The Integration Imperative

I had the pleasure of reading Suzanne C. Lowe's book, The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing and Business Development Silos - Once and for All - in Professional Service Firms. Before reading it, I was struck by David Maister's endorsement, "An amazing blend of insight and in-depth real world examples. All professional firm marketers and managers should read this book." I figured if David put his name to it, it must be valuable. Needless to say, it really is.

While the title suggests a concept with which most of us would agree, there's a difference between agreeing with it and being able to execute it in your organization. Marketing and business development should serve the organization, not the other way around. And they'll be most effective when their efforts are at a minimum, congruous and at best, synergistic. In many organizations, they are neither. Thus the need for such a book.

As I mentioned in my last post, Lowe has written more than a book that one reads and puts back on the shelf. It's a valuable resource, grounded in extensive research, worthy of constant reference for the professional services firm seeking to maximize its marketing and business development efforts. (By the way, its utility extends to any type organization). Lowe reminds us of the importance of believing and pursuing a mission and vision for our organization that's larger than ourselves. I can't think of a more valuable resource for the professional services firm - particularly during these tough economic times.

It reminds me of a book called The Customer Comes Second by Hal Rosenbluth and Diane McFerrin Peters in that the concept is so simple, one wonders what the rest of the book could be about. I was amazed at the extent to which Rosenbluth's firm so consistently and completely delivered on its philosophy. As a result, I kept the book on my desk, constantly referring to it for new ideas and insights. The more I looked at it, the more I discovered. From my perspective, The Integration Imperative achieves the same result.

I'd recommend getting a copy and keeping it close at hand. Mine sits right next to Hal's book.

Outputs And Outcomes

In his book Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, John Bryson talks about the importance of measuring outputs (how well you executed your strategy) and outcomes (the results your strategy achieved). Without measuring both, you'll never really know whether poor results were a product of the wrong strategy or just poor execution of that strategy.

With new business presentations, outputs and outcomes are important as well, but with a bit of a twist. I've coached myriad presentation teams who've stated, "these are the three concepts we want to communicate during our presentation," and they'll proceed to list them (output). After hearing that, I'll ask them to describe the three conclusions they'd like their prospective client to reach at the end of the presentation (outcome). Is there a difference you ask? Almost always.

The desired conclusions never quite match the key message points. In large part it's because we all tend to develop key message points in terms of competence, but we think of prospect conclusions in terms that cover competence and relationship issues. Per my last post, it's not just about who's better; it's about who's better to work with. Understanding the distinction and reframing your presentation in terms of both outputs and outcomes can mean the difference between winning and losing. An important distinction in this economy.

In my next post, I'll look at specific techniques for achieving the outcomes you want.

Better Or Better To Work With?

When it comes to pitching new business, many agencies (large and small) employ the approach, "our agency is better (more qualified) than your agency" as the prevailing means to win a prospect's account. Over the next few posts, I'll cover why employing a more client service-centric mindset to pitching new business will glean better results. And more importantly, how to do so.

By the time you get to the final presentation, you may be one of three agencies vying to win the business. At this stage of the game, assume ALL the agencies are qualified - that's why you're in the finals. The central question isn't really about choosing who's better, it's about choosing which agency will be better to work with. By being attuned to the dynamics of the relationship versus just your qualifications and ideas, you will improve your new business batting average.

In this economy, fewer opportunities to pitch means you have to win more often. I look forward to our conversation about doing just that!

Client Service And Conversation

While conversation is a common word to describe blogging, it's every bit as important when it comes to presenting your capabilities to a prospective client. What's more, it's a prospect predictor to who you are and the kind of client service you'll provide.

Having been on the client side, let me just say there's nothing more insufferable for a prospect than sitting through a 40+ slide PowerPoint presentation about agency capabilities. I especially liked being talked AT for 40 minutes and told to hold all questions until the end, so as not to disrupt the flow of the presentation. As if there actually were a flow.

Here are ten tips for your next agency capabilities presentation:

1. It's the prospect's meeting, not yours. You're there only to impart information that's relevant to them, not to expound upon what fascinates you about your own firm.

2. Engage in an actual conversation. Toss the PowerPoint. (Or if you can't help yourself, at least minimize it). Get to know one another. Everyone thinks capabilities are about qualifications. Maybe it's actually about capabilities. Are you capable of being fun, likable, smart, funny, human, etc.? Would I want to spend two hours with you in a car? Or would I likely jump out of the moving vehicle?

3. See to it that everyone in the room is well prepared about the prospect as well as its competitors, industry trends, etc.

4. Illustrate, don't explain. Tell interesting (short) anecdotes to make your point.

5. Show rather than tell. If you want someone to think you're creative, actually BE creative in every aspect of what you do rather simply list it in Times Roman as some kind of core agency strength.

6. Structure your presentation/conversation not in terms of what you want to TELL them, but in terms of the take-aways. Think of it in the bigger picture as it relates to the two or three conclusions you want the prospect to reach about you.

7. Ask great questions. In my mind, he/she who asks the best questions will make it to the next round every time.

8. Use the time to carefully evaluate the prospect in terms of whether it's a good fit for you.

9. Be yourselves, otherwise you'll never really know.

10. If you think it will be a good fit, then go after this prospect with a smart follow-up strategy - something specific to your meeting and designed to advance the relationship.

Let me know how it goes!