Getting to know your prospective client will make for a great marriage later
Networking and sales prospecting will only get you so far. At some point, you need to convince a potential client that you will provide value that exceeds what they’re paying you (i.e., ROI). Whether you’re responding to an RFP or meeting with the prospective client to discuss their needs, you should be trying to figure out how to answer some or all of these questions:
- Can you add something worthwhile to the company’s total output?
- Can you help the company get closer to achieving its goals?
- Can you make the company more efficient (i.e., streamline processes, market more efficiently, save them time)?
- With the budget available, can you do a comprehesive and effective job?
- Do you have skills that don’t exist somewhere else in the company (or are resources so stretched that the person or people who do have them can’t be moved to this project)?
- Will this project be seen as a must-have or a nice-to-have (i.e., will you have executive support)?
Ask open-ended questions to get at the answer to these questions throughout the sales process and then ask yourself two questions:
- Are my skills a good match for their problems or needs?
The answer to this question will lead you to the next one:
- Is it worth spending additional business-development time on this prospect (i.e., developing proposals and presentations and attending meetings?
Focusing on this approach will help you sell more effectively, enabling you to focus your most precious asset — your time — on the right prospects and help you to tie your core competencies to the client’s most pressing needs.
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