What Architectural School Didn’t Teach You: Taking Control of Selling Professional Services

Do you know any architects who grew up wishing they could be used car salesmen?  Did you know any engineers or lawyers with a similar wish?  As a rule, one reason people are drawn to professional services is because of their desire to be as far away from sales as possible.   

The above cartoon reflects the attitude of how most people working in professional services feel about sales.

As I was thinking about this dilemma in professional services, I remembered how Monster.com approached this subject about a year ago. I was amused by their  television commercial that showed children stating what they wanted to be when they grew up.  It was a change from normal responses and included children who stated they wanted to become “Yes men and women,” “forced into early retirement”,  and “avoid risk at all costs” to mention a few.  The ad pointed out the reality of career choice decisions that often don’t turn out the way we planned.

I have delivered messages to people living in a homeless shelter that talk about how nobody ever thinks they will grow up to be an addict, homeless, or broken.  When we are young, we aspire for greater things, noble professions, and careers with substance. Then life happens and we are forced to expand our comfort zone.

People who aspire to be engineers, architects, lawyers or CPAs have passion for the profession and talent for honing the skills that are required to succeed.  Selling, however, is not one of the attributes on top of the minds of people seeking a career in professional services. Many firms won’t even use the word “sales”.  They prefer to use business development or marketing, as if these two disciplines were interchangeable.  Management understands the need to maintain comfort zones, if the professionals are going to excel at what they do best. However, management is also more interested in the bottom line.

The great architecture, engineering, and law schools don’t teach classes in selling professional services or marketing professional services.  It isn’t because professionals don’t sell. In fact, changes in all of these professions have caused many more professionals to spend time selling.  They didn’t sign up for it.  Many inherited it.  For others it was a management decision because a person was “good with clients.”  Selling isn't taught because it is not technically a needed skill to practice the profession. 

Today, most firms need their professionals to be proactive in nurturing clients and acquiring new ones.  Does your firm have a sales training program like the one I discovered at an architectural firm I was consulting with?  It was client-centric.  Meaning that management wanted its project managers to get the next job from the clients they were currently working with.  It was a goal without tactics or tools to be used by project managers to move the next project forward.  Another firm came up with a plan to boost profits by having project managers spend one extra day cold calling potential clients when they were in a town working on a project.  In theory, it was fantastic.  The people who know the firm’s services the best, including some industry experts, simply call on clients similar to the one who is being visited and the projects will roll in.  Unfortunately, the project managers didn’t buy into the idea and no one ever scheduled an extra day to do the cold calling.  Management took a lot of heat on that one.

This is an example of “give someone a fish and he eats for a day. Teach the person how to fish and he will  eat for the rest of his life.”  Management thought by empowering project managers to stay an extra day, they were providing incentive for project managers to sell more work.  Were they given a template showing how to make contact calls?  Were they given instruction on how a cold call differs from a project meeting?  Were they taught basic sales techniques and how to handle objections?  Were they asked their opinion of the idea? The answers to these questions are no, no, no and are you kidding.

Some people have an advantage over the majority who lack selling skills.  Charisma, outgoing personalities and life experiences that included selling make it easier for some professionals to accept a limited role in selling. However, even the project executive who can sell ice cubes to Eskimos and is totally at ease in a selling environment still needs to be given some other tools.  When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.  After all, the Eskimo who was sold ice cubes might have really needed the refrigerator/freezer.

Charisma, for example can go a long way, but might stall out when these selling issues come into play:  psychological, personal, political, business outcomes, risk, reward, credibility and trust.  My book, “Everything You Need in Selling Professional Services, You Learned in Youth Sports, describes the basics every professional needs to sell their services.

The economy, global markets, government regulations and increased competition have created a new paradigm for selling professional services.  Since the hallowed halls of higher education aren’t teaching courses in these disciplines, where do you go? Trial and error or baptism by fire are two options.

Visit Business Development Professionals and see another answer.  For many firms it is THE answer because of the custom nature of its training programs.  It might be your answer as well.  The search is free and only takes a couple minutes of your time. 

Pressure Points in Selling Professional Services

A client asked me earlier this summer, “What do you do when a potential client stalls on making a decision to use your services?”  Most professional service firms have been in this position at one time or another.  Sometimes it is real and other times it stems from the timing and urgency we manufacture. 

We often put our time ahead of the clients timing. So, my response to this question was, “Why do you feel the client is stalling you?”  I heard a number of reasons why this client was not pulling the trigger on the job that my client felt he was best qualified to provide.  He even emphasized that he had made this point several times over a variety of meetings.  It was then that I told him there are pressure points in selling a client, new or old.

Basic first aid has taught most of us how to use a tourniquet.  When someone is bleeding from an arm or leg, the blood needs to be cut off or the person might die.  The use of a tourniquet can be tricky.  If you squeeze too hard and no blood goes to the limb, the limb might die.  If not enough pressure is applied, the person might bleed to death.

Marketers of professional services need to think about the application of a tourniquet when they deal with clients.  In other words, you need to know the pressure points of their condition and your solution.

Press too hard and the project is dead to you.  If you don’t put enough pressure on the right hot button at the right time, the project might flow to a competitor.  It is often a delicate balance, especially when dealing with a new client.

What do client pressure points look like?  It might be time for a brief review:

       ·         Funding available for the project
       ·         Key decision makers and their influence
       ·         Context of what happens after a decision is made
       ·         Consequences of a bad decision
       ·         Outside distractions—family, friends, organizations
       ·         Personal outcomes of a successful project
       ·     The client’s vision

Obviously, there are other pressure points that can be involved in client decisions, but the above account for the majority.  It is not enough to be at the top of the client’s mind today in order for you to secure new business.  When the client allows you to engage in conversation, it is important to know how these pressure points intersect with the services you are offering.

If you put all the pressure on the client’s vision, what happens to the other points?  You see the medical shows on television when someone is admitted into the emergency room with multiple wounds and the doctor is having trouble stopping all of the bleeding.  Most clients are like that patient.  They do not need a single tourniquet.  They need a skilled professional who understands the client’s history, passion, problems and challenges.  Someone who does not apply pressure to manipulate, but to help solve a problem.  The doctor understands that not all of the bleeding is critical to saving the person’s life, but does know where the critical areas are.  Do you know the critical pressure points of your clients?

If you have been the victim of stalling clients, you might simply need a quick strategy tune up.  The SMPS LinkedIn group had a discussion topic last week that asked the question about a process for moving a project forward.  The core of this question is really the focus of this message: How do you apply the correct pressure to the proper pressure points and move a potential project to your firm as a real project?  It is realy as easy as 1,2,3.

Business Development Professionals has a unique training program for firms seeking answers to this question.  The stalling client that was mentioned at the beginning of this post gave the project to my client last week.  With all the buzz about social media, new age marketing and relevant business development strategies, all business is still about people understanding the needs of people.  My approach is simple: Blend old school personal dynamics with social media and professional services pressure points.  The client tourniquet process is priceless. In one day you will change your approach to marketing and business development forever.