I missed a sales opportunity a few weeks ago. Why? Because I didn’t ask the right question.
The prospective client explained that another firm’s proposal included details about reporting and how the marketing metrics align with the potential client’s KPIs.
Hearing that reason was both disappointing and enlightening. Disappointing because we provide extremely detailed reporting, and reports are customized for each client to best support their marketing, sales and business objectives. Furthermore, we don’t simply send reports to clients – we hold regular recurring meetings to review the data, and translate the numbers into knowledge for effective decision-making.
The enlightenment came when I reviewed my notes and realized there was nothing in three separate conversations that indicated reporting was a deciding factor in evaluating proposals. That’s a mistake I made. If it’s not in the notes, it’s because I didn’t ask the right questions to uncover the importance of reporting as the prospect was evaluating proposals.
I routinely ask about decision criteria, but in this case, I didn’t ask enough follow-up questions. The “what else?” questions. Note, that’s different from “is there anything else?”, which is a close-ended question.
Open-ended questions give the other party more opportunity to share what’s on their mind, while creating the presumption that there is something else to discuss. I could have asked, “What else is important to you in finding the right agency partner?” Or, “What else will be important to discuss when we have our monthly marketing meetings?”
Those questions would have probably uncovered the importance of reporting, and from there I could have included an example report, and a sample meeting agenda. That may not have directly addressed the prospect’s concerns, but if not it would have led to more conversation about reporting and a more competitive proposal.
“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” – James Joyce
