Sell from the top!

Weather you are a rookie sales rep or seasoned pro, more than likely you have heard "Sell from the top down."

Well, no where is that more true than when selling Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity. In a recent survey by Forester Research of 295 global business continuity decision-makers , 89% had sponsorship from the executive level to implement a DR plan.

http://www.drj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2424&Itemid=429

Well da!

Sure, any DR plan will be about technology, are you using virtualization, a co-location for off site storage and if so are you you using synchronous or asynchronous software. But bottom line, it's weather the business is up and running or not.

And who cares more about that then the executives?

Of course IT cares about end users being able to get to their data and working. Yes, they take the necessary pro cautions by having the right redundancies in the data center and in the systems. It's the executives' butt's on the line if business is lost. They must answer to the board, the share holders and the media. Their name gets associated with ABC company that failed because of a fire or natural disaster. It's their pay that is effective because of lost sales due to down time.

No the executives won't be part of the process of planning the final DR plan but your job will be easier if they support and sponsor the project. They can help with the budget and making a deadline to have it up.

So you need to start to ask executives about their DR plans. Do they have a DR plan right now? If so when was the last time it was tested? and What would cost for their business to be down for a day or a few day?

Have fun and remember: Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat (Fortune Favors the Brave)

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