deal Risks: Assess sales cycle, missed opportunities, and lessons learned Prep materials, get feedback, manage logistics, confirm the meeting, define the next step you want, draft the follow up. That last bullet is tempting to skip! But I endeavor to be SO clear about opportunities missed and mistakes made along the way—leaders will quickly see the barriers to the deal regardless—calling them out allows them to unblock. Also shows humility and self-awareness, and develops trust. Leaders should be giving the psychological safety for reps to do this. What would you add? What’s your exec alignment meeting horror story? 😜 😳