Have you ever given management a great marketing idea or
strategy and got turned down? In our
industry, it happens more often than you think.
It is something that goes with the territory. It might have been the way you sold it.
Available resources often come into play.
Your proposal could have been too far outside the box or outside of the
comfort zone management prefers to live in.
The bottom line is your idea is in the firm dumpster and you move on to other things. However, something happens when you debrief the client after losing this major project. The competitor who was given the assignment happened to use the same idea or strategy that you had pitched management on and failed.
You could go back to management and tell them your idea won
the project. But telling management “I
told you so” won’t do anything positive for your standing in the firm. You have to drill down on the client’s
decision to choose the competitor. What
was it about the strategy that your firm was lacking?
How did it improve their strength in that pursuit or
minimize their weaknesses? Did they
apply more resources to the pursuit than your firm? What did they bring to the presentation that
your firm neglected? Asking the right questions in a debriefing leads to the
honest answers you need to improve on your next pursuit. Your idea or strategy was the steak you
believed the firm needed to win this project and others. The competitor brought the sizzle to their
implementation while showing the client the steak.
Solomon told us in the Old Testament that “there is nothing
new under the sun.” Marketing services
professionals can believe their ideas and strategies are unique, but industry
competitors live in the same universe where ideas are the currency they use to
keep food on the table. When you have
something with a new twist that might be unique, you need to transfer your
passion to the management team.
We need to go back to management’s comfort zone and your
living outside of the box. Your passion
is a good thing and probably the reason you are a trusted member of the
team. You must tread lightly when
working to get management to expand their comfort zone. Understanding the balance between risk and
reward is critical. They saw the steak
you gave them with your idea but they needed to hear the sizzle in order to
justify the risk. If the balance is not right, you will get burned by the
sizzle. Every marketing strategy has to
be client-centric. When management hears
the sizzle they are visualizing how it will sway the client. You believed your idea was the best way to
help the client and win the next project.
Management didn’t see it that way.
In the end, the client did.
Here are four keys to winning management approval for your
marketing ideas and strategies:
1.
Keep the client’s needs in the center
2.
Qualify your firm’s services with solutions to
the client needs.
3.
Highlight the sizzle (client hot buttons) and
marinate the steak (don’t slap yourself on the back).
4.
Create a
bold assessment of resources needed, including pre-proposal actions, proposal
documentation, and presentation talent and props.
Some trainers will talk about
client pain points. Some will emphasize client personal wins. When you keep the
client’s needs in the center you focus on the above as well as the needs of the
current project you are pursuing. In
order to win the project, you have to connect all of these. To one degree or
another, your idea/strategy probably did that.
The bullet points you could use in
presenting your next idea to management could include:
·
Client is risk adverse and this approach reduces
his risk
·
A successful project will result in a promotion
for the client
·
The project has four highly sensitive issues
(successful solutions to previous clients)
·
Our competition includes…
·
There is potential for $1 million profit and a long
term client
You proceed to tell the management
team this pursuit will use X services which reduces the client’s risk, creates
a successful project and we have completed X projects with the same sensitive
issues. History tells us our competitors will do…..
Up to this point we are talking
about standard operating procedures for any marketing professional. The
resources needed for the presentation now become the critical point in selling
this idea. Do you need to build a model or create a video showing your
approach? Who needs to be on the
presentation team? Do you capture client
statements on video as you document your approach navigating the sensitive
design issues?
It is not the time to get bogged
down into the details but to paint the big picture of how important this
project is for the firm. Your passion in
filling in the big picture will ultimately expand management’s comfort zone
before you tell them the dollars it will take to pursue this project. If you have done the presentation right, that
question might not even be asked.
