My CEO is not excited about Endless Customers, what can I do now?

You've read the book Endless Customers (formerly They Ask, You Answer) or attended a lunch & learn and now you're raving: you should start doing this in your company too.

You make a plan and step up to your CEO full of energy. Can't help but be as excited as you are when he hears this.

But while you are telling him, you can already see from his skeptical look that the message is not landing. You mostly see the benefits and opportunities. He sees mostly the risks and costs.

I regularly get stories like this back from marketers who have attended our lunch & learn or read the book. They tried to convince their employer and came home cold.

I know how it feels: years ago, I too sat as CMO of a SaaS company pitching Endless Customers to our CEO during a work visit in India. The sweat was on my back, and no, it wasn't just because of the higher temperatures.

It's not up to you: getting support for Endless Customers is one of the trickiest, and at the same time crucial, things to do.

With me, things eventually worked out and I was able to successfully implement Endless Customers at the company I worked for.

And you can succeed, too. But then you have to know how to go about it.

In this article, I'll give you tips on what you can do to get your CEO excited and also tell you what, above all, not to do.

But first: how is it really possible that you are so enthusiastic and your CEO is not?

Getting support for Endless Customers is one of the trickiest, and at the same time crucial, things to do.

There are several reasons why your CEO may react lukewarmly.

Your CEO is used to playing his sales and marketing game one way, and now you've heard it can be done another way.

To him, that is like you coming up with the cards of a new game, while he is still in the middle of the old game.

Hello, he thinks, we were playing a different game, what are you doing now?

This creates confusion and resistance.

The second reason is that your CEO doesn't have the same context to the story behind Endless Customers that you do.

The book and lunch & learn carefully build the story. Marcus Sheridan tries to get his readers to conclude for themselves that Endless Customers is the way the modern buyer wants to buy. Chris Marr does the same during the lunch & learn.

You don't have three hours to convince your CEO, nor have you spoken to hundreds of bosses-with-resistance that has taught you how best to approach such a conversation.

Then when you start with: "We have to write about costs and cons, because that's what people want to know" your CEO immediately shoots into resistance, because he doesn't know the bigger story.

You haven't spoken to hundreds of CEOs-with-resistance that has taught you how best to approach such a conversation.

Third, uncertainty plays a big role. Your CEO does not know exactly what implementing Endless Customers entails, what it costs and what the benefits are.

Without the right context, it is difficult to convince your CEO of the usefulness and necessity of this new approach.

So as a marketer, it's not helpful to start the discussion with your CEO about Endless Customers yourself. What then? Let others do the work.

One option is to give your CEO a copy of the book. Tell him you've read the book or attended the lunch & learn and are excited about Endless Customers. Then indicate that you would like him to read it too and that you would like to talk to him about it afterwards.

That's it.

So don't say, "This is a good book," and certainly don't try to sell it. Let your CEO come to his or her own conclusion.

Another option is to take your CEO to a lunch & learn sometime. After all, we know from experience that it's important for your CEO to hear the story firsthand.

Have you already attended a lunch & learn yourself? Then feel free to come again with your CEO.

It's important for your CEO to hear firsthand the story behind Endless Customers.

Can't get your CEO to read, fail to bring him to a lunch & learn or suspect that a one-on-one conversation works best? Then you can also schedule a meeting with a coach from Buzzlytics to see if Endless Customers is right for your company.

The first step to a successful implementation of Endless Customers is an employee who believes in it.

But no matter how enthusiastic you are yourself: it's important that you don't try to convince your CEO. He needs to discover for himself whether Endless Customers is a suitable method for his company.

So order a copy of the book for him (in Dutch or English), come to a lunch & learn together or schedule a consultation with one of our advisors. We would love to meet you!