Sales Results Media
The 800 Pound Gorilla in the Room
By Steve Fretzin
We’ve all heard the term and seen the commercial about the 800# gorilla in the room. It’s applicable to almost any situation and, since he’s very large, he is present in more business situations than we’d care to describe. The question is: how does this affect you in your quest to develop new relationships and obtain more revenue?
There are in many practices issues that have developed over time or even recently that, for whatever reason, you would prefer to ignore when you’re trying to develop business with new prospects. For example, your prospect may have had an issue with your firm at some point in the past. Your firm may have had some questionable publicity recently and you wish that it wouldn’t be discussed because it is both uncomfortable and a potential roadblock to your success.
Perhaps your billing rate is higher than your competitors. Maybe some of the team members that will be working on a specific piece of new business aren’t experienced in that area. You could be bringing new associates onto a project that the potential client has never seen before.
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes for a moment. At some point in the sales process, your client may (probably will, in fact) realize that one or more of these situations happened or will occur. Normal behavior for us says that we hope they won’t think of any of these potential issues and that they’ll not surface during our pursuit of their business. Besides, it’s uncomfortable or challenging for us to raise any of these potential concerns.
What do you do? You raise the issue before they do! And, you bring it to their attention very early in the sales process. Having the ability to “pre-empt” is a very powerful tool. First, it allows you to diffuse a potential deal-breaker. Second, it shows that you’re very aware of what’s on your prospect’s mind. Third, you can find ways to use it to your advantage.
One of the worst things we can do is to allow our prospects to “worry” about these types of concerns when we’re not there—typically about
How do you turn some of these potential disadvantages into compelling reasons to complete the agreement with your prospective client? If your prospect had a less than satisfactory experience with your firm in the past, it’s an opportunity to demonstrate how things have changed and that a negative experience provided you and/or your firm to repair and improve in those areas. A new team means freshness and a more objective perspective. New associates represent motivated team members who will work hard for their new clients. Adverse publicity may be the toughest challenge of all and can be handled in a variety of ways. Here are some examples:
“I understand you just lost your biggest client.” That is correct. We served them for many years—much more than the lifetime of many client attorney/accountant relationships. It allows us to help you by putting very experienced and dedicated employees of our firm to work for you.
“We read recently that you’re involved in a lawsuit with__________.” Yes, we are. We are adamant in terms of how we handle our relationships and, while we never want to be in a position where a court case could be involved, our principles are worth defending. We are aware that there could be publicity perceived as adverse, but it’s important for us to let our clients know what we stand for. We have been here for __ years and intend to serve our client base well into the future.
“We normally deal with a team more experienced than the one you’re proposing.” Our senior managers/partners, including me, will be working diligently along with some of our new associates. You may be aware that our associates are hand-picked and represent the best of what the top schools turn out. We believe the combination of our expertise, watchful eyes and their enthusiasm and desire to excel will serve your firm well.
Hopefully, you get the idea. Here’s the summary:
- Get anything that you think your potential client may believe is adverse out in the open.
- Do it early in the process.
- Make certain you have a rationale that makes sense.
- Proceed with your planned course to develop the business. Do not be concerned if you have to “circle back” and explain the issue again. The good news is that it probably won’t be at 2 a.m.
© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Do not reproduce this document without written permission from Steve Fretzin at Sales Results, Inc.