may 16, 2012 12:06pm

Whose opinion do they respect?

Finding out about who can support you and your proposal is an important activity in the chase for business. Determining opinion-formers is part of the ‘Power Mapping’ of any important opportunity. At the centre of the map are the decision makers, slightly further out are the influencers. Often on the periphery of our vision (and attention) are people who might support our ideas and us.

If we have spent enough time on ‘audience analysis’ and ‘mapped’ everyone who could (possibility) influence the decision then we need to ensure that advocates within the customer organisation maybe in another part of organisation, will support us. Are there other enthusiasts who work at other suppliers, agencies and companies, and are used by the prospect and could put in the right-word?

Several years ago I was working on a TV broadcast bid for a large play-out contract. We mapped the ‘supporters’ on the edge of the bid-team’s Power Map, just as well, as these individuals changed places with others we are talking to and one of the supporters suddenly moved to a position of real influence!

may 07, 2012 08:17pm

RUNNING ON EMPTY?

A recent question in a workshop: How do I maintain my energy and confidence what reserves can I draw on when I need to do it. Feel happy? Feel charged?

There ideas we can draw on. The first being the axiom ‘what happens to me is down to me’

We will go through flat spots when we are taking on new skills or responsibilities. Along the ‘learning curve’ there are times where the curve flattens or dips. We have to learn to love the dip or love the plateau.

Look after yourself. To be the best version of you this is vital. Do less achieve more. Take quality breaks. Get enough sleep. Read for inspiration. Spend more time with those who encourage and support you and less with those who are negative. Allow yourself to get it wrong. Look after yourself.

All these ideas are taken from Nicholas’s book HOW TO BE BRILLIANT, for your copy go to this link.
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april 28, 2012 07:06pm

WANTS AND NEEDS

What do they want? What do they need?
The other day a colleague of mine who heads up a large sales team was questioning some about some of his team’s ability to listen.

He told how me he watches for the tell tale signs of not listening: One indicator, for him, is when he asks how one of his team how he/she got on in the meeting from which they had just returned. If the response is “yes, great meeting, they told me what they wanted, but I know what they really need” then at that precise point in that meeting the sales person had stopped listening and gone straight to formulating a solution based on his/her own ideas not the client’s.

We win business by giving people what they want.
We keep business by giving people what they need.

They might not have really known what they needed at the outset of their ‘journey’ with us. However, little by little, through delivering what they wanted, building trust and getting results, we move them into a position or rather move ourselves into the position of broaching and tackling and delivering against their needs.
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april 22, 2012 06:38pm

What are they especially proud of or loyal to?

Many of us have, through experience in our careers and roles done things of which we are proud, companies are no different, they want to stand for something and every achievement pays off to that value. It might be the company’s passion with delivering ROI to a client or providing an intellectual viewpoint on any issue or solution they offer to their clients. They might be swell up with pride over their achievements and awards. Corporate pride is no different from that of an individual.
Sometimes this pride is self evident – a mission statement that hangs in reception or written on the back of everyone’s business card sometimes it is not so apparent, it may come out in a conversation, in the second meeting.
Whatever we discover we need to use it to ensure we are congruent with the organisation; if they are passionate about return on investment then we should be, we should show how what we would deliver will contribute in this area. People buy from people they like and people like them. Locking onto a company or individual’s values is another way to show we are a best-fit partner.
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april 14, 2012 05:20pm

Are they prepared to act now?

As we prepare for the meeting or the pitch it a good question: Are they prepared to act now? Are they prepared to give us the go-ahead?
Have we got to a clear point in the presentation where we can confidently ask for them to ‘act now’ and accept our proposal? When we are face to face (rather than a follow-up email) that is the best time to ask for the business provided we give them a clear benefit for saying yes today rather than ‘maybe’ or ‘we’ll get back to you’ – what is the benefit for an early ‘yes’?
It could be the availability of special inventory as part of our solution, including the Client is a special piece of market research, securing the services of some specialist in our team to help them implement the solution or one of our recognised senior leaders can speak at their kick off. I have worked with several teams to brain-storm a list of benefits for an early yes, as a team its easy to come with a long list of ideas from which each person picks the best one for a given client – to make saying go ahead easier.