Ironically, the longer one takes to gain a trusting relationship, the more quickly proposals for major projects are accepted. That sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
Conceptual agreement is concurrence in theory about what will take place. Once you create this with a true buyer, the proposal will merely support and substantiate that agreement. You want to leave as little as possible open to confusion, resistance, and uncertainty.
In the model presented in Figure 1.1, you can understand why the trusting relationship must precede conceptual agreement (and why a logical and sequential business model is so important to create). The buyer is not going to share the components of conceptual agreement (and, therefore, your eventual proposal) without trust.
There are four basic objections you’re going to encounter as you progress in this model, and three of them are specious:
1. No money.
There is always money! The lights are on, the floors are clean, people at their desks are being paid. Professional services providers think that money is a resource. It is not. It’s a priority. So the question is really not one of finding money but of moving money that already exists from something else to you.
2. No time.
We tend to immediately agree that “timing is tough” or “there’s a better time” and agree to wait six months for an answer (which never comes). But time, too, is not a scarce resource, because we know that every day we have 24 hours. The question is how we invest it for ourselves and for others we direct. Therefore, time is also not a resource, but a priority. Are you important enough in terms of your value to demand a portion of existing time?
3. No need.
In this case the buyer doesn’t see a need, which is almost impossible, be- cause it’s your job to create need. You do that by asking “Why?,” or by identifying existing need (e.g., competitive inroads), or by creating need (e.g., marketing traditional services electronically), or by anticipating need (shouldn’t you be making plans about the China market?). Your value distance, Figure 1.2, is your ability to listen to what the prospect wants and find the true, far more valuable, needs.
4. No trust.
This is the only valid area of resistance, and the preceding three are only subterfuges used to mask this one (which is more difficult to raise and talk about honestly, and is often subliminal in any case). If I don’t trust you— that is, I haven’t been convinced of your credibility, integrity, and quality— then all the other excuses take on artificial heft.
This is why conceptual agreement based on trust is so vital. I’ve had buyers say to me, “I’ve received so much value from this conversation that I’m not sure how we can use you yet, but I want to pursue something with you because we need you around here!” That’s an invitation to write your own ticket.
FIGURE 1.2 Value distance
Conceptual agreement on the objectives (outcomes), metrics (measures of progress and success), and value (impact on the organization and the buyer) are the heart and soul of the proposal. You need to work on these for as long as required, but also learn to accelerate that process. Once the buyer is nodding in as- sent as he or she reads the details of the proposal, the buyer is far more likely to accept the “new” elements: options, fees, and terms.