| | By Malcolm Sleath
...continued from
page 12
Let’s look at where
you want to end up. As I
understand it, a
successful outcome would
be where you have had
conversations with
senior decision makers
that effectively
reposition your project
in their minds, so that
it is renewed as a
compelling proposition.
As you know, the Equiteq
guide is full of
suggestions about how
you can reformulate your
offer.
But don’t expect to
parachute in with some
brilliant argument or
solution that will save
the day. Unless you are
particularly intuitive,
you simply won’t know
the right things to say.
Despite what I said
earlier about the
potential limitations of
relying on your resident
consultant and the
project’s sponsor, I
suggest you listen to
them first. One thing | |
|
| | that consultants are
often good at is
inferring a general
situation from specific
symptoms. So, after you
have got through the
‘how’s it going?’ stage
of your enquiry, focus
on ‘what else is
happening around here’
and combine this with
your background
knowledge to guesstimate
the general situation in
the firm.
You may or may not
choose to share this
with the project’s
sponsor, but I would
certainly share it with
the resident consultant,
and then ask them to
search for evidence that
will confirm or modify
your hunch about what is
going on. You will
shortly need to test
your hypothesis on the
client, but first you
need to think through
the strengths and
weaknesses of your
current project in
relation to the problems
your client will be
prioritising. How can
you now repackage your
offer? What would it | |
|
| | look like? How credible
would it be as a way of
addressing the current
issues? An ice pack and
the Equiteq guide might
help here.
Now for your
approach. This is almost
like talking to a new
prospect after picking
up a referral, except
that in this case your
reference is the fact
that you are already
working for them. But
that’s it; it’s just to
let them know who you
are. If you imply that
you want to talk about
the ongoing work, it
will drag them back to
the terms of reference
that were in existence
when it started. They
may feel they are no
longer relevant, and you
have lost your
opportunity for
repositioning the offer.
Instead, I suggest
you pitch it like this:
“Recently we have been
talking to one or two
people who have been
experiencing…” (Now set
out what you think is
going on in the company, | |
|
| | but generalise it to
present it as a common
problem.)
Then you can go on to
say, “We’ve come up
with a few ideas on the
subject, and I wondered
if this was something
you would be interested
in discussing.” Make it
clear that you would get
as much, if not more,
from the discussion as
they would. People often
resist because they are
concerned about building
up a sense of
obligation. Build the
reciprocity in from the
start and they will be
much more comfortable.
On more than one
occasion I have found
myself in conversation
with a client, feeding
back to them what I
understand about their
situation, but
presenting it as a
general finding. By
‘normalising’ their
situation, I make it
much easier for them to
talk about it.
Of course, in
reality, it is a common | |
| |
Previous Page 
