That was quite a mouthful for a title wasn’t it? Well I wanted a title that said why you want to read this article.
In case you didn’t know – I am Roger Kondrat, Founder of West17Media a Social Media Consultancy based in Calgary.
In my short life, I have met lots of CEO’s, CMO’s, other consultants, other experts and so on. This is not a litany of name dropping but a testimony to my good fortune. These people have influenced my life and my business skills have developed on a very preferential curve because of them. Thank you!
Today I want to drop a little bug in your ears, about how to deal with the older wiser cat in the room – your client – and his concerns.
*I will use the terms him, his and he throughout. Please consider their usage as gender neutral.
So you sit down with your prospect and start talking. Sometimes you hit your stride and they get what you mean right away. Other times you are at a loss for how to explain yourself to their satisfaction. Here are some tips on how you can handle this situation like this:
- First the intro. They may ask about your business right away so you always explain it, if this is the case. If not, take the time right from the start to show an interest in their business by asking them about theirs. Don’t respond too quickly at pauses; these are moments of reflection and a chance for them to think of what they missed or you to think of another important and relevant question to ask.
- No matter what, take the time to understand their business. They will feel on a gut level that you are a good organisation to deal with, even if they haven’t yet figured out why, if you can internalise what they are doing, where they are going and the key impacts on their bottom-line.
- Always always remember the bottom-line. They won’t forget it, so you better not. Your bottom-line is to them, no matter what you say, is all details and/or bull$hit unless it ties into a credible theory of making $$s. Coke makes lots of money, everyone knows them, knows their product and so their ad spend is about branding 90% of the time. The business you are talking to is not Coke and is thinking how you can grow their $$s directly.
- The business you are talking to, odds are doesn’t even have a proper marketing plan, which if you are in social media like us always puts that much more pressure on you. Don’t panic, this is going to happen 90% of the time. Stay calm and talk about their infrastructure and focus on the items you can work with.
- What we do is try to make the client aware of gaps we see in a courteous manner during our exploratory phase and then we add on some friendly recommendations to the bottom of our proposal. This is a great way to build trust and confidence. If they have a marketing bone in their body, they will think these guys are talking way over our head but these are really great recommendations we can do on our own.
- Next big thing is stop lying. No, I know you are not ‘intending’ to lie but when you tell something to your customer like ROI when you mean impact, you make everyone including yourself look bad. ROI is simple it is $$s in, $$s out. These guys are business men. It doesn’t matter how much you smile, talk over their head and dazzle them. Their view of ROI will be the same. Look smart, stand out and talk about terms the way business men talk about them. (FYI this is a huge topic in social media right now so I just had to drop it in.)
Now last two big items, integrate whatever you are doing for your client into their existing practises and read what they read.
- When you integrate, you are showing your value. You are making yourself a consultant and not a salesman when you do that. If you are a peer of ours or another agency or even a solution provider, integration is what will distinguish you from the grinders and grunts in your industry that are just moving product.
- Read the books they read. People ask me all the time if I read Seth Godin and I always say “Yes I do.” They then ask an uncomfortable question like ‘do you like Seth Godin’s books?’ I know they like them, I can see it in their eyes but I always have to be diplomatic in my response because at the end of the day I haven’t learned a single thing from the guy. He is a great guy (apparently), a gifted writer and orator but his books are clearly for non-marketers because the detail is low and the rubbish is high.
- Having said that, it’s important for me to read his books because my prospects, leads and clients do. Read the books your clients do. It will tell you what they are worried about because you read to get a leg up after all right? It will also tell you what your clients will ‘think’ they know about your work. Knowing where fact meets fiction is helpful in shaping a compelling argument that helps your client.
And with that I shall leave you with one final piece of advice: no matter how great you are, no matter how smart, it’s your client that matters the most. Don’t forget that or the reminder will come with a sharp pain where your wallet once was. Besides, happy clients do speak kindly about their suppliers that it’s almost embarrassing so keep them happy and your ego will never need to be stroked again. 
Cheers!
PS. No I am not misspelling my words I just prefer writing in a British/Canadian style and no I won’t change