We thought we could sell. Like any hot shot PR firm during the
dotcom hey-days, we thought we walked on water when it came to
winning new business. After all, we had started with nothing in
September 1996, and grown to $1.76 million within 18 months.
So, when we hired a management consultant named Dr. Richard
Harte in 1997 and asked him to help us update our new business
capabilities presentation, we had no idea what was in store. You
see, Dick was not a run-of-the-mill PR consultant who had toiled at
one of the big agencies for decades and recycled old ideas to new
firms. Dick's clients included Motorola, Estee Lauder and Mutual
Benefit Life Insurance. We hired him precisely because he didn't
know PR. What he knew was sales.
A complete overhaul
Picture this scene: our senior management team is gathered in
the conference room. Dick, sitting at the end of the table, is
pretending to be a prospective client. We launch into the same
power point that had helped bring in any number of $25,000 per
month accounts. We start walking through the "who we are," "what we
do" and "who we've done it for" routine when Dick shouts out,
"Stop!"
You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. "This is a
terrible presentation," said Harte. "It's all about you, you and
you. When do you start asking about me and my pain?" Talk about a
seminal moment. Literally overnight, Peppercom stopped focusing on
who we were and what we were doing and, instead, began asking
prospects what was keeping them up at night.
Shut up and listen
Dr. Harte taught us selling skills. He opened our minds and
showed us that the most successful new business presentations were
the ones in which the prospect did all the talking. He helped us
re-vamp our presentation to include questions that prompted
responses; responses that would enable us to uncover a prospect's
pain and, critically, sell against that pain.
Dick believes, and our 2002/'03 new business record validates,
that the best meetings are those in which the prospective client
does at least 51% of the talking. Sure, we've run into some
prospects who have no intention of hiring a public relations firm.
And, we've run into others who, no matter how much we get them to
speak, end up hiring another firm that has "...just a tad more
relevant experience." But, the fact is prospects want to talk. They
want you to listen. And, they want you to prove you have a unique
solution to their pain.
Four-step selling process
We have a 4-step selling process enabling us to uncover and sell
against a prospect's pain in 20 minutes or less. It's so successful
that we've developed a separate service offering that helps train
our client's sales forces how to uncover and sell against a
prospect's pain. Here's how it works:
#1 Uncovering the pain: We uncover the pain by asking such
questions as: "How has your business been performing year-to-date?
How does that compare with last year?" We probe a prospect's
thoughts, feelings and actions by following up with such queries
as: "What are your thoughts about the company's weak performance?"
and "How does the poor performance make you feel?"
#2 Validation: Next, we validate the pain. It may sound
simplistic, but we make sure that we repeat everything a prospect
has told us to be sure we are on the same page before moving
forward with the meeting (Note: you have no idea how many new
business meetings are lost because you haven't taken the time to
verify what you think you've just heard).
#3 Pouring salt on the wound: We now go on to exacerbate the
pain. This is the really creative and challenging part of a new
business meeting. We establish rapport by making the prospect's
pain worse, not better. So, for example, if a prospect tells us
that she is under a lot of pressure because her previous agency
didn't generate enough high-level publicity, we might say, "We
totally understand. In fact, we know one guy who's still out on the
street looking for a job because he kept on hiring the wrong
agencies."
#4 Easing the pain: The fourth and final step is to quickly ease
the pain, provide a solution and move forward to gain a commitment.
In the above-mentioned scenario, we might say, "While we may know a
few people who are out on the street, we've worked with many
clients who were in exactly the same position as you before they
hired us and who would be delighted to speak to you about us.
Assuming we can provide a tailored solution to meet your needs,
would you be willing to move forward with us?"
This approach doesn't work in every situation. But, trust us, it
will work in quite a few. The key to selling more clients is to
understand that they are human beings just like you. They have some
of the same problems (i.e. management is breathing down their
necks, they're wearing multiple hats because of downsizing and they
need fast results). In short, prospects are looking for someone who
understands their pain and can be a smart partner in easing it.
Uncover a prospect's pain and sell against it, and you'll find
yourself closing new accounts and deepening existing client
relationships.
Steven Cody is co-founder and managing partner of Peppercom, a
strategic communications firm based in New York, San Francisco and
London. Contact: [email protected]