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Stamp Out the Blah, Blah, Blah: A Podcast with Dan Roam

January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dan Roam

Dan Roam

“We have become so enamoured of our ability to talk that we often delude ourselves into thinking that, if we can talk about an idea, we understand it well.”

In this podcast, I talk with Dan Roam, author of BLAH, BLAH, BLAH: What To Do When Words Don’t Work. Roam’s mission is to help us solve problems and sell ideas more effectively–not just with words, but by tapping the power of visual communication.

He’s written two other bestsellers on that topic: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Picture, and Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures.

Dan gives us some great (and easy) pointers for clarifying complex ideas and finding workable solutions to tough problems–using pictures!

The tools you use can be as simple as the picture below. To visit Roam’s site and learn more, click here or on the image below.

Dan Roam

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Filed Under: Consulting Process, Podcasts Tagged With: , , ,

Sharing

December 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

IdeasThe thought of sharing their intellectual property causes some hand-wringing among consultants. How much should you give to a new client? Should you hold something back until you make the sale?

Some consultants worry that clients will pilfer their ideas and use them without any help. Others are concerned that competitors could get their hands on proprietary information and figure out a way to profit from it. A few consultants believe that clients should pay before getting the “good stuff.”

Such concerns are not unreasonable. I’ve seen clients “borrow” ideas, and ethically-challenged consulting firms have been known to “adapt” other people’s work and call it their own. Fortunately, these are exceptions, not the rule.

Clients buy your expertise. Your best ideas are the foundation of the value you offer. If you hold them back, you put yourself at a disadvantage with clients. Plus, hopefully, no one can execute a project using your ideas as well as you can.

My advice is to share your best ideas freely. Clients will appreciate your commitment and you’ll have better luck closing sales. When asked if it wouldn’t be better to wait on providing ideas to clients, a colleague summed it up by saying, “They can take my ideas. I’ll come up with others.”

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Selling Tagged With: , , , ,

Podcast: Charles Green and Andrea Howe

November 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Charles Green and Andrea Howe

Charles Green is the co-author, with David Maister and Rob Galford, of the landmark book, The Trusted Advisor. That book brought the topic of trust in professional relationships into the mainstream of our thinking. It charted a path for attaining what professionals have always sought–mutually beneficial client relationships.

This year, Green teamed up with co-author Andrea Howe for The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook, a hands-on successor to Green’s classic work. What I like about this book is that it lays out the essential trust concepts and offers readers tools, exercises, and resources to help translate those concepts into action.

For this podcast, I asked Green and Howe for some tips on how you can hone your trust-building skills.

 

Principles of Trustworthy Behavior
  • A focus on the other (client, customer, co-worker, boss, etc.) for the other’s sake, not just as a means to one’s own ends.
  • A collaborative approach to relationships. True collaboration is a fundamental, default inclination to work together.
  • A medium to long-term relationship perspective, not a short-term transactional focus.
  • A habit of being transparent in all one’s dealings. Transparency simplifies and strengthens business relationships.

Adapted from The Four Trust Principles, by Charles Green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intro music exluna by Jakub Koter
Podcast run time: 16:42

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Consulting Process Tagged With: , ,

Certainty

September 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The decision to buy something, whether it’s a product or a service, requires at least some degree of certainty. You want to be sure that you’ll get what you expect.

The same is true when clients are deciding what to do. For example, you probably know (or have heard about) clients who rejected a great sales proposal or decided not to implement a compelling recommendation. In such cases, the clients didn’t have enough certainty to take action.

Too often, we take this reality for granted. Instead of being responsive to what will contribute to each client’s sense of certainty, we tend to use the same types of proof to support our position in every situation. Just because citing case studies helped close one important deal, for instance, doesn’t mean it will work for all of them.

Your idea of what builds certainty may be entirely different from what a client needs. Your job is to learn how each client processes information. Which forms of communication work most effectively? What kind of proof is the client likely to respond to? How can you combine the variety of options you have to make the most impact on your client’s sense of certainty?

You may be the best choice for the work but, to get the job, you’ll have to help your clients learn and create certainty about the issues that matter to them.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Selling Tagged With: , , ,

Sanity Check: Listening

August 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

michael mclaughlinPeople can tell when you are actually listening to what they say and when you’re just waiting for them to finish so you can talk.

Filed Under: Consulting Process, Sanity Checks Tagged With: , ,

The Secret to Long-Term Success

July 20, 2011 By 1 Comment

michael mclaughlinI’m sure you’ve seen this happen: two people with similar talents, skills, and education attempt the same job. One person succeeds beyond everyone’s expectations and the other flames out. Certainly, no one knows exactly why such differences in performance occur. But for the top performers I know, the key to long-term success begins with a mindset, not a skill set.

That mindset starts with a simple idea: you are the business. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a one-person practice or a global enterprise. You are marketer, salesperson, service provider, client relationship manager, accountant, and janitor. This mindset leaves no room for excuses, finger pointing, or dodging accountability.

As importantly, top performers share three other characteristics that they cultivate in themselves over time: confidence, courage, and commitment.

