| Additional
Resources for Consultants
Management
Consulting News
Interviews with consulting leaders,
articles, research results, job data,
and news. This month:
» Interview:
Gene Zelazny on presentations that
work.
»
Articles: Alan Weiss
on "keeping it real" and
David Maister on marketing. Also:
how to avoid a bad meeting, why writing
a book changes the consultant as much
as it changes a practice, and what
you can learn from taking time off.
Guerrilla
ConsultingSM Web site
Guerrilla
ConsultingSM blog
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The
Guerrilla Consultant –
a newsletter dedicated to applying the principles
of Guerrilla Marketing to the work and lives of
consultants.
You Can't Win 'Em All
An unfortunate reality of our business is that
we don’t win all of the projects we propose
on. It’s rarely fun to dissect our sales
process to learn why we lost a project, but it’s
a great way to sort out—and put to good
use—the signals we’re receiving from
the market.
This
month we’ll discuss how you can convert
today’s bad news into future wins.
Enjoy the article, and let
me know what you think.
Mike
McLaughlin
Co-Author, Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants
When a Client Says "No"
We
liked your proposal, but…
When
a client call starts like that, you’d probably
rather endure a multi-hour wait at airport security
than listen to the bad news in the rest of that
sentence. Once you hear, “we’re going
with another consultant,” it’s natural
to try and swing the apparent loss to the win
column.
Through
questions and clarifying comments, consultants
have been known to persuade clients to reconsider
a decision. If nothing else, most consultants
try to keep the door open for future opportunities
by asking if it’s ok to stay in touch. It’s
rare for a client to say “no” to that
request, which is a small victory.
If
the decision to use another consultant is final,
though, there’s still a wealth of market
intelligence buried in that decision that’s
too valuable to leave unearthed. To vastly improve
your odds of winning in the future, figure out
the meaning of the signal the market is sending
you.
Ask
the Right Questions
Your
first reaction will probably be to assume you
know why a project went to someone else. Maybe
you lost because the client hired the CEO’s
nephew, not because your proposal was considered
inferior. Why guess? The only way to find out
what you need to know is to ask the client the
right questions.
When
the client calls with bad news, listen for the
reasons why the client chose another consultant.
But also ask if you can schedule a short follow-up
meeting to improve your approach in the future.
Most clients recognize—and appreciate—the
effort and energy you put into your proposal,
and they’re willing to help.
Give
yourself some time to absorb the news, and then
draft a handful of questions that will identify
ideas for improvement.
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“Maybe you lost because the client hired
the CEO’s nephew, not because your proposal
was considered inferior.” |
For
some projects, the consultant selection is largely
decided before the sales process gets underway.
The favored consultant must only put forth a good
effort to land the project. What can you do when
the game is rigged? Move on.
What’s
the Client’s Perception?
If
a competing consultant doesn’t have such
an advantage, a project loss is usually the result
of a gap the client perceives between what the
client needs and the consultant’s ability
to meet that need. Getting to the root cause of
that perceived gap can mean the difference between
winning and losing next time.
During
the sales process, your perceived value, or your
ability to meet the client’s need, is driven
by two essential factors: an accurate understanding
of the situation facing the client and your proposed
project approach. Assuming you didn’t lose
the project due to failed chemistry with one or
more client decision makers (a common occurrence,
by the way), you can trace many losses to one
or both of these two factors.
Your
ability to deliver value, in a manner the client
wants, depends on your grasp of the client’s
objectives. Even slightly misinterpreting something
in the client environment can leave you with a
flawed—and losing—approach. Granted,
most consultants do confirm their understanding
of a project before devising an approach. But
it’s easy to get tripped up on scope, timing,
or assumptions.
What
Did You Miss?
For
that reason, begin a client debriefing with a
discussion of your assumptions about the project.
Test every facet of what you know, including project
objectives, scope, and executive sponsorship.
You may discover weaknesses in your fact-gathering
that you can strengthen for future opportunities.
Or, you may learn that you correctly diagnosed
the problem, but some element in your proposed
project approach was off.
Move
on to a review of that approach, which includes
your team, work plan, project organization, schedule,
tools, and assumptions. If you learned that there
were gaps in your understanding of the project,
the implications of those gaps will quickly reveal
themselves in your approach. It’s easy,
for example, to overestimate the time to complete
a project if the definition of the scope isn’t
quite right.
It’s
not unusual for a consultant to comprehend a project’s
objectives but miss the mark in the approach.
Perhaps a team member wasn’t a good fit,
or the project organization wasn’t acceptable
to the client. It’s equally possible that
your assumptions about the client’s desired
level of involvement led to an unrealistic schedule.
By engaging the client in a discussion about what
you might have missed, you may invent a new project
approach.
What
about Price?
For
some clients, choosing a consultant is all about
price. In some industries, the low-cost provider
is often the winner, even if a better alternative
is available. For other clients who select consultants
based on price, it may be because there’s
no other discernible difference between the competitors.
That’s a misconception you can correct.
If
a client explains the loss by saying “the
fee was too high for our budget,” it may
not really be a budget problem. Instead, the client
may believe that the presumed need-to-fee ratio
isn’t compelling enough to explore options
for boosting the budget.
Price
is an important consideration in every consultant
selection process. But a high priced competitor
can win if the client’s perception of value
justifies the fee. Always remember that the client’s
perception of your value will be based on both
your demonstrated understanding of the project
and your intended approach.
Will
You Get Straight Answers?
Maybe.
It
can be uncomfortable for clients and consultants
alike to sit through a discussion of why one consultant
was chosen over another. Some clients will sidestep
the issues and get the meeting over with as soon
as possible, while others will go into more depth.
In either case, you’re only looking for
one or two areas to work on, so it’s worth
the investment of time, even if some clients are
reluctant to talk.
When
we hear the words, “we picked another consultant,”
it’s natural to experience an immediate
letdown. After all, most consultants pursue projects
they believe are winnable. When you expend the
time and effort to propose on a project, the last
thing you want is for a competitor to win the
work.
But
you can turn today’s loss into tomorrow’s
win by eliminating guesswork and getting the story
straight from the client, not your imagination.
What you imagine is probably much worse than the
truth.
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