Unit of 1 - Winning Business--Traps and Pitfalls as a Consultant

by Andrea C. Carrero

Identifying the traps and pitfalls to winning business as a consultant was presented by Kristin Linder at the September 10, 2002 Unit of 1 monthly breakfast meeting at Eastern College in St. David's, PA. Linder is principal at theLINDERgroup, a consulting firm that provides management and sales coaching, sales process consulting and high-impact sales skills seminars.

Some of the common traps and pitfalls Units of 1 can experience, Linder said, include sales innocence, poor use of time, misplaced enthusiasm and a lack of understanding the client's needs.

Sales innocence can include relying on your own beliefs and intelligence about your account and believing unquestioningly what your client contact has told you.

Poor use of time can include spending inefficient time in client meetings.

Misplaced enthusiasm often is telling the client everything and giving away your ideas.

And a lack of in-depth understanding often includes not understanding the client's business, his or her needs and the politics of the client?s organization.

The key, Linder said, is to "plan, plan, plan. People think they're planning, but they're really not. It can't be in your head - it has to be on paper."

Getting familiar with your client, his or her needs, understanding the issues important to the client and planning appropriately is a key to winning business, Linder said. Make sure, she said, that your questions relate to the client's priorities and not yours. Understand the client, Linder said, on an enterprise-wide level as well as on a department and even individual level.

Part of planning, Linder said, is finding the right contact in an organization. "Go as high as you can," she said. "Don't just call them up to see them. Have a goal- what's the next step going to be?" Examples of possible goals that you can plan, she said, include:

Setting up the next meeting.

Scheduling a test run.

Asking for an additional contact.

Making a presentation.

Going on a site visit.

Presenting a proposal.

Ask questions of your clients, Linder said, and make them as in depth as possible. This helps to discover more opportunities, she said. To do this, Linder suggested saying to the client, "Tell me more about that."

And when discussing your services/products, she said, remember the "so-what" factor. Ask yourself, "what's in it for them," Linder said. "If it doesn't pass the so-what factor, leave it out."

Most importantly, though, Linder said to remember to listen to the client's answers to your questions.

However, despite all the planning and questioning, politics can be the biggest deal breaker in an extended sales cycle, Linder said. She suggested finding out the client's role in the decision process, his or her buying style and the status of your relationship. "If their success rides on your success, that's optimum," she said.

With internal politics, ask yourself if you're dealing with a person who has credibility, influence, standing, a good track record and power in the organization, she said. "If not, the business won't close."

So what happens when you can't get to the most powerful influence in an organization?

Linder suggested trying to get to a person who has direct access and/or credibility with the power person in the organization. "This may be someone with no rank but maybe they're being groomed for a power position," she said. "It may be as good as getting straight through to the number one person."

Another pitfall is what Linder calls "the elusive 'B' word - budget." Make sure the client has access to funds for the project, she said. One way to do that is to find out the priority level of the project and how vulnerable it is.

"It's good to know how much money the person is authorized to spend," Linder said, although it may not be easy to find out this information, she added. And it's "critical" to ask about the approval process, Linder said. "Who signs off? What is the timeline? What is the budget?"

If you are going into an organization with an idea where there's no budget, Linder said to get the business you have to tie the idea to their goals. "Talk about consequences they haven't talked about," she suggested.

When asked what to do when a client displays "sticker shock," Linder said price usually isn't the problem. "It's an age-old discussion," she said. "Price the project based on the value it brings to the client. And don't ever lower the price. Take away things of value." Another method she suggested using to help minimize sticker shock is to price the project in phases, which allows you to build a relationship with the client.

And finally, Linder said, perform a critical analysis. Ask yourself:

Is there really any business here?
Can you add value?
Is there enough support to pull this off?
Will this be profitable business?

Following the information-gathering and analysis process, Linder said make the decision to go forward with the business or have the "wisdom to walk away and go after business that you can win."

To download the handouts from Linder's presentation, use this URL: http://www.unitof1.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=3 Linder's website address is www.thelindergroup.com.

Andrea C. Carrero is president and founder of Word Technologies Inc. (www.wordtex.com), which provides custom technical documentation, training and related services. She can be reached at andrea@wordtex.com.