“And I am sure that once we talk to Graham about this, he will be keen to…”
I had just received the first draft of a proposal,
and was scanning it while listening to a colleague. I thought the underlying idea
was good but something about the proposal wasn't right.
Let me back up a bit. I had been approached to join a small group in submitting a proposal to
'Graham', a senior manager with a target client, and with whom we were all at
least familiar or had had previous consulting work
The initial draft of the proposal covered the usual
topics,
- aim and summary statement of why it would be of benefit,
- our respective experience and qualifications, and
- stepped carefully through each stage of how the consultancy would be delivered …
so the client
would know exactly what he was buying. That's good, right?
"Wrong" said Alex.
Everyone stopped to listen. Alex has the marketing nous. His reaction to the draft proposal? A good
idea but the
proposal needed substantial revision ….
"No", he said, "not just revision, refocus."
The first thing he reminded us that people usually
do not buy process.
In almost all cases, process doesn't sell,
benefits do.
In Alex's view, the draft proposal failed to answer the
universal question,
"What's in it for me?" (WIIFM)
or from Graham’s perspective,
"What's in it for him?"
Rough draft # 1 certainly outlined some benefits for
Graham but they were lost against a volume of
material focused on stepping out the proposed process and the experience we had
to complete each step.
Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing (www.actionplan.com) who works to assist professionals with their marketing, talks of each person listening to their own 24 hour, 7 day a week, personal radio station ‘WIIFM’.
Clearly, the (admittedly very rough) draft proposal
#1 was not properly tuned to Radio Graham
WIIFM. There was too much static around the benefits
for Graham.
Draft # 2
Ah, the contrast! Draft # 2 featured a complete re-focus. It was written for Graham and his company.
- Introduction outlining difficulties we knew they were encountering with some of their clients,
- Clear statements of the commercial benefits from assisting to resolve some of these difficulties. As many benefits we could think of in working with us to achieve that outcome: money saved, time saved, angst relieved, resources freed etc. including how good it would feel personally for Graham and his colleagues in doing so ...
Only then did we talk about ‘why us?’ Our relevant experience to give confidence
in achieving the benefits - yep, another
benefit statement.
And finally, right at the back, a bit about process –
half what originally had been in draft #1.
Alex was happy. Further editing and off to Graham …
Reaction?
Graham liked the idea and the proposal itself. Saw it as workable and worth
pursuing.
But only after he returns from
overseas …
OK – so the proposal stalled for a reason we could
not control. What was important
was Graham’s reaction had been positive. The proposal had done its initial work. The benefits were clear to him. Unforeseen circumstances, his going overseas, put us on hold
but in Graham's active pending basket…
The universal question
So let me go back to the universal question - WIIFM?
For managers, the universal question needs to be carved into a block of wood and nailed front and centre to their desk as it underpins everything in leadership and management.
The best
managers have learnt that the greater the benefit to their team from having them
as the manager,
- the greater the likely motivation in the team,
- the greater the likely performance from the team,
- the more likely they will be able to retain (good) staff.
Each
and every time you interact with one of your subordinates or colleagues, it
might pay to pause and consider,
"What’s in it for them?"
- "What options do I have in the
way I get them to complete this task or respond to the question?"
- "What is my subordinate/colleague
learning from me right now?”
- “Do they understand the context fully?
- What presumptions am I making
that they may not share?"
With
the universal question in mind, all our subsequent questions are reshaped.
Cheers
Nic
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