My last blog detailed the preparation needed prior to extending the first invitation to a customer executive for your Executive Sponsor Program (ESP).  You are ready and your executive is ready to make initial contact with the customer executive.  There are many methods of contact, so determine the best approach for each customer executive.

• Meeting 
• Phone Call
• E-mail as the last resort

In my experience the majority of the invitations to customer executives are all made via phone.  Everyone has a hectic schedule, so actually getting the customer executive live on the phone the first time is pretty low.  I would like to offer a few tips in getting the customer executive to respond to your invitation:

Voicemail
• Zero-out to gain access to their administrative assistant
• Find out the mode of communication preferred and the time of day they can be reached; schedule 15 minutes on their calendar
• Focus attention on the company’s key challenges, industry trends or a compelling event

If you have been unsuccessful in contacting the customer executive by phone, as I mentioned earlier, the last resort would be to reach out to the customer executive through e-mail. 

E-mail
• Grab their attention in the subject line
• Keep the message brief (mobile device friendly)
• No attachments

Don’t be discouraged if multiple attempts have to be made before you receive a “yes” from the customer executive.  It is your follow-up and follow through that will make the difference to your customer executive.