4 Secrets to Getting a Response from Any CEO in 2024

As a sales professional, landing a meeting with a CEO can accelerate your deal and help you close major opportunities. But CEOs are busier than ever these days, flooded with sales pitches and requests for their limited time. Sending a generic email or making a hard sell right off the bat is likely to get your outreach ignored.

So what‘s the secret to actually getting a response from the elusive chief executive? Based on my experience and observations, here are 4 key strategies to break through and earn a reply from any CEO in 2024:

1. Make a Gentle Ask

When reaching out to a CEO for the first time, resist the temptation to request a meeting right away. Chances are, they simply don‘t have the bandwidth for a 30-60 minute call with an unknown salesperson, no matter how great your product is.

Instead, make a softer, easier ask that requires less time and commitment from them. For example, you could ask for:

• A short email reply to a specific question
• A referral or connection to someone else on their team
• Quick feedback on an idea or piece of content
• Information on a lower-priority initiative

The goal is to make it ridiculously easy for them to respond, while starting to build the relationship. CEOs love to be helpful, so asking for their input or expertise in a respectful way can be very effective. And even a brief reply gives you an opening for further engagement.

According to a study by Gryphon Networks, 77% of C-level decision makers prefer an ask that requires less than 5 minutes of their time. So keep your initial outreach short, simple and easy for them to action on.

2. Optimize for Mobile

Where do CEOs spend much of their limited email time? On their smartphones, in between meetings and on the go. A Chief Executive survey found that 92% read email on their phone at least some of the time.

This has important implications for how you format your emails. Long, text-heavy messages that require lots of scrolling are likely to be ignored or forgotten when read on a mobile device.

Some tips for crafting mobile-friendly emails to CEOs:

• Keep the subject line short and enticing
• Put the key ask or action in the first sentence
• Use short paragraphs with plenty of white space
• Include a strong one-line hook or value prop
• Make any links or CTAs easy to click with a thumb

I recommend drafting your emails on a smartphone to see exactly what they will look like to the CEO. If it doesn‘t grab their attention in the first few lines, it‘s probably not going to be effective.

Grammarly‘s CEO, Brad Hoover, says he deletes about 80% of the emails he gets from salespeople within 3 seconds of opening them on his phone. Don‘t make your message one of them.

3. Enlist the Executive Assistant

Far from being mere gatekeepers, today‘s executive assistants are crucial allies for anyone trying to reach the CEO. Many are empowered to represent the chief executive in meetings, make decisions on their behalf, and determine what information gets through to their inbox.

Trying to bypass the EA is usually a mistake. Instead, work to build rapport and earn their trust. A few ways to engage executive assistants:

• Acknowledge their importance and authority in your outreach
• Ask for their input on the CEO‘s priorities and challenges
• Get intel on the best way to reach the CEO
• Provide helpful content and resources they can pass along
• See if they are open to a brief call or coffee chat

An EA who is on your side can be a powerful advocate and unlock faster responses from the CEO. But like their bosses, EAs are busy and constantly pitched to, so you need to approach the relationship thoughtfully.

When calling an EA, differentiate yourself by showing vulnerability. You might say something like: "I‘m planning to reach out to [CEO] soon and want to make sure my message is relevant to her priorities. What‘s the number one thing I should or shouldn‘t say?" Making the EA feel valued and respected goes a long way.

4. Find the Right Timing and Cadence

While most salespeople are trained to make calls early in the day, before decision-makers get too busy, I‘ve found this to be ineffective with CEOs. Mornings tend to be hectic, as they settle into the office and figure out priorities for the day. You‘re likely to get voicemail or a distracted response.

Instead, try calling CEOs at the end of the day, between 5-8pm their local time. They are more likely to pick up as things wind down. And while you might worry about bothering them after-hours, the reality is that if it‘s not a good time, they simply won‘t answer. No executive is going to resent a salesperson for trying to reach them.

It‘s also important to consider the best cadence for follow-up. With lower-level prospects, you might use a standard 30-day cycle with multiple touches. But with CEOs, I recommend a more patient 45-day cadence.

Why? Most executives operate on a quarterly planning cycle, not a monthly one. And they often travel for extended periods, meaning they may be completely unavailable for several weeks at a time. Trying to jam your outreach into a single month may not align with their schedule.

Map out your touches over a longer 1.5 month period to catch them at the right time. For example:

• Day 1: Soft ask email
• Day 7: Follow-up with helpful resource
• Day 14: Quick check-in via email or LinkedIn
• Day 30: Provide expert perspective on timely topic
• Day 45: Acknowledge radio silence and restate value

If you haven‘t heard back after 45 days, you can start to dial up the urgency. But don‘t make a CEO feel like just another cog in your sales machine.

Putting It All Together

Landing a meeting with a CEO in 2024‘s busy, competitive landscape requires a strategic approach to outreach. Bombarding them with meeting requests and generic value props is more likely to land you in the spam folder than the C-suite.

Instead, focus on making gentle, helpful asks, optimizing your emails for mobile reading, building rapport with key assistants, and finding the right timing and cadence for follow-up. Demonstrate that you understand their world and respect their limited time.

By implementing these 4 secrets, you‘ll be able to break through the noise, build real relationships with chief executives, and ultimately close more deals. Remember, CEOs are people too. Treat them accordingly and you might be surprised at how readily they engage.

What other strategies have you found effective for connecting with the C-suite? I‘d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments.