| | By Malcolm Sleath
Question:
Recently, an SME
approached us because
they were having
problems with a slow
running customer
database. Their business
has dramatically
outgrown the original
solution and the system
needs a major rethink.
The client accepts the
need for change and
knows their business may
be threatened if they do
not resolve the issue,
but they are reluctant
to pay for the initial
study to scope the
project. They want us to
carry this out at our
risk and prove that a
solution will work
before parting with any
cash. We’ve thought
about offering a
results-based deal, but
we are concerned about
their apparent lack of
commitment.
Answer:
Results-based deals can
help reduce the risk
perceived by the client
and may turn out to be
more profitable for the
consultant, but I agree
with you that they
should not be used to
compensate for a lack of
client commitment.
Situations like this
arise because
consultants find
themselves selling
solutions when they
don’t have enough
information to convince.
Digging out the
information usually
requires the
co-operation of the
client in activities
which need funding. This
results in a kind of
standoff where the
consultant says, “I need
resources from you to
demonstrate the
effectiveness of our
solution”, and the
client says, “I need a
demonstration of the
effectiveness of your
solution before I part
with any resources”.
Of course, you can
offer to shoulder the
cost of the survey, and
many consultants do, but
a study that the client
has paid for will carry
much more weight than
one which you have
offered for nothing. The
client will only part
with the resources when
they are motivated to
explore whether or not a | |
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| | solution works.
Before you consider
how to motivate them,
assess where your client
is in the buying
process. In short, this
is about how your client
currently sees their
situation, how they see
the problems associated
with it and how they see
the solution you are
proposing.
Looking at each of
these in turn, it is
clear they know a
solution exists because
you have told them. You
may well have said much
more than that, but it
is unlikely that they
have taken it in. A
common mistake, which
leads to exactly the
symptoms you describe,
is for the consultant to
focus on talking up the
solution. Giving them
more information about
it is not the answer.
Turning to the
problem, there is no
doubt that the client
understands how serious
it is, because they have
linked the slow speed of
the customer database to
the potential demise of
the business. But we all
know people who realise
they have a serious
problem and do little to
resolve it.
Finally, look at how
the client sees their
situation. You might
assume that because they
recognise the gravity of
the problem, they desire
to change their
situation. This is true,
but only up to a point.
They might have said
they want to get away
from where they are, but
they don’t necessarily
have a positive idea of
where they want to go.
Given that this is
where they are in the
buying process, your
next step is to create
an impression in the
mind of your client that
situations like theirs
can change. This is why
reference sites and
simulations are
important. Simulations
can be kept relatively
cheap if they are
designed simply to
illustrate the
possibility of change.
But introducing
reference sites and
running simulations is | |
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| | not enough. Ask the
client if they would
like to achieve the
alternative future you
have set out. Even if
they express
reservations, it means
they are beginning to
build a vision in their
own minds. In the
process they are helping
you to understand their
priorities.
Once they have made
their desire for change
explicit, ask them how
they would benefit if
this alternative future
could be realised, given
that their concerns
would be addressed. This
will reveal the real
benefits of the new
system to you and, more
importantly, the client.
To make the vision more
real, ask them to
describe what will be
going on in their
organisation when this
future state of affairs
is realised. What will
customers and employees
be saying, thinking and
feeling?
This brings us to the
resolution of your
problem. Having this
‘vision of success’ will
make your client want to
find out whether or not
your solution will be
effective. For example,
they might describe how
a more responsive system
will enable them to
deliver outstanding
customer service and
thereby improve their
competitive position.
Compared to the
prospect of realising
this vision, providing
the resources required
to undertake the
preliminary study will
seem like the modest
investment you know it
to be. You are offering
certainty about whether
investment in a new
system will pay off.
This opens the way
for you to work with
your client to agree
criteria for success. If
your hunch is right, the
study will prove that
the future can be
different and establish
what needs to be done to
achieve it. But before
asking them to fund the
study, find ways to help
them imagine for
themselves the
difference your solution
will make. | |
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