Archive for October, 2009
Woody Allen, the ancient Greek poet Archilochus, and Sir Isaiah Berlin, a 20th century philosopher.
Strange group, but they all have an association with foxes and hedgehogs.
I’ll make that group a little stranger still by adding you to it. That is if you sell service contracts, or, if you buy them.
Sit tight and I’ll try and make sense of this. Starting chronologically:
He wrote a poem, long time ago you bet, saying that people can be divided into two groups: foxes and hedgehogs.
The difference being the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.
A historian and philosopher, his essay titled “The Hedgehog and the Fox“, grouped writers and thinkers into either one or the other.
His hedgehogs view the world through the lens of a single defining idea (examples include Plato, Ibsen, and Proust).
His foxes draw on a wide variety of experiences and cannot boil down the world down into a single idea (examples given include Aristotle, Shakespeare, and Joyce).
In his 1992 movie Husbands and Wives Woody had Judy Davis‘ character ponder which of her acquaintances were foxes and which were hedgehogs. She was trying to make sense of individuals’ behavior.
You
If you sell service contracts you’ve probably already identified yourself as one or the other. Doesn’t matter which, you decide for yourself.
Here’s why it matters when trying to sell service contracts.
You have to figure out which one your prospective customer is: fox or hedgehog.
Why?
Because that’s how you have to present your proposed service solution.
If your Prospect is a Hedgehog
Casting no aspersions here, there’s nothing wrong with being a hedgehog.
Remember, hedgehogs know one big thing.
As the sales resource your job is to find out what that one big thing is.
Then bring all your proposed service solution back to that one big thing.
For example, if your prospective customer is in the Petrochemical business the one big thing she knows is the importance of safety. Reasonable considering her firm’s work environment.
In that situation you can’t talk about safety only for hours at a time.
You can however present a comprehensive safety program first…
…then present the other aspects of your service solution…
…and at the end of each description, show how they tie back to your comprehensive safety program.
You can, and should, do this in your written responses in the customers’ Request for Proposal (RFP).
Even more importantly, you must do this when you make the short-list for presentations. This is where customers need to hear you “walk the talk” they read in your proposal responses.
If your Prospect is a Fox
Foxes, in this case, know many things, not necessarily that they’re carnivores.
As the sales resource your job is to find out what are all, or most, of those things they know.
Why?
Foxes will be looking at a wide range of areas that you, as a prospective supplier, must address.
Therefore, in your written RFP responses you must be more inclusive than narrowly focused.
When answering a question, make sure to list the multiple components of your service solution that solve that underlying issue.
Same with the short-list presentation. Make sure your preparation and performance addresses the range of components you offer, the multi-faceted solution you’ve designed.
Summary
There you have it. Foxes and hedgehogs in the service contract world.
Are these definitive guides from which to build a marketing campaign? Or base a sales plan around?
No and no.
They’re just a couple of sophisticated sales ideas that are easy to remember as animals.
What are you, fox or hedgehog?
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Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ
October 29th, 2009
You receive the following email:
Congratulations. You’ve been selected as one of the three supplier finalists in our RFP process for our (fill in the blank) service contract.
We’re requesting your firm make a presentation to our selection committee to help us make the final supplier selection.
You’ll have 45 minutes to present and another 15 minutes for Q&A. We’re requesting you address the following agenda:
- Tell us about your company
- Tell us how you’d approach serving our sites
- Your experience serving similar facilities as ours
- Describe the quality processes, safety programs & technology you use to support the delivery of your services
The Supplier’s Strategy Questions
So now you have to decide how you’re going to prepare for this presentation. And as importantly, how you’ll lead your presentation and your team. If I were you, I’d be asking myself the following questions. And since I am myself, I’ve answered them IMHO.
Q: How do we present all our firm has to offer in 45 minutes plus another 15 of answering questions?
A: You can’t.
Knowing you can’t do it all provides the freedom to be creative and do what’s needed in the presentation.
Q: If we can’t present everything to the selection committee, what do we present?
A: Whatever is important to the decision makers.
Whatever they need to hear to help them make their decision in your favor.
Q: How do I know what that is?
A: Ask them.
Right there, right then, in the presentation, ask what information they’re specifically looking for. Each decision maker will have a slightly different interest, they bring their own agendas.
You’re job is to serve their data gathering needs in those few minutes you’ve been given. They’re looking for info about what you’ll bring to them.
If you’re highly capable in an area they’re interested in, but don’t get to bring it up because of poor presentation skills….well, too bad.
Those decision makers won’t think you cut the mustard. You’ve failed in the presentation, even though your firm is stellar in that area.
Ideally you’re due diligence had dug that info up pre-RFP, and you’d included it in your written proposal.
Q: How can I present the info they’re interested in when I don’t know what it is until I start the presentation?
A: Two requirements.
#1. You’re presentation slideshow needs to be interactive and client-driven. Think hyperlinks and navigation.
#2. You’re presentation team needs to engage decision makers in a conversation, not talking at them for 63 slides. Think dialog, not monologue. Think length and depth of spoken responses, concise and compelling. Think which of your team speaks on each topic.
