Table of Contents

About the author.
Foreword.
Introduction.
Stage 1: Selecting the clients you want to work for

1.1 Your client portfolio.

• Examine current portfolio.
• Saying goodbye to clients.
• Number of clients.
• Sector exposure.
• Who are your competitors and who do they work for?
   

1.2 A strategy.

• Prioritise your effort.
• Selecting your targets.
• The need to comply with the Data Protection Act.
• Sector penetration.
   

1.3 Effort versus reward.

• Public sector.
• Private sector.

1.4 Lifetime value of clients.

1.5 Picking your moment.

1.6 Creating a pipeline.

• Using an enquiry pipeline.
• Using a leads pipeline.
• Managing effort for pipeline development.

Stage 2: Identifying the needs of the target client.

2.1 Why do you need to know the client’s needs?

• Good client service.

2.2 Appropriate person to contact.

• No names policy.
• The first communication with the target contact.
• The first written communication.
• That first phone call.

2.3 The first Meeting.

• Preparation.
• Arriving.
• First impressions.
• Improving your chances of a good meeting.
  
  2.4 Look for visual and auditory clues.
• Building rapport.
• Use of language.
• Is your potential client telling the truth?
  
  2.5 Establishing the client’s needs.
• Specific needs.
• Leading into the questioning.
• Use your questions to demonstrate your capability.
• Have questions prepared.
• Harvesting information through questioning techniques.
  
  2.6 Listening skills.
• Poor response.
  
  2.7 Establish the stakeholders and decision makers.
  
  2.8 Expanding the range of contacts.
  
  2.9 Establish selection criteria.
  
  2.10 The next step.

Stage 3: Shaping your service to suit the needs of the target clients.

3.1 Review your clients’ needs.

3.2 Putting a mirror up to your client.

• Don’t rush this stage.
• An analysis of the situation.
• Has the client missed something?
  
   

3.3 Enhancing customer value.

• Customer groupings.
  
   

3.4 Features and benefits.

3.5 Building trust.

• Capability.
• Credibility.
• Reliability.
• Compatibility.
• Rational and non-rational selection criteria.

3.6 Differentiating.

• Differentiate through customer service.
• Show you care.
  
  3.7 Consider your strategy.
• Understanding why clients might not want your services.

Stage 4: Communicating your availability and capability to the target clients.

4.1 Communicating to target clients.

4.2 Target clients in buying mode.

• Identify decision makers and influencers.
• Meeting the decision makers.
• Meeting the influencers.
• When access is denied.
  
  4.3 Target clients not in buying mode.
  
  4.4 Raising your profile.
• Networking.
• Where to network.
• Prepare for the event.
• Working the room.
• Introductions.
• The follow-up to a networking event.
• Make yourself a useful contact.
• Creating networking opportunities.
• Develop your network.
  
  4.5 Entertaining.
  
  4.6 Seminars.
• Attend seminars at conferences.
• Deliver a seminar at a conference.
• Attending other people’s seminars.
• Running your own seminar.
  
   

4.7 Writing articles.

4.8 Public speaking.

4.9 Memberships of organisations.

4.10 Advertising.

4.11 Exhibitions.

Stage 5: Proposals, tenders and pitching.

5.1 Proposals.

• Create opportunities to build relationships during the proposal stage.
• Keep the perspective client involved.
• The proposal content.
• Approach to fees.
  
   

5.2 Selling yourself and your proposal.

5.3 Pitching for work.

• Purpose of the pitch.
• Plan of action.
• The brief.
• Timetable leading up to the pitch.
• The participants.
• The audience.
• The content of the pitch.
• Format of delivery and use of technology.
• The ‘ring master’.
• Questions you don’t want to be asked.
• Handling objections.
• The venue.
• Rehearsals.
• Using persuasive language.
• Feedback.
  
   

5.4 The selection process direct with the client.

• Negotiation.
• Pitching for the project or through formal interview.
• Qualification-based selection.
• Selection based on quality and price.
• Selection based on fee (without design).
• Selection based on a design proposal (with or without fee bid).
  
   

5.5 Selection process through and with a contractor.

• Two-stage tendering.
  
   

5.6 The trend for competitive proposals.

5.7 Expressions of interest.

5.8 Pre-qualifications.

5.9 Tendering.

• Understanding how clients evaluate proposals and tenders.
  
   

5.10 Using CVs.

• CV maintenance.
• Editing.

5.11 Monitoring progress of the tender or proposal.

5.12 Post-tender interview.

5.13 Negotiation.

• Establish your position.
• Negotiating approach.
• Bargaining skills.
• Summarise the situation during negotiation.
• Don’t get stuck over positions.
• Move to closing the deal.
• Negotiating traps.
• If you fail to win start positioning for the next opportunity.

Stage 6: Delivering added value and obtaining repeat business.

6.1 Obtaining repeat business.

6.2 Strategies for repeat business.

6.3 Preparing a project client plan.

6.4 Total continuous office participation in selling.

• Quality of employees and working methods.

6.5 Managing the service ‘touches’.

6.6 Client account management.

• Managing the process.
• Being selective with time expenditure.
  
   

6.7 Client account teams.

• Creating new relationships.
• Cross selling.
• Cross-team activity.
  
   

6.8 Establishing level of client satisfaction.

• Ask the right questions.
• Ask the right people.
• Survey methods.
• Need to introduce the survey.
• Questionnaire design.
• Introducing weighting factors.
• Satisfaction levels are relative.
• The value of client satisfaction measurement.
  
   

6.9 Third-party survey.

6.10 Direct questionnaire.

6.11 Client review meeting.

• After obtaining feedback.
  
   

6.12 Lessons-learnt workshop.

6.13 A client expectation charter.

• Service delivery review meetings.
  
   

6.14 Building multi-level contacts.

• Introduce someone else at every opportunity.
• Show them around your office.
• Ask to be introduced to your client’s colleagues.
• Hold pre- and post-project social gatherings.
• Hold value engineering workshops.
• Market the project with the client.
• Becoming more integrated.
• Winning additional work from clients.
• Succession planning.
  
   

6.15 Client loyalty.

• Increase client loyalty.
• Setting goals and objectives.
  
   

6.16 Obtaining referrals from clients.

Stage 7: Building credibility.

7.1 Credibility through sector knowledge.

• Information for sector-specific selling.

7.2 Response to requests for information.

7.3 CVs.

7.4 Keep records of your experience.

7.5 Project sheets and case studies.

• Use your project sheets as door openers.

7.6 Using e-mails.

7.7 Your website.

7.8 Intranet and extranet.

7.9 Press releases.

7.10 Newsletters.

7.11 Research.

Further reading.

Index.