I sold technology for more than a decade. Often in my early years, I'd speak to a prospect in the C-suite who did not care about, or didn't understand, the technical aspects of my company’s solutions. Since I wanted to show how smart I (thought) I was, I would go into pitch mode, which included regurgitating technical jargon that I didn't truly understand. I thought my pitch went well until they would say, "You should talk to my network admin." I have nothing against the network admins, but I was trying to develop relationships higher in the organization.
I learned early on that you are relegated to the person you sound the most like in the organization.
Here are three rules I followed when engaging C-level Executives within an organization:
