Winning New Business

Helping business owners & leaders achieve their vision & objectives...

By Chris Pattaswww.chrispattas.com

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The Client Stages0. Unware 1. Aware

3. Relationship

4. Business Understanding

5. Opportunity Identified

6. Winning Proposal

7. 1st Order

8. Reorder

9. Exit

2. Nurture

• Objective is to educate the client so that they are aware of your business

• Probability of a sale is 0%

• No engagement, no trust, no knowledge, no contact

• Passive marketing strategy

‣ website content, SEO, social media

‣ PR, tradeshows, events

‣ referral & loyalty marketing

• Proactive marketing strategy

‣ outbound telemarketing (push strategy)

‣ advertising (pull strategy)

0. Unaware

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• Objective is to identify key contacts and get permission to engage with them

• Probability of a sale is 5%

• No trust, no knowledge

• Passive marketing objectives

‣ get permission for touch points, e.g., signup to regular newsletter or promotions

• Proactive sales objectives

‣ identify key contacts - names, roles, telephone, email

‣ first qualification meeting - over the phone or face-to-face

1. Aware

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• Your objective is to make a good first impression so that you either get a phone or face-to-face appointment

• Send an email and followup with a call. “I’d like to set a time to get to know you and your business better”

• Send a “private & confidential” letter if you are aiming high and want to get through gatekeepers. Then followup with a call.

• There are 4 types of contacts:‣ decision-makers: they have budget and authority to make decision, harder to get to initially

‣ influencers: know the key people, respected, their opinion will be sought, part of the decision process, can often have veto power

‣ coaches: not part of decision-process, have some knowledge and are willing to assist you to progress

‣ gatekeepers: will be a barrier to progress if you are not valued or do not have the right relationship

• People don’t care at this stage WHAT you sell & HOW you do things. They are only interested in WHY they should see you.

First Contact

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• At the early stages of a relationship with a client the key question will be: “WHY should we do business with your company?”

• To prepare for this you need to have an excellent value proposition which is customer-centric (not product related). E.g. “We help travelers take the risk out of planning and enjoy their break”

• Once you have established a relationship with a client who likes your value proposition, they will become interested in WHAT you can do for them. This is an opportunity to share case studies and show them the sorts of problems you address.

• When the client is ready to choose who they will use for a particular project they will become more interested in HOW you do things. This is the stage you can start talking product and service details.

Why? What? How?

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• Objective is to stay engaged with the client until a business opportunity arises that you can address. Nurturing builds trust.

• Probability of a sale is 5%

• Increasing brand awareness, trust & confidence in our business. Keeping our contacts & knowledge current.

• Passive marketing objectives‣ share information which is interesting and relevant and

may lead to an enquiry

• Proactive sales objectives‣ keep in touch with key contacts to improve trust

‣ be the first to become aware of an opportunity

2. Nurture

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• Objective is to leverage the trust you have achieved to increase your knowledge of your client’s business opportunities and challenges

• Probability of a sale is now 25%

• Spend most of your time talking about the client’s business, their challenges and their opportunities.

• Passive marketing objectives‣ share information which helps your client address their

problems and further their opportunities

• Proactive sales objectives‣ be aware of all key projects, client cycles e.g. budgeting

‣ be aware of competitor moves with your client

‣ get to know your key contacts well, build trust and start to prove your value by sharing information

3. Relationship

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• There are 4 common questions that are used to improve our knowledge of a client’s business. Use them in your first meeting, your first phone call when you have casual time to build rapport. Don’t interrupt. Ask for clarification to enhance understanding. E.g., “When you said “...” what did you mean?” Avoid “closed” questions which can be answered with Yes or No - these do not encourage communication or discussion.

• Tell me a little about your role and what your team does? This question builds rapport, is non-threatening and is a natural first question to ask. You will not be able to ask this later in your relationship.

• What are the key opportunities that your business wants to achieve over the next 18 months? What are the main challenges that your business would like to address over the next 18 months? Both of these questions are open-ended designed to allow your client to talk about their business. The better your relationship the deeper the answers will be and the more knowledge you will gain.

