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Conversations with CEO’s – Why Business Savvy Counts |
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Written by Joan Paul
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“But I know my profession inside out,” says my next door neighbour. “I don’t understand why this particular contract eluded us.”
Most of us can checkmark the long list of reasons why clients do business with us. Besides establishing rapport and long-term relationships, providing excellent quality of service and technical accuracy, to point out just a few, there often is one important criteria that hasn’t been given enough consideration. This is often most true when dealing with senior executives. Decision makers gravitate to professional experts they trust to understand their business and the particular industry issues they must navigate for success. They appreciate that you are an expert tax advisor for example, and wouldn’t see you if you weren’t. However, they are most interested in how your expertise can help them achieve success in their own environments, inside and outside of what you do as a professional. What do you actually know about business and particularly theirs? How conversant are you? Can they introduce you to their investors? Their Chairman of the Board?
Now you ask, “How can I keep up with all the nuances related to a multitude of industry issues when I can barely keep up with all the ongoing changes related to my own profession and staying at the top of my game?”
Here are a few suggestions:
I. Identify the industries your top 20 clients and top 10 prospective clients come from?
II. Start with prioritizing a few industries to learn more about based on who you do profitable business with now.
III. Keep files of newspaper and magazine articles, industry journals and anything else you can find that’s pertinent for easy reference as required. Read them, think about them, and make connections to your services.
IV. Ask clients about their industry issues. What level of knowledge would distinguish you from a competitive service provider and why is that important to them?
V. Finally, as you learn about the top issues currently affecting your clients, explore how those issues can become opportunities rather than threats, and identify how your expertise can contribute. Quantify how your services can minimize risks and make a difference in the achievement of the client’s objectives.
VI. File your stories, either your own or those that you hear about. For example, if you have a client who was able to retain one staff member that saved them $200,000 in recruitment and training costs, not to mention preventing loss of knowledge and clients, as a result of your consulting or coaching services, then be sure you find a way to save that story. Get a testimonial or at least be able to talk about the bottom line results that your client achieved as a result of working with you, Business Savvy Professional Extraordinaire!
VII. Have fun – part of lifelong learning is getting outside of our own boxes and jumping into other’s now and then to truly empathize and problem solve alongside clients.
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Joan Paul |
| About the author: |
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Joan Paul is a Certified
Executive Coach and Sales Strategist. Her company, J. Paul Training Inc.,
provides customized training, strategy development and is the distributor of No
More Cold Calling, TM, The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition
in the Dust, and The Sales Activator®, an international sales management
system. Joan can be reached at (403) 607-1979 or through her website http://www.jpaultraining.com
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