How to improve your chances of winning new business? http://www.chrispattas.com/business/a-better-way-to-win-new-business

1. Winning New Business
Helping business owners & leaders achieve
their vision & objectives...
By Chris Pattas
www.chrispattas.com

2. 2
The Client Stages
0. Unware 1.Aware
3. Relationship
4. Business Understanding
5. Opportunity Identified
6.Winning Proposal
7. 1st Order
8. Reorder
9. Exit
2. Nurture

3. • 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
3

4. • 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
4

5. • 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
5

6. • 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?
6

7. • 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
7

8. • 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
8

9. • 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 withYes 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
9

10. • 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
10

11. • 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
11

12. • 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
12

13. • 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
13

14. • 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
14

15. • 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
15

16. Helping business owners & leaders
achieve their vision & objectives...
www.chrispattas.com