Consultants: Masters of Process... Except in Sales

Peter Laughter & Tom Batchelder

"We don't have a standardized sales process - everyone just does their own thing."

Every time we hear this reflection from senior leaders at top-tier firms, we have a mixed reaction. We’re not surprised because consultants are traditionally not trained to sell, despite the fact being good at sales is how you make partner. Yet we’re struck by the fact that consultants, more than anyone else, excel at standardizing processes—so why do so many fail to apply the same level of rigor and expertise to their sales processes? Consultants spend so much of their time delivering the work that they are paid for that they neglect to take even thirty minutes during their week to strategically develop business.

The benefits of standardizing sales are quite simply the benefits of standardizing any process: It forces consultants to be more intentional and consistent, instead of haphazardly “selling whenever you get a chance” or passively reacting to the clients’ process and timelines. Having a consistent, thoughtful framework and approach to selling enables you and your team to measure what’s working and what’s not in order to continuously improve.

 Perhaps the most obvious benefit of standardizing a process is that it lowers the barriers to entry. Many people falsely view sales as a talent that “comes naturally” to certain types of people (read: extroverts). The truth is that sales is a discipline, one that can be broken down and effectively taught to many types of people.

Alright, so what are the principles behind building an effective sales process?

Ideal client focus

 Think of all the clients you’ve worked with in the past. Whom would you love to work with again? Begin to construct an “ideal client” profile: What are their needs, what are their challenges, where are they located, what kind of people they are, what’s their average budget, etc. Get deep into the nuances and details.

 Identifying an ideal client focus is not a wishful exercise—it is a way to anchor conversations and discipline business development efforts. Having a client-target helps your team more effectively articulate your value proposition and qualify client opportunities, as well as empowers people to hold each other accountable in their business development efforts (e.g. “is this the type of client we should be pursuing?”). It provides a specific benchmark to measure results and progress that is unique to your team.

 Consistency of effort

Any effective sales program must have regular rhythms of action—daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly. That might look like sending emails to prospective clients, following up with past clients, hosting a webinar, creating lists or profiles, etc.

 This might sound like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming—the point of creating a structure is to make something manageable.

 Here are two simple examples.

 First, schedule a monthly team meeting to conduct a strategic account review.

 Ask your team:

• Where are the opportunities in our ecosystem?

• Who do we know? (Let’s share contacts.)

• Who else do we need to know?

• Where should we spend a little more energy as a group in targeting business development?

• What tactics are working and what are not?

It’s critical that the conversation is frank and honest so that it does not turn into a platform for people to brag about their “huge biz dev pipeline” (stay tuned for our upcoming article on how to conduct effective, no-BS pipeline meetings).

 Second, convene a business development “accountability group.” Don’t worry, we’re not talking about sitting in a circle every Wednesday night to share your secrets. We’re talking about gathering a group of people who commit to the following: Sending an email every Monday morning with at least one, but no more than three, things they plan to do this week to further business development, and then sending another email by Friday afternoon to report what you did or did not do. That’s it. This simple mechanism has produced exponential results for many of our clients.

 Process Control

 Consultants often default to the processes of their clients instead of taking control of the reins. When clients ask, “How much will this cost?” it’s easy to default to giving them a number, as opposed to asking more questions to get the context you need to provide an answer.

 Clients exert enormous control over the timing of business development, leaving consultants in a “hurry up and wait” rut. You rush to send in a proposal, then sit back and wait for half a year to find out that the client has already made a decision a few months ago and just neglected to tell you. Clients are incentivized to withhold information from consultants, creating lots of inefficiencies in the process. Although it’s tempting to default to whatever clients want since they are the ones who will be paying you, consultants need to take back some control and engage from a position of equality as opposed to subservience.

 What this concretely means: Don’t just send in a proposal and hope for the best. Decide among yourselves your process for RFPs. Do you schedule a call to review the proposal and then send it to them, or do you send it to them and then set up a call to walk through it afterwards? What is your follow-up process? What deadline are you giving to a prospective client to make a decision? When is it time to walk away?

The inability to control the timing of new business has a monumentally larger impact on consulting organizations than, say, software companies—it significantly disrupts workflow and forces leaders to re-allocate resources abruptly. Standardizing processes minimizes disruption and gives you a chance to intentionally tweak how things are done over time.

 Conclusion

 Establishing a (more) standardized sales process does not mean eliminating freedom and creativity. The opposite is true: As many jazz musicians know, having a structure to guide your actions can be liberating, freeing you up to riff and improvise based on the rules, playing off each others’ efforts. Everyone will come up with the optimal process that works for their team and context, but regardless, we’re confident that the three principles we’ve articulated – ideal client focus, consistency of effort, process control – are foundational efforts to building a more effective sales organization.

 We live in an unpredictable world and there are a lot of things outside our control. A commitment to focus on what you can influence ensures a more efficient and reliable growth trajectory.  

 Happy hunting.

Tom Batchelder is the author of Selling180 and passionate about helping smart people sell themselves without selling their souls.

Peter Laughter is the founder and CEO of Spartoi Group and loves helping consultants hit above their weight class.

Consultants: Masters of Process... Except in Sales | LinkedIn