By Michael W. McLaughlin
An unfortunate reality of our business is that we don’t win all of the projects we propose on. It may not be fun to dissect your sales process to learn why you lost a project, but it’s a great way to sort out—and put to good use—the signals you’re receiving from the market.
A client once told me that one consultant’s reaction to losing a project was to warn the client that he (the client) was making a big mistake and would regret it. This approach is not likely to earn much respect from clients. Instead, the goal should be to convert today’s bad news into future wins.
You Can’t Win ‘Em All
“We liked your proposal, but…”
When a client call starts like that, you’d probably rather endure a two-hour wait at airport security than listen to the bad news coming. Once you hear, “we’re going with another consultant,” it’s natural to try and swing the apparent loss to the win column.
Through questions and clarifying comments, consultants have been known to persuade clients to reconsider a decision. If nothing else, most consultants try to keep the door open for future opportunities by asking if it’s ok to stay in touch. It’s rare for a client to say “no” to that request, which is a small victory.
If the decision to use another consultant is final, though, there’s still a wealth of market intelligence buried in that decision that’s too valuable to leave unearthed. To vastly improve your odds of winning in the future, figure out the meaning of the signal the client is sending you.
Why Guess?
Your first reaction will probably be to assume you know why a project went to someone else. Maybe you lost because the client hired the CEO’s nephew, not because your proposal was considered inferior. The only way to find out what you need to know is to ask the client the right questions.
When the client calls with bad news, listen for the reasons why the client chose another consultant. But also ask if you can schedule a short follow-up meeting to improve your approach in the future. Most clients recognize—and appreciate—the effort and energy you put into your proposal and are willing to cooperate.
Give yourself some time to absorb the news, and then draft a handful of questions that will identify ideas for improvement.
For some projects, clients may have largely decided on their consultant selection before the sales process gets underway. The favored consultant must only put forth a good effort to land the project. What can you do when the game is rigged? Move on.
What’s the Client’s Perception?
If a competing consultant doesn’t have such an advantage, a project loss is usually the result of a gap that clients perceive between what they think they need and the consultant’s ability to meet that need. Your aim should be to understand the root cause of that gap and close it next time.
During the sales process, the client’s perception of your value, or your ability to meet the client’s need, is driven by two essential factors: an accurate understanding of the situation the client is facing, and your proposed project approach. Assuming you didn’t lose the project due to failed chemistry with one or more client decision makers (a common occurrence, by the way), you can trace many losses to one or both of these two factors.
Your ability to deliver value, in a manner the client wants, depends on your grasp of the client’s objectives. Even slightly misinterpreting something in the client environment can leave you with a flawed—and losing—approach. Granted, most consultants do confirm their understanding of a project before devising an approach. But it’s easy to get tripped up on scope, timing, or assumptions.
What Did You Miss?
For that reason, begin a client debriefing with a discussion of your assumptions about the project. Test every facet of what you know, including project objectives, scope, and executive sponsorship. You may discover weaknesses in your fact gathering that you can strengthen for future opportunities. Or, you may learn that you correctly diagnosed the problem, but some element in your proposed project approach was off.
Move on to a review of that approach, which includes your team, work plan, project organization, schedule, and tools. If you learn of gaps in your understanding of the project, the implications will quickly reveal themselves in your approach. It’s easy, for example, to overestimate the time to complete a project if the definition of the scope isn’t quite right.
It’s not unusual for a consultant to comprehend a project’s objectives but miss the mark in the approach. Perhaps a team member wasn’t a good fit, or the project organization wasn’t acceptable to the client. It’s equally possible that your expectations about the client’s desired level of involvement led to an unrealistic schedule. By engaging the client in a discussion about what you might have missed, you may invent a new project approach.
What about Price?
For some clients, choosing a consultant is all about price. In some industries, the low-cost provider is often the winner, even if a better alternative is available. For other clients who select consultants based on price, it may be because there’s no other discernible difference between the competitors. That’s a misconception you can correct.
If a client explains the loss by saying “the fee was too high for our budget,” it may not really be a budgetary problem. Instead, the client may believe that the presumed need-to-fee ratio isn’t compelling enough to explore options for boosting the budget.
Price is an important consideration in every consultant selection process. But a high-priced competitor can win if the client’s perception of value justifies the fee. Always remember that the client’s perception of your value will be based on both your demonstrated understanding of the project and your intended approach.
Will You Get Straight Answers?
Maybe.
You and the client may both be uncomfortable sitting through a discussion of why the client chose one consultant over another. Some clients will sidestep the issues and get the meeting over with as soon as possible; others will go into more depth. In either case, you’re only looking for one or two areas to work on. So it’s worth the investment of time, even if some clients are reluctant to talk.
When a client says “no,” you’ll probably experience an immediate letdown. After all, most consultants pursue projects they believe are winnable. When you expend the time and effort to propose on a project, the last thing you want is for a competitor to win the work.
But you can turn that around for the future by eliminating guesswork and getting the story straight from the client, not your imagination. What you imagine is probably much worse than the truth.
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