|
If you
want to win a new business competition, determine what
worries the prospect the most and propose a way to make that
worry go away. If your proposal is persuasive, there’s a good
chance you’ll win the business.
We worked
recently with a major architecture firm that was selected as
one of three finalists to pitch for a major design project.
The architects knew that the prospect’s biggest concern was
that neighborhood opposition might keep the project from
ever being built.
The theme
of the presentation was “We won’t only design a great
project for you. We’ll make sure that it gets built.” We
focused much of the presentation on how the firm would
appease neighborhood groups. We also included a detailed
plan as well as examples of how similar plans had worked in
getting approval for other similarly controversial projects.
Our client
won the job in part because the presentation attacked the
prospect’s biggest concern.
Let’s also
be clear what this architecture firm didn’t focus on. They
didn’t focus on the firm’s:
-
Impressive firm history.
All firms that are finalists for a big project have
impressive histories.
-
Impressive client list.
All firms that are finalists for a big project have
impressive client lists.
-
Irrelevant but high-profile
projects. All firms that are finalists for big
projects have done impressive work.
-
Irrelevant awards.
All firms that are finalists for big projects have lots of
awards.
If want to
win a big new business competition, the key is to persuade
the client that you can make their biggest worry go away.
Do that consistently, and you’ll start to win more than your
share of good projects.
At
Speechworks we help our clients learn how to communicate in
a way that connects and persuades. If you’re interested in
becoming a great communicator give us a call at 404-266-0888
or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
