I love these ideas, and I know I will be personally incorporating them into the sales and marketing strategy sessions for my companies and into my presentations. Here are some of their thoughts:

Michael Williams, CMO of Grand Prix America, Formula One, has a proven track record developing multi-platform strategies for building brand and market awareness:

Sales and marketing are connected.

Most organizations believe there is a bridge between how their brand translates to both sales and marketing. Successful organizations realize there isn’t a bridge; rather, they’re actually connected. At the point where you have a clear understanding of your brand’s attributes and how they line up directly with the needs of your customers, you reach the pinnacle of sales and marketing. Then you are no longer selling to them…suddenly they understand you’re actually helping them achieve their goals. And for that, they will always thank you.

Elisa Steele is the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer at Jive, where she is responsible for strategy, branding, end-to-end marketing, product marketing communications, and go-to-market policies: 

Engage technology to integrate lifestyle and workstyle.

Customers want to use technology to interact with businesses in the same way they connect and communicate in their personal lifestyle. A company that wants to truly connect with customers is adopting people's lifestyle habits into the company's workstyle philosophy and creates value for employees, partners, and customers. These adaptive companies are thriving inside and out as they build brands that people love to use, love to talk about and refuse to give up.

Neil Gaydon, President and CEO of SMART Technologies, has significant experience leading and growing companies in highly competitive global markets:

Understand value.

The key to being a top negotiator is to fully understand how big the pie can be and then to rationally negotiate to maximize its total value for both you and your customer. Negotiating is not simply about winning while leaving value behind—it is about creating the best possible deal for all of the parties.

Will Wiegler, CMO at SteelBrick, uses his experience in all areas of marketing, creative development, messaging, brand positioning, and marketing analytics to successfully partner with his sales teams to drive growth:

Tell a story.

Relate a memorable story that aligns with your customer’s challenges and helps them relate to the story’s main character. When that character implements your solution with impactful results, the character becomes the hero in the story. You show how your customer can be the hero in his or her own story…and who doesn’t want to be the hero?

Rob Ciampa, CMO of Pixability, uses his sales, marketing, and domain expertise to be become a genuine trusted advisor for his customers: 

Let the data speak for themselves.

The best negotiation tactic is to not negotiate. If a company is transparent about its operations, quantifies its results, and has a track record of data-driven benchmarks, then the numbers will speak for themselves. You will achieve the outcome you want for your company. So remember: Transparency + quantified results + data-driven benchmarks = Desired Outcomes.

Loren Alhadeff, Vice President – Corporate Sales at DocuSign, has extensive sales experience in building new sales organizations and growing existing sales teams: 

Be likable.

Everyone prefers to work with people they enjoy being with. Find common ground with your customers, make them laugh, and express interest in the things they are interested in. This will make them far more likely to not just work with you, but also to work on your terms.

Anthony Hegarty, Vice President of National Accounts at Manpower, responsible for increasing their customer base and driving revenue, understands the importance of Research, Relevance, and Resonance:

Know the 3 "R's."

It's important to remember these 3 "R's" for an effective dialogue with the C-Suite:

• Research your customer’s business beforehand;
• Leverage the research to create Relevant questions; and
• Use those questions to create Resonance and mutual understanding.

Remember, good salespeople ask good questions—and in response, effective C-Suite sales professionals question the answers. Be ready.

These C-Suite executives leave us with some incredible bullet points to integrate into our negotiation and sales strategies:

• Are you connecting with you customer on a personal basis? Do they like you? Do you like them? Is it paying off for you and your company?
• Do you understand the sales and marketing connection of your brand so you may better help your customer achieve its goals?
• Do you have a story to tell which shows how your customer will become a hero in his or her organization by implementing your product?
• How will you use the 3 “R’s” in your next negotiation?
• Is your company integrating lifestyle and workstyle in its relationships with customers, employees, and partners? Are you seeing the incredible results?
• Do you understand the value of the deal—the size of the pie—in achieving the best deal for both you and your customer?
• Finally, do you have world-class analytics which demonstrate on the front-end that your products and services will deliver your customer’s desired results?

I’m going to make these ideas work for me. I want you to make them work for you—have fun and go get 'em!

Jeffrey Hayzlett is a leading business expert, cited in Forbes, SUCCESS, Mashable, Marketing Week and Chief Executive, among many others. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffreyHayzlett

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