About the interviewee
Jennifer has over eighteen years of training experience focusing on business, sales, and leadership. She has been consulting privately since 2008 and serving clients virtually since 2006. Seen in Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes Woman and Featured on BlogTalkRadio, Jennifer Celaya “The Sales Mastery Mentor” teaches experts who are making a difference how to get their products and services out and experience massive results, without being salesy.
Tell me about your firm (number of employees, location, type of companies you work with, etc.).
Jennifer Celaya Consulting Services is has two offices, in Southern and Central California with a team of 10 staff. We provided sales strategies,solutions and training for Sales Professionals, speakers and experts who desire increased sales. From virtual programs to in-person mentoring, Jennifer offers many types of coaching, consulting and training for Experts, Speakers and Sales Professionals—both new and advanced.
What type and size of companies do you have as clients?
Type of industries we have worked with:
Sales/Marketing
Internet Marketing
Training
Webdesign
Payroll
Photography
Restaurants
Retail
Technology
Recruiting
eCommerce
Consumer Goods
Human Resources
Pharmaceutical
Direct Sales
Education
Legal
International Companies:
Insider Internet Success (London)
Training Choice (Australia)
What comes to mind when you see this topic?
The first thing I think about is the reaction when people see CEO they think “Oh C Level Executives – they will be unreachable and I don’t know how to talk to them”. I always think “how can I help people in that situation” because I am perfectly comfortable speaking with C Level Executives but that is because I do it so much that I don’t really think about it so I don’t really see the difference in talking to them and talking to an entry level person.
What are the best practices when it comes to this issue?
In a situation where you need to talk to a C Level Executive I think it’s important to know what their needs are to better prepare your approach. For example a lot of C Level Executives are busy to a point where they don’t listen to voicemails or read emails and you have to know/realize things like that before you approach them to know how to properly approach them.
I can’t think of a time that I had difficulty reaching a C Level Executive because within my business I set up systems so that there is a person or a procedure in place to arrange an appointment to talk to a C Level Executive instead of just picking up the phone and trying to reach them – that is not the best way to go about it. I think you need to do research or use and assistant to set up an appointment, perhaps after sending them a direct letter letting them know why you want to talk to them, what you are offering, etc. and then use that as leverage in terms of trying to get past their gatekeeper.
One of the best ways to reach a C Level Executive is to leverage relationships that you currently have that may have a connection to someone you would like to be introduced to. If you don’t have that connection then I would say doing the old fashion sales method of sending them something direct in the mail letting them know that you would like to introduce yourself and following that up with trying to set up and appointment to do so.
Contact information:
www.jennifercelaya.com