Top performers can relate to and work with just about anyone, at any level, in an organization because they have an inner confidence in their capabilities and value. Executives with fancy titles do not intimidate them, nor do they shy away from tough issues or sensitive negotiations. They’re confident enough to say “I don’t know” instead of dancing around a question. They exhibit a quiet assurance with their clients, not a swagger.

They also have the courage to make hard choices, even when those decisions don’t work in their favor. They’ll decline projects that don’t fit their skills, refer business to others without hesitation, and take an unpopular position on an issue if they believe it’s in the client’s best interest.

Finally, the top performers I know make an unwavering commitment to their clients’ well-being and their own self-development. They know that their clients’ best interests are only served if they continually grow personally and professionally.

You can probably come up with many other traits that separate the top performers from everyone else. What others would you add?

Filed Under: Business Life Tagged With: , ,

Who Decides?

July 18, 2011 By 1 Comment

michael w mclaughlinWe all know that clients buy perceived value when they hire a service provider.

Your efforts during the sales process contribute to your client’s perception of value, of course, but other sources of influence can be equally critical to your client’s buying decision. Before most people make a big purchase, they seek out advice from those they trust–a colleague, mentor, boss, or even a family member.

I’m not talking about people who have an “official” role in approving the sale, but those in your client’s network who are likely to get your client’s ear. It’s possible that you’re not aware of these people and how they could shape the sales process.

Not long ago, for instance, I worked with a prospective client on a project that never got off the ground. Why? I found out later that one of the client’s influential colleagues questioned the project’s value and that was the end of it.

It’s not always possible to know which individuals could sway a client, but you can ask questions to help identify them and their potential concerns.

For example, to understand the perspective of your client’s colleagues, ask how your proposed project fits with other ongoing or planned initiatives. Is your project complementary with others or competing? You can also ask directly how your client’s colleagues view the value of your proposed project.

To get a better understanding of how the client’s staff might influence the buying decision, you can ask what the most influential staff people think of the project–and the potential organizational change it would bring. Will they view the project as essential, somewhat important, or just another initiative?

You can come up with similar questions to figure out how your project may be viewed by others in your client’s network.

Use the answers to these questions to shape a value proposition that includes the impact of the project on the people who aren’t directly involved in the decision process but who are important to the sale.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Selling Tagged With: , , ,

Timing

July 7, 2011 By 3 Comments

You’ve probably heard a client say something like, “Sorry, the timing just isn’t right for this project. We have too many other things going right now.”

In those unwelcome words, many consultants see a sales objection in disguise. Their response: change the dynamic of the sales proposition–add more value, shift the terms, or make a concession. Timing, some experts tell us, is the flimsiest excuse in the book to say no to a sale. So go confront that challenge and close the deal.

You’ll hear similar advice when a client doesn’t respond to your email, phone call, or letter within what you think is a reasonable time. Apparently, you’re supposed to use the same approach that public broadcasters use to raise funds–pursue the person until you get an answer.

If you don’t get a timely response from a client, it’s easy to imagine the worst. Did your proposal send the client running to your competitor? Maybe the client is stringing you along. Or, was it something you said or did? Either way, some people would rather keep chasing the client for a response than face the unlikely possibility that the client relationship has tanked.

Often, though, a client’s unresponsiveness isn’t either negative or positive. Maybe the project in question is not at the top of the client’s to-do list. And, in some instances, no matter how much new value you throw at a client, it’s actually true that the timing for a project isn’t ideal.

Before you try to convince a client to move forward, be sure you are convinced that the project is truly in the client’s best interest right now. If you’re certain, make your arguments without hesitation.

But refrain from following up again with a client unless you understand where you fit on the client’s priority list. It’s very possible that the lack of response has more to do with bad timing than anything else you can imagine.

Sometimes timing is on your side and other times it’s not. Our job is to know the difference.

Filed Under: Consulting Process, Selling Tagged With: , , , , ,

Podcast Interview: Peter Block

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Peter Block

Peter Block

“Consulting cannot be done without genuine caring for the client, and the challenge is to find ways to embody our care in the way we do the work.”

I had an opportunity to talk with Peter Block, author of the landmark bestseller, Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used. For many of us, Block helped define how to effectively manage the client/consultant relationship for project success.

Block has just released the 3rd edition of Flawless Consulting, so I thought it would be a good time to ask him about his thoughts on how the professional services industry is evolving and what that means for service providers.

The Consultant’s Goals
For each assignment, you should consider how to achieve four goals: 

  • Establish a collaborative relationship. This permits maximum use of people’s resources—both the client’s and the consultant’s.
  • Solve problems so they stay solved. Help clients learn how to solve the problems that are likely to emerge once a solution is put into place.
  • Ensure attention is given to the technical/business problem and the relationships. Work with clients to address the underlying people and process issues of each problem.
  • Develop client commitment.Your impact will be driven by your ability to help your client commit to the solutions you’ve developed.

Adapted from Flawless Consulting, by Peter Block.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Podcast run time: 21:53
Intro music exluna by Jakub Koter

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Podcasts Tagged With:

Sanity Check: Vision Trumps Method

June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

michael w mclaughlinIf you don’t paint a vivid picture of the future your client can expect, it won’t matter if you’ve got the best methods, tools, or approaches to completing the project.

Filed Under: Sanity Checks Tagged With: , , ,
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