Presentation Strategy Pitfalls
You don’t want to do these:
Follow the agenda without deviation
Good children do this and get a few points for following directions…while bad children win the contract by taking the agenda as a guideline from which to selectively deviate for their own good.
Try to cover too much
Honestly, what will decision makers remember when you’ve dumped 52 programs and processes on them?
Have your most senior team member speak a lot
Decision makers know that person won’t be doing the day to day work. It’s more likely to sound like the top dog is arrogantly stating their own self-importance.
What presentation strategy do you use when short-listed?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ
October 17th, 2009
There’s always competition for service contracts*. You’d think contractor proposals were written with that in mind. Alas, not so often.
During an RFP process Procurement will pull responses from contractors’ proposals and place them side by side.
That’s where the comparison is really made. Side-by-side. You against your competition.
After all, customers can only choose from the proposals in front of them.
And when contractors try to “sell” themselves in the proposal they often end up removing themselves from consideration.
Customers are looking for a business case justification that tells them what they’ll get from a contractor. It’s the value proposition. But each contractor’s is slightly different, which always makes it a decision between apples and oranges.
But that’s the opportunity available for new business.
So, here are several areas for contractors to consider and/or address in their proposals. But only if they want to improve their chances of winning more contracts.
Here’s where we’re going:
- Breadth & Depth of Service Solution
- Specificity of Service Solution
- Lose the Sales Speak in Proposal Writing
Breadth & Depth of Service Solution
Some customers want a wide range (breadth) of services included in their solution. They’re looking for the full service solution, one-stop-shop approach.
They’re more likely to tell you this in person before the bid (if they know you and value what your firm offers). But the RFP rarely states it explicitly. So you need to figure this out before the RFP.
Some customers care more for a deep service offering, meaning they’re looking for technical expertise, industry best practices and subject matter experts (SMEs). They’re comfortable working with specialists and will take the overall service management duties on themselves.
Their RFPs may spell out requests for deep info. Again, you need to figure this out based on their management style before the RFP comes out, because the RFP may just breeze over areas they’re serious about.
Specificity of Service Solution
A proposal is not where customers want to be sold. They want information they can make a decision on.
They’re looking for descriptions and plans detailing what they’re going to get from a contractor. Then they’re evaluating the relevancy of that proposed plan. Relevant for the money it saves them, makes their life easier, their department more productive, their company more profitable and competitive.
They’re looking for specifics.
Contractors have to present their specific plan. Based on services, processes and results that are important to that customer at their locations.
Clarity and relevancy. The higher up the customer value chart the solution goes, the more likely that contractor will be chosen. And the easier they can justify it upstairs themselves.
Lose the Sales Speak in Proposal Writing
In side-by-sides, sales speak in the writing style hurt’s contractors’ chances of persuading decision makers.
You know what sales speak is. It talks a lot but doesn’t say anything specific. It sounds like this….
We’re the leading provider of xyz service in the U.S., with the best customer retention rate in the nation and lowest employee turnover in the industry. Our employees are our greatest asset and our service is second to none. Our hiring process for your account will include…
There’s too much garbage to wade through for decision makers to find what they’re looking for. They don’t have the time, so they don’t look. They move on to some other question.
And there goes a contractor’s best offering or solution, lost in sales speak.
How do you compare side-by-side?
____________________________________________
* If it’s not other contractors then its the inertia that keeps things the way they are. And that’s another story for another day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ
October 12th, 2009
A few years ago Bill S. wrote:
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”
We perform, and are judged by our audiences.
In business, as in theater, bad acting is wasteful and destructive. Here’s how:
For sales people, “bad acting” means actions and words that are seen as deceitful and greedy by customers (the audience).
For customers, “bad acting” means actions and choices that are seen as manipulative and punitive by contractors (the audience).
What are the chances anything valuable and lasting coming from these performances?
You Don’t Mean To
No salesperson or customer intentionally acts badly. Bad acting creeps up and becomes the norm over years.
And it’s impossible to self-diagnose. You’ll have many justifications for why you did or said something.
But in the performance of business it just comes off as bad acting.
Sales People – The “Don’t” List:
If you avoid the following, you’re further along toward being a better sales performer. If not, you’ll be seen as “salesly” by customers and likened to the plague.
- Don’t make extravagant, unsubstantiated claims – hyperbole makes customers cringe
- Don’t act overly chummy to recently met customers – hyperfriendly has them running to wash their hands
- Don’t always have an answer to things you don’t know – hyperknowitall axes you off customers’ trust list
Customers – The “Don’t List”:
At first glance it might not seem necessary for you to avoid bad acting.
However, even though there may be many contractors to burn through, bad acting hurts your reputation. And that stays with you, limiting your ability to accomplish your firm’s outsourcing goals.
So, avoid the following and contribute to your golden reputation. If not, you’ll become known in professional circles by names you’d rather not know about.
- Don’t withhold info you can share with contractors - hypersecretive makes contractors think you lack trust
- Don’t require unreasonable hoop jumping of contractors – hyperdemanding is a sign to customers you’re hard work
- Don’t demean contractors for seeking a profit – hypercritical has contractors thinking you’re delusional or idiotic if you don’t know your firm seeks profit too
How do you avoid Bad Acting?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ
October 2nd, 2009