• How are you addressing these opportunities and challenges? This is an important question designed to uncover areas where your client may require assistance. This is where opportunities may be uncovered.

4 Magic Questions

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• Objective is to uncover areas where there are problems or pain points that you can address.

• Probability of a sale is now 45%

• Opportunity always follows change - e.g. new CEO, restructure, market change, technology shift.

• Look for a “problem owner” who has a “problem” that you can solve.

• Proactive sales objectives‣ Stay in contact with people that make change happen

‣ Understand how decisions get made, who gets involved, who are the competitors (sometimes they are internal)

‣ Ask your client to quantify the opportunity or problem, e.g. “how much will you save if...” or “how much more revenue will this mean if...” or “what is this worth to the business if...”

4. Business Understanding

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• Whether you have a CRM system or not you should keep a separate “client file” for each client. This could be just a Word document for each client, an email folder for each client to collate all correspondence and information pertaining to every client.

• At a minimum the client file should have contact information, past activities (each time stamped), next steps (as an action item with what, who, when and where). Also, keep notes on what information is still unknown that you must find out, e.g., who has budget, is it expense or capital, when will a decision be made, who has veto.

• Every action should be identified in you calendar program. Every contact should be stored in you contact program. Update your CRM after every activity.

• The best sales people are organised, structured and have a clear plan on what the next few steps are for each prospect or client.

• Information is power and increases your chances of success enormously. It will also help you create a realistic forecast or sales pipeline to keep your senior management happy.

• Organise your day and your week. A salesperson with an empty calendar will be less effective, less focussed and less motivated.

• Don’t make that next call unless you have an objective and know your value proposition. Your ultimate objective is to collect enough information so you move through the client stages identified here.

The Client File

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• Objective is to now collect enough information about the opportunity to prepare a proposal that will win.

• Probability of a sale is now 65%

• Clients are happy to invest (expense or capital) when there is a clear and compelling return on investment (ROI)

• Make sure you understand the “hot buttons” or needs to be addressed and what ROI is compelling

• Proactive sales objectives‣ Confirm with the decision-makers what the critical needs are

and what ROI will get their support.

‣ As much as possible get the client to articulate or document the decision criteria and required return

5. Opportunity Identified

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• Objective is to get agreement from the client to proceed. This is usually evidenced by a sales order.

• Probability of a sale is now 80%

• Every proposal MUST have the following:‣ Replay back the client’s own words what the problems are and

what outcomes are desired. This shows respect because it demonstrates an understanding of their business.

‣ Confirm why you are the best choice, your value proposition and why they should progress with you.

‣ Confirm that you can address the problem, what assumptions you have made, timing, what you require from the client and the investments costs and terms.

• Take your client through the proposal first in-person. This is to get feedback and preliminary approval. Your proposal should be their business case.

6. Winning Proposal

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• Objective is to get paid for a great job and to get more business.

• Professional account managers:‣ Keep in touch with all significant stakeholders ensuring

commitments are kept and their ongoing needs are understood.

‣ Extract testimonials or at least confirmations that client expectations have been met or exceeded.

‣ Focus on repeat business and referrals as a result of an excellent customer experience

• The best account managers continue adding value to a client. Often it is simply providing compelling news or industry information.

• “Keeping in touch” is a favourite phrase and practice amongst the best account managers

7. 1st Order

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• Objective is to have a sustainable and profitable business relationship

• Account managers (farmers) take over from business development managers (hunters)

‣ Look for opportunities to expand into other parts of the client’s business

‣ Keep the client across the latests developments to ensure they do not fall behind and give your competitors a chance to get a foothold

‣ User groups or business networks are useful ways to get more referrals and leverage the good work

• Like all relationships sometimes a change is required if there is mutual benefit to avoid complacency and taking each for granted.

8. Reorder

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Helping business owners & leaders achieve their vision & objectives...

www.chrispattas.com