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Dan Walker of SalesRepRadio interviewed me on the topic, Rules for Rainmakers.
Our conversation focused on the practices of top performing salespeople, such as preparing for sales calls, thinking about the third sale first, and using a technique called "sharks in the water" to be sure you're ready to face a prospective client.
We covered lots of other ground too. Have a listen, and let me know what you think.
When Danica Patrick, 22, qualified this year for the 89th Indianapolis 500 race, she became just the fourth woman to ever do so.
Fellow NASCAR driver, Robby Gordon, was up in arms before the race complaining that Patrick had an unfair advantage. At 5'2" and 100 pounds, Patrick is almost 100 pounds lighter than her beefier, male competitors, which some claim could lead to a 1 mph difference in speed over the course of the race.
"I won't race against her until the IRL [Indy Racing League] does something to take that advantage away" said Gordon. Of all the factors contributing to winning a race, a driver's weight was enough to cause one of America's most successful racers to wave the yellow flag at Patrick, an Indy 500 rookie.
I'm not a race car fan, but I know that winning the Indy 500, in which cars careen around the brickyard oval at speeds approaching 225 mph, requires more than a good driver and a souped up car--experience, a great pit crew, a flawless driving strategy, and a favorable pole position also matter a lot.
Sports analogies are so overused in business that I was tempted to let this one go, but it's just too good. Imagine what you could accomplish if you could find one differentiator, like Patrick's weight, that gave your business such an edge that your competitors cried uncle before the client got serious about choosing a consultant.
Every consultant and firm has the equivalent of the 100-pound advantage. It may be hidden in your ideas, insights, or innovative approach. But it's there, and clients want it. Combine that 100-pound advantage with the right experience, crew, and strategy, and you'll be a surefire winner.
Oh, due to some bad luck, and a driving error or two, Danica Patrick finished fourth behind Dan Wheldon, the 157-pound winner.
Some things just make your day, like the email I received letting me know that my blog has been nominated for the MarketingSherpa Reader's Choice Blog Award. With so many great blogs out there, I'm thrilled to be nominated. Thanks to all of you who threw my blog into the ring.
Brian Carroll, my coleague from The Revenue Roundtable, also received a nomination for his blog, B2B Lead Generation. Nice work, Brian.
I'd be honored to have your vote, and it's easy to cast it. The Guerrilla Consulting blog is listed in category 4, "b-to-b marketing". Vote here.
Have a look at the other nominees too. The blogs on the list are outstanding.
If you have any difficulty with the link above, here's the direct one: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=333931095143
It's easy to forget that, while in the process of selling, the consultant is simultaneously a "buyer." You are buying from the client a set of facts and circumstances about the project, the barriers to completion, and the definition of success.
Get this wrong, and you'll likely end up with an unhappy client and an unprofitable project. I'm not suggesting that you be overbearing, but your process of discovery must pass the test-do you really "buy" what you've heard from the client?
Three questions can help you assess if you know enough:
Is there consensus among the key decision makers that the project scope is well-defined?
It's a rare project that doesn't have detractors and shifting scope, so be sure you've got a general consensus, particularly on the geographical and organizational commponents of scope
What level of commitment is the client making to the project?
Consultants and clients usually work together to determine their respective roles and responsibilities. But it's always good to know that clients have given their level of participation serious thought before bringing in consultants.
Has success been defined?
While clients and consultants should collaborate to figure out what outcome defines success, it helps if clients are focused on the result they'd like to achieve, rather than on treating symptoms.
A good consulting sales process includes at least eleven other qualifying questions that I will include in future posts. The three above will get you started.
To establish a relationship with a new client, some consultants offer to do a free or reduced-fee project, often as some sort of diagnostic. Consultants cooked up this strategy to endear themselves to prospective clients in the hopes that future work could be billed at higher rates.
If you get your foot in the door that way, your next step is likely to be on a booby trap. Once you've set a low fee precedent, you'll fight to get fees to a profitable level. Your client will know there's wiggle room in your fee structure, so expect a request for lower fees each time you propose new work.
Your objective should be to provide value--in excess of the client's cost--regardless of the state of the relationship. Demonstrating that value early in the relationship should forestall a request for a reduced fee, even for the first project.
