First time meeting a CEO

We are in the process of getting a new project. It is our first project building a corporate website for a chip company.

This is the first time we are going to meet a CEO. We are a small group of people. What kind of questions will the CEO ask before picking a vendor for their corporate web site?

In general, what are the different kind of questions they will ask us? It will be great if any one can help us on this.

I can think of a few off the top of my head that I would ask of a vendor/provider. I have no idea what other people would ask though:

• Can I see examples of your work
• Can I speak to your clients (happy and dissatisfied)
• What is the typical process to build a site/do the work you do
• What kind of support can I expect
• Who will be doing the work
• What kind of training do you provide
• What technologies do you use and why
• How do you protect our site and what policies do you have in place to keep us secure
• How much of your business is from word of mouth
• How long have you been in business
• What are the payment terms
• How do we communicate regarding issues, to do items, working with content
• What system do you have in place to handle change requests

and on and on

If you are not expecting these then you might have an uphill battle when competing with others.

Great answer above. Only three things I'll add:

• Typically they're going to want examples of work you've done and experiences with similar companies to them. So what work have you done for other chip companies? How much do you know about the space?
• If you're doing a presentation deck touting your capabilities, doing anything that speaks specifically to them can often make a huge impression. Not saying you build the site before getting the deal but you might convey some ideas specific to them. Depending on the circumstances sometimes web development firms will do spec work or mock ups as part of the presentation to get a deal. Depends on lots of factors...just throwing that out there.
• Finally, personal rapport can be important. How does the CEO feel with your team? Comfortable? Like them? This is part of the mix.

Best of luck to get the deal,

Good advice above on typical questions to expect.

You need to tie your strengths and value to their issues and needs when you answer questions.

With that in mind - do your homework!!!! Make sure you read their annual report before you go - in particular make absolutely sure your read the CEO's message to the stockholders. This will tell you their objectives, strategy, and key metrics. In addition, look for recent interviews with the CEO as well as articles about the company.

LISTEN aggressively. You'll have a limited time and good CEO's will tell you what's on their minds. Make sure you meet the objectives they state. You can also reference the research you've done - but - always reconfirm: "you've been quoted as saying X is your top priority - is that still the most important objective for you?"

Tie all of your value propositions to their objectives. Be incredibly focused with all your credentials and examples on why and how you can help them meet their objectives.

If you're going to have multiple people with you, it's important that one person lead all the responses and bridge to others on the team "Oh, you have a question about our financial strength? Well, let me ask our CFO here to answer that for you".