Every professional selling services in the industry seeks to
know what their clients really want. It
is essential for success. In fact, they
are almost guaranteed to lose business, if they don’t know. The problem is basic: We all deal with two
types of clients. We have entities like
owners, developers, institutions, agencies and governmental bodies. This type of client is only interested in the
specifications of their project or need.
They create elaborate requests for proposals with all of the scope of
work required. Some award low bid while
others accept responsible bids. Professionals
selling only to entities rarely achieve a 50% success rate, even if they are
bottom feeders of the low bid variety.
The second type of client is people working for the entity
and given authority to award contracts. What do these clients really want? Do not confuse this with need. This is not about Maslow's hierarchy. Professionals wanting to improve their hit
rates need to concentrate on these five wants:
1. Personal Success
2. The Experience
3. Company/Project Status
4. Team Chemistry
5. Family/Outside Interest
Obviously, the entity client is obligated to filter the
proposals and create a short list based on criteria that has been put together by
various affected committees, including users, finance and technical
departments. Therefore, professionals
wanting to win must begin discerning the human needs prior to the issuance of
an RFP. This process, if done correctly, can also lead to the contact asking for help in writing the RFP.
Can you describe what success means to each of the client
representatives you have contact with? This is not simply what success within the company looks like but what
personal success looks like. This often
requires deep investigation. Well worth
the time and effort. When you meet with this person you need to understand what
happened on previous projects. What was
the experience like? You need to know
how this person defines the experience. What kind of experience does your firm leave behind?
Can
you see the leverage you would have if the person tells you the last project
finished on time but the experience was dreadful? Trust and the relationship you are building
will eventually reveal answers to this question and much more. Many trainers will call this the understanding of the client's pain.
As you move forward with this person you begin to learn what
is coming up on the company’s radar.
What types of projects will actually be funded in the next five
years. Which projects are priority and
which ones could make or break the company or your contact. You can now start a dialogue as a trusted
adviser and suggest your client meet with a few people from your project team.
After the meeting where your contact sees how the chemistry
between your team and his works, you dig deeper into the next project. In the meantime, you learn more about the
contact’s hobbies, outside interests and family. Perhaps you have children the same age as
your contact and you suggest a family-oriented outing together. Golf is always a possibility as well as
invitations to professional sporting events. The family/outside interests component could begin on day one and is not necessarily the last piece of the puzzle.
Another way to find out what clients really want is to check
off the things they don’t want.
Clients don’t want to be taken for granted
Clients don’t want to be humiliated (low risk tolerance)
Clients don’t want to be treated like an outsider (Different
than being taken for granted)
Clients don’t want to live through a terrible project
experience
Clients don’t want to experience “back door” approvals
If you have not built a strong enough relationship with your
contact to allow him or her to give you approvals, it is not a good idea to go
around that person to a higher authority.
It will mark the beginning of the end.
You can ask if someone else needs to be part of the process. You can suggest someone higher up join you in
the next meeting. This could be a
reality check for your contact and result in positive movement on the
project. It could also reveal other
issues that have not been resolved. You can mend the problems that might be
associated with a negative response.
However, when you go behind the contact’s back, you might never see the
response coming.
My firm was pursuing a multi-million dollar contact with a Midwest
university and we had made all of the right moves to win the job. Since the project was being run by the
medical center with the university in partnership, we worked on the medical
center contacts instead of our regular university contacts. We never saw the error until the short list
was to be announced. A leading
architectural firm was the lead because the medical center was in charge and they were respected by the medical center. They received a call the day before the short
list and were told to take our firm off their team or they wouldn’t be short
listed. We had 50% of the project and
lost it because we had not taken care of this client. The university client was upset they were not
in charge of the project, but she was upset with us because the last project we
had worked with her on was not a good experience. She didn't have authority to choose a firm but she had veto power on who would be interviewed. No one from the firm had taken the time to
learn about the issues.
Finally, you need to remember you are dealing with people. People want to be connected, feel
appreciated, part of a team and needed. When
you learn how to cover these, your project hit rates will rise significantly.
