If you’re an Enterprise seller who sells to publicly traded companies, this ones for you. Imagine a document which outlines a company’s Corporate Strategy, performance goals, executive compensation, and bonus metrics in detail.

If this sounds too good to be true, it’s not. But most sellers don’t know about it. I recently learned about this document from two clients (thanks Mark Glennon and Patrick Gannon).

It’s called the DEF 14A, or proxy statement. You can find a company’s DEF 14A through several sources:

1. 𝐒𝐄𝐂’𝐬 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐀𝐑 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞:

Go to the EDGAR database on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website. You can access it here:

https://www.sec.gov/search-filings

Enter the company name or ticker symbol in the search box.

Look for filings under the “DEF 14A” form, which is the official proxy statement for a company’s shareholder meetings.

𝟐. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲’𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞:

Many companies post their proxy statements in the “Investor Relations” or “Corporate Governance” section of their website, typically under a heading like “SEC Filings” or “Financial Reports.”

To analyze a public companies executive compensation and bonus metrics from the DEF 14A filing, here’s what to focus on:

1. Executive Compensation Table (usually “Summary Compensation Table”):

This table lists the base salary, bonus, stock awards, option awards, and other forms of compensation received by the company’s top executives. You’ll want to look for how much is cash vs. equity-based compensation.

2. Bonus Metrics:

The “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” (CD&A) section will provide insight into the performance metrics used for determining bonuses. This is where the company explains the performance criteria, which could include financial targets, individual performance, stock price performance, or operational metrics (like revenue growth, market share, or EBITDA).

3. Performance Goals:

The section outlines specific performance goals, including any financial targets (like revenue, earnings per share), operational or strategic goals, and possibly non-financial measures (like employee satisfaction, customer engagement, or sustainability targets).

There are two ways to use the DEF 14A in your prospecting strategy:

1. Map your solutions directly to the Corporate Strategy outlined in the DEF 14A. If your solutions can help them hit their strategic objectives, they will invest heavily in your solution.

2. Ensure you are talking directly to the Senior Executives at your public accounts who stand to gain or lose the most from hitting those objections. These execs are listed in the DEF 14A, including their titles.

It’s like having a cheat code to sell into your public accounts.

In today’s training video, I will walk you through a demonstration of how to find and use the DEF 14A for a company I managed at Salesforce called Activision Blizzard, and share a live demonstration of how to map a company’s goals to your solutions. 

The info inside is absolute gold. 

You can find the demonstration here: https://youtu.be/vLXV3nyhInY