If your value is apparent, and the client still wants a reduced fee, you're better served by walking away. It's tough to walk away from new work, but it could be one of the most profitable moves you ever make.
Sales literature is full of advice to find a client's "pain" as the first step to sales success. We're advised to ask prospective clients inane questions like: What keeps you awake at night? What are your pain points? And, if you had a magic wand, what problem would you solve?
Please, spare me.
Not only do they make a client's eyes cross, such questions also expose two fatal flaws. First, they proclaim that the consultant is fishing for answers, rather than pursuing a substantive discussion. That demonstrates a lack of preparation, to say the least.
And second, not all clients are looking for "pain" remedies. Maybe they want to raise the bar on overall company performance, or they just the need to improve some aspect of the business.
Assuming a client is in pain is dangerous and shows you are not focused on reality. Forget this myth and drive the conversation to the client's real needs.
We've all experienced (or created) a customer service failure-a time when customer loyalty is stretched to the max. Few events are more stress-inducing than a service blowout, especially since it's never intentional.
We should consider ourselves lucky when a client calls us on the carpet for such a failure. Customer loyalty researchers say that 70% of disgruntled buyers take immediate, punitive action against a company without complaining. Some business owners never know what hit them.
What's worse is that you're likely to lose some, if not all, future revenue from 20% of complaining clients.
There's some good news when a client complains, though. If you can successfully resolve a complaint, that client is more likely to be loyal to your business than one who never had a problem.
You don't build loyalty by creating grumpy clients. When a client is miffed, get on it fast and you may have a client for life.
I met a consultant who described her team's first meetings with a prospective client:
"The client executives spent four hours taking us through a long, consulting to-do list. They told us that solving those problems was far more important than price. We were thrilled with the opportunity, and quickly completed a proposal.
"But the client literally showed us the door when they read the proposal and the price. I haven't been able to get a return call from any of the executives since that fateful day."
It's common for clients to experience sticker shock when they see the price tag of a consulting project. With a little work, you can soften the blow.
In initial meetings, clients often say price isn't important. They are focused on getting the problem handled--now. So, clients begin by evaluating a consultant's expertise and ability to get the job done, and they push the issue of price to the back burner, at least temporarily.
Once the client gets close to making a decision, though, a subtle shift takes place. The price and risk of the project take center stage, and the consultant's expertise becomes part of the background.
It makes sense. Once a client is close to a decision, the field of contenders has been winnowed to the firms most capable of handling the work, so attention naturally moves to other factors.
You need to plan for this shift by staying close to your client, particularly at the end of the sales cycle. Tweak your message to stress the value-to-cost ratio of your proposal and show how you will manage every element of project risk. Fail to shift gears with the client, and you'll be shown the door too.
The proposal is one of the most powerful, but misused tool, in a consultant's marketing arsenal. Look at your last proposal and see if you spot any of these seven deadly sins.
1. Lack of focus on the client's business problem and industry dynamics.
2. The "we, us, and our" syndrome. Does your proposal talk more about your firm than about the client's business?
3. No basis of differentiation. Focus is on weak differentiators such as quality service, price, responsiveness, and your firm's pedigree.
4. The expected value of the project isn't quantified so you can't use it as a baseline for justifying the proposed fee.
5. The proposal is laced with jargon, difficult to read, and doesn't include an issue-focused executive summary.
6. Reliance on a boilerplate resume.
7. Errors: misspellings, poor grammar, wrong client name, or inconsistent formats.
Consultants shudder at the thought of offering any type of guarantee for their work, even if it's just an assurance that the client will be satisfied with the team's effort. Consultants believe that external factors could wreak havoc with a project's projected results, so it's necessary to be absolved of any responsibility for the outcome.
It's time for a change, and winning firms know it. Among the top criteria clients use to select professional service providers is a guarantee of promised results. What many consultants don't realize is that a guarantee can be a good thing: it can prevent misunderstandings because the client and consultant must nail down the expected results before a guarantee can be defined.
Also, a guarantee should be a two-way street. A consultant who exceeds the client's performance expectations is justified in expecting to share in the added value.
