| | By Malcolm Sleath
Question: At a
recent networking event,
I met someone with whom I
had dealings a few years
ago. Back then, he seemed
very keen to pursue a
business relationship and
then surprised me by
switching to a different
option at the last
minute.
Now, when we meet he
seems to spend all the
time asking about my
work, in which he takes
an intelligent interest.
The reason he gives is
that he will be in a
better position to
recommend me to other
people but I also know he
is starting a new
venture.
This is taking him
into territory which is
unfamiliar to him, but
where we both know I have
particular skill and
experience that he could
find useful. Despite the
fact that the new venture
is not secret and needs
all the exposure it can
get, when we get together
one-to-one he seems very
reluctant to talk about
it and always deflects
attention back to me.
We have a lunch
meeting coming up and I
want to get to the bottom
of why he is so reluctant
to move the conversation
on to areas of mutual
interest. How can I do
this without sounding
impatient and
confronting?
Answer: There are
a number of possibilities
here. One is that he
feels a little guilty
about the way your
previous encounter turned
out, and is looking for
ways to help you to make
up for it by being
genuinely helpful in
putting you in touch with
new business.
But you seem to sense
that his interest amounts
to more than that, and
that he has a genuine
need that he is reluctant
to make explicit. Before
your next conversation,
try this test which will
help you to firm up your
hunch that your skill and
experience are needed.
1. Your belief
suggests there is a gap
between what would be
going on in the new
venture without your help
and what could happen
with it. Ask yourself,
“What is likely to be
going on now?” and, “What
should be happening
instead?” For example,
what is going on now
could be that a client is
continuing to use the
marketing approaches they
have always used. What
should be going on is
that they modify their
approach in the light of
understanding who their
most profitable customers
are and where they come
from.
| |
|
| |
2. Next, you need to
distance yourself from
your skill and experience
and think in terms of a
client requirement to
resolve the gap you have
identified. Express your
skill and experience as,
“A way of doing
something, so that
something happens.” Be
specific about the
‘something’. For
example, a client might
need, ‘a way of profiling
their most valuable
customers’ so that
‘marketing effort can be
focused on attracting
more of them’.
3. Now you need to
undertake a quick and
dirty risk assessment on
their behalf. Think about
the worst case scenario
if the client does not
address the requirement
by implementing your
solution or something
very like it. This will
‘qualify’ the requirement
against the likely cost
of your input. The
outcome might be, ‘the
client could fail to
secure the most
profitable sector of the
market, and allow someone
else to do capture it’.
Answering these three
questions will enable you
to clarify the hunch that
your skills and
experience are needed. If
you find the case is
obvious, and from the
sound of it you will,
this gives rise to the
fourth question:
4. If the need is this
obvious to me, why is the
client not actively
addressing it, or at
least expressing the
desire to change their
situation in some way?
Try to think in terms
of a dilemma the client
is facing. In other
words, assume that at
some level the client
wants to resolve the
issue, but at another,
there is something
inhibiting them from
doing so.
Let me give a recent
example. Forgive me if
what follows sounds like
algebra, but I don’t want
to give the slightest
clue as to the actual
client circumstances I
was dealing with.
A potential client
appeared to be embarking
on a challenging venture
that we will call
‘Course B’. He was very
familiar with the
technical aspects of the
project, but there were
certain commercial and
other features that were
quite daunting. It seemed
reasonable to suppose
that he would need help
with these, and we began
to talk to him with a
view to supporting him as
he pursued Course B.
But then he started to
procrastinate. He showed | |
|
| | a great deal of interest
in our expertise, but
never got to the point
where we had a
conversation about how it
expertise could be
applied to Course B.
Like you, we were
beginning to feel a
little frustrated.
But, instead of
pushing at the issue, we
used the conversation to
explore a little history
– ‘How did this
opportunity come about?’
and so forth. The answer
was interesting. In the
course of the story, the
client revealed that he
had previously been
pursuing another
opportunity. Let’s call
it ‘Course A’.
Of the two, Course A
was by far the most
attractive. But the
project had been aborted,
and left the client
feeling let down and very
disappointed. In fact, he
was living in hope that a
similar opportunity to
Course A would present
itself.
The dilemma turned out
to be that in actively
pursuing Course B, the
client was convinced that
he would be sabotaging
any future chance of
another Course A.
Fortunately, we were able
to find a way of allowing
the client to have his
cake and eat it. We
devised a way of going
about Course B that
would not get in the way
of another Course A
emerging, and might even
encourage it to happen.
The fear of losing
another Course A was a
restraining force on
the client asking for
change. Once we were able
to modify the
requirement, the dilemma
was resolved.
Whenever clients
appear to be evasive, in
the first instance it’s
always best to assume
that, from their point of
view, there must be a
good reason for it.
A gentle approach,
focusing on events in the
past, often reveals
experiences that have
lead the client to
experience a dilemma in
the present. Sometimes
this can be resolved at
an early stage by
modifying the requirement
(Question 2, above) to
take them into account.
Regarding ‘irrational
doubts and fears’ as
irrelevant is dangerous.
In the case of Course
B, if the client had
gone ahead despite his
concerns, we would have
been leaving ourselves
open to all kinds of
frustration later in the
project when he failed to
follow through on
necessary action. | |
| |
Previous Page 
