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The people occupying the executive suite are looking from the top down. Approach them in
terms of revenues, not page views, and operational issues rather than operating systems. Bill
Heerman at the electric utility Southern Company understands how to approach the top brass.
He says: "I know our CEO isn't really that interested in anything that's 'gee whiz,' He's more
interested in how these automated tasks can make us a more profitable organization."
As in all sales situations, figure out what's important to them. And then go for the bag of gold.
Synchronous Goals
Pam Ingersoll is the director of Digital Marketing at the Niagara Mohawk utility in upstate
New York. There, marketing goals are completely in line with corporate directives: Employ
digital marketing as an additional medium to communicate current messages, increase
satisfaction, and decrease cost. She says the plan is working: "We actually do a satisfaction
survey quarterly-it's a random survey; it's not just people who've called in-and we see a
significant increase in the satisfaction of people who say they have visited our Web site versus
[those who] haven't, so that's one [measurement] that we track on a quarterly basis."
When Ingersoll worked with her management team, she made sure not to leave them out of
the picture. Another one of her specific goals is to educate managers and employees in the
uses of digital systems and their advantages, and leverage the power of the Internet for
enhanced relationships and additional revenue.
We're not talking about efforts to deploy virtual e-commerce, repurpose viral technologies,
facilitate global B2B infomediary communities, or anything else you might come up with at
the Web Economy Bullshit Generator (http://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html). Pam gets the
support of her organization because the goals are clear and the progress measurable.
According to Robbie Hudec, director of E-Tizing Strategy and Communications at BellSouth,
the southern telecommunications company, they've identified four strategic imperatives for
2001, which were displayed on the wall for all to see: "achieve financial excellence, roll out
DSL, get into long distance, and improve service."
It was clear to Hudec that funding for any Web project would depend on clear metrics,
including funding for the Web metrics project: "Every Web initiative has measures for
success defined as part of the business case development for the project. Each initiative is
responsible for tracking to those success measures. The measurements were developed with
BellSouth's imperatives and the overall e-tizing success metrics in mind."
Living in the corporate communications side of the house at the chemical giant DuPont, Juan-
Francisco "Kiko" Suarez is zeroed in on efficiency:
I want to be as efficient as I can fulfilling our mission which is to "Protect the DuPont brand
and to promote the DuPont brand by increasing the brand's perceived value, contributing to
increase business value, and then enhancing the reputation of the company worldwide."
Our first objective is to find more efficient ways to conduct public affairs activities using
digital technologies and the Internet. Second is to fulfill the needs of our stakeholders. That
means communicating with customers, investors, influencers, and employees via what I call
"online self-services." So if there is no self-service, it's not good enough.
And then, last, create leading brand building tools for DuPont. Those are the three main
objectives that I have. One is conduct public affairs in a more efficient way, second is build
self-services for the stakeholders, and third is build brand-building tools that allow us to
increase the value of our brands."
Bend Your Goals to Their Will
Goals like Ingersoll's, Hudec's, and Suarez's are very straightforward. Like motherhood and
apple pie, they're very hard to argue against. But sometimes even the most judicious, most
reasonable, most agreeable goals are brushed aside. Why? Because they're not on the menu as
one of the goals du jour. Before you go to the executive suite, take a moment to check the
wind and test the waters.
The wind is as easy to read as the bright orange sock atop the airport control tower. Just take a
look through the last couple of months of internal memos, public speeches, and published
interviews. What words come up again and again? What pet phrases are getting the most
exposure? Is the fuss all about breaking ground with new research? Is it focused on mergers
and acquisitions? Are the bigwigs still banging the drum about cutting costs? Then there's
your script.
Only do yourself a favor: Don't quote the sources verbatim. If you play the exact same tune
right back to them, their eyes will glaze over. At worst, they'll recognize their own words and
your ploy. A better strategy is to restate and rephrase so that the theme is the same but the
melody is slightly different. This way, they get to pat themselves on the back for spotting
something new that just happens to fit right in with the goals of the Big Cheese the way he or
she wants things to run. Well done!
Testing the water requires a bit more courage. Rather than surfing the corporate intranet for
opportunities for plagiarism, you need to get right in front of the powers that be on an
individual basis and ask for their help.
"Wendy? I just have a quick question. Which of these paragraphs do you think works better?"
"Doug? I'm trying to prioritize between these two initiatives. Which do you think should get
top billing?"
Keep it simple. Keep it short. Make sure they see enough of what you're trying to do to
understand the implications of their answers. Then, when it's time for the committee to
discuss your proposal, several of them will have already had a hand in its development.
Nothing like a little pride of ownership to help them steer another little appropriation your
way.
Get Real
Joel Maloff has been actively involved in leading-edge telecommunications since 1973.
Currently executive vice president for Fusion Telecommunications International, Joel was
once vice president, Client Services for Advanced Network & Services (ANS), one of the
originators of the commercial Internet, bringing it from the world of education into the world
of business-from .edu to .com.
Maloff is one of the few people on the planet who speaks publicly as much or more than I do
about Internet business issues. We meet at least biannually at Internet World conferences,
sometimes as far away as Hong Kong and New Delhi. While I'm on stage trumpeting the finer
points of Web metrics or online marketing and customer service, his perennial audiencepleaser
is entitled "Getting Top Management to Sign Off on Internet."
Maloff offers some "Specific Strategies for Getting Top Management to Sign Off" that may
seem academic, but we've both seen projects fall into oblivion for lack of prudence. His
strategies are straightforward:
• Identify and enlist an executive sponsor; alliances and opened doors are critical.
• Have a clearly articulated message and plan with specific action steps, anticipated
results, timetable, investment requirements, and potential benefits.
• Use external experts for credibility where needed.
The best-laid plans don't stop short. The best-laid plans have the details worked into them.
"Reduce the cost of customer care" is all well and good, and many executives will simply sign
off on the concept. But not most. Most high-level managers got that way by knowing that the
devil (or God-you decide) is in the details. Have the details at the ready, if needed. | 
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