Selling to a business unit president

A business unit president runs a company inside a company. They own a P&L, they answer to the CEO every quarter, and they'll buy services the moment it helps them hit a number they've already promised.

That's the whole brief. Help them hit the number.

What they own

Revenue, margin and growth for their unit. Sometimes a few thousand people. Often their own operations, sales and product teams, with shared services like IT, HR and finance supplied by corporate.

That last part matters. The BU president often depends on central functions they don't control. When IT can't deliver what the unit needs, the president feels it first. That gap is a common reason they buy outside help directly.

What they're measured on

The unit's results against plan. Revenue, operating margin, maybe market share. A promise to the CEO about the next few quarters.

And their own future. BU presidents are often candidates for bigger jobs. They want visible wins, and they don't want to be the unit that missed.

What they ignore

Technology for its own sake. Capabilities decks. Anything that sounds like a program with a long payback. They've seen too many initiatives absorb a year and produce a slide.

They ignore anything that reads like it was sent to every executive at the company too. They know when they're one of fifty.

The signals that matter

Business pressure is the strongest here. Public companies often break out segment results in the 10-K and 10-Q. A segment with falling margin, flat revenue or a restructuring charge is a BU president under pressure. Read the segment discussion and the earnings commentary.

New leaders are strong too. A new BU president has a short window to set a plan. So does a president whose unit just absorbed an acquisition.

Hiring tells you where they're investing. A unit posting for a head of digital, a pricing lead or a supply chain transformation role is building toward something. Funding and deals matter for units that just bought a company and now have to integrate it.

An example opener

Say a diversified manufacturer's 10-Q shows its industrial products segment with declining margin, and a new president took over that unit three months ago.

You took over the industrial products unit a quarter ago, and the latest 10-Q shows the segment margin moving the wrong way. My guess is the plan you owe the CEO needs savings faster than corporate shared services can deliver them, and you're looking for a way to move without waiting on the central roadmap. Is that close, or is the real pressure somewhere else?

It's specific to their unit. It names the tension between them and corporate. And it asks a question they can answer in one line.

Who else is in the room

The president signs, but rarely alone. The unit's CFO or finance lead will scrutinize the business case. A head of operations or a GM is often the champion who'll own the day to day. And corporate IT or procurement may need to approve, or at least not object.

Write each one a version. The unit CFO cares about payback inside the fiscal year. The operations lead cares about disruption to people already stretched. Corporate IT cares whether you're about to build something they'll have to support.

Don't go around corporate quietly. It works until it doesn't, and when it doesn't, the BU president takes the heat. Bring the central function in early and give them a reason to say yes. The post on selling to procurement covers part of that.

How to run the first meeting

Come with their numbers. Know the segment results, the margin trend and what the CEO said about the unit on the last earnings call. Then ask what the plan is and where it's thin.

Talk in their units. Revenue, margin, quarters. Not story points or sprints.

Bring one idea, not ten. A BU president with limited time wants to know the single move you'd make first and what it would show by the next quarterly review. If you can't say that, you're not ready for the meeting.

A BU president will give you an hour if you show you understand the promise they've made. Keep it about the promise.