Proposals, pitches, and the primal brain: Step 3 to Consulting Sales Mastery
From proposal to contract - part 3 of 3 on mastering the art of selling consulting services
This month, TSC is focusing on sales and business development (BD) skills. It’s a practical look at what it means to be great at consulting BD, tackled in three parts over three weeks to align with the three phases to the sales cycle:
Building Authority: Being known for something specific and starting conversations with the people you want to help,
Consulting: Framing the issue for your client, co-creating an approach to solve it, and writing a compelling story (in the form of a proposal) that helps them make a decision,
Selling: Pitching your solution, handling objections, agreeing commercials, and getting the green light to kick-off the work.
We summarise these in the Honeycomb Consulting BD Pyramid:
This article is focused on the ‘Selling’ phase. Part 1 covered the ‘Building Authority’ phase (click to read if you haven’t yet) and Part 2 was focused on the ‘Consulting’ phase (click here to read).
Last week, we covered how to help your client overcome the four buying hurdles - solution, effort, price, and trust - using the STONES technique. You are now ready to transition into the final phase of the BD process which, in almost all consulting engagements, requires a compelling proposal. You will then need to have a conversation about your proposal and overcome any final objections. And finally, you’ll (hopefully) receive confirmation that they want to go ahead and work with you.
In this article we will delve into three aspects of the ‘Selling’ phase and give you some tools and techniques which can help you get that confirmation. These are:
Writing a compelling proposal,
Speaking to the primal brain in pitch meetings,
Handling objections using the reframing technique.
What makes a proposal ‘compelling’?
The number one mistake I see people making in proposals is that they forget all about the STONES structure. Instead, they lean hard on the ‘now us’ piece and talk an awful lot about them as a firm or them as an individual, what they've done, and their approach. You need to keep your STONES mindset throughout the proposal. Keep focused on clarifying that you really understand the problem they're trying to solve and then talking about the benefits they're going to get from the approach you are planning to use.
(Deri Hughes, MD Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training)
As a reminder, the STONES technique uses the following process to overcome the buying hurdles: Situation - Where are they today? Tomorrow - Where would they like to get to? Obstacles - Why haven’t they solved this already? Now us - Ground yourself as somebody with the credibility, experience, and expertise. Explore solutions - A co-creation conversation about what the best solutions might be. Solidify - Come away with a very clear next step. Click here to read more.
We recommend four sections to a proposal, which broadly align with the STONES structure.
The key messages page should summarise the situation, tomorrow, and obstacles. It should outline, at a high level, the solution, benefits, and we normally indicate fees up front as everyone goes looking for them first anyway. Think about using Pyramid Principle and narrative storytelling techniques to make your story stand out.
Following that you need to focus them down on the benefits, and how your solution will deliver them. This is not death by powerpoint - aim for max 5 slides up front, and save the detail for an appendix. This is also not about you or your credentials - describe the solution, but keep it tied to the benefits they're going to get.
Next, some proof points that must be tailored to the situation and client. This can be case studies, testimonials, feedback, or quantified benefits that you've delivered in other situations to help build trust and credibility. Make sure these address any specific solution, effort, price, or trust objections you are aware of.
Finally, a section that gives them clarity on the options and the costs.
Pricing is a big topic and one we'll cover in a future article. For now, here's our go-to model: Three different options at different price tiers - a base level for the cost constrained; an optimal level (that you expect them to pick); and a premium level that is full bells-and-whistles and serves as a price anchor. By offering 3 options you can get a sense of their price / features trade offs and overall budgets. Make sure each option speaks to the benefits they'll get.
At Honeycomb, we speak in slides because we - and most of the consulting firms we work with - typically pull our proposals together in PowerPoint. The same principles would follow whatever form your proposal takes - it could be an email, word doc, even a video.
With your proposal sent to the client, chances are the next step will be to take them through it.
Time to prep for the pitch meeting…
Pitch meetings and the primal brain
Consultants are very good at talking to people's rational brain. The rational brain is analytical, it considers data, makes trade offs, and weighs up the pros and cons systematically. And consultants are great at that. That's what we do. We provide structure, data, and analysis and we try and help people make rational decisions.
But….the unfortunate reality is, people don't actually make decisions rationally.
Decision-making happens in the primal brain, which is driven by emotion and instinct. And people then post-rationalise the decision they’ve made.
This means, if you are trying to persuade someone in a pitch meeting, you need to speak to their primal brain. The psychological theory of persuasion suggests there are six stimuli that trigger the primal brain response: personal, contrastable, tangible, memorable, visual and emotional.
Let’s run through how you may trigger each of those six.
Personal - focus on the individual and their needs. Talk about the benefits that they're going to get. The primal brain is concerned about the individual, their needs, and their protection.
Contrastable - make it very simple for them to see the differences between their today and the tomorrow you propose. This grabs attention and stimulates a fear response. The primal brain is alert to change and contrast as it operates in self-defence mode.
Tangible - deliver really simple messages and ensure the information can be processed with minimal energy. The primal brain is not sophisticated.
Memorable - Use repetition. It’s not boring, it’s what makes things stick. The primal brain can distort information and be selective, so repeat what you want to ensure it is remembered.
Visual - bring the benefits to life with visuals. The primal brain processes visual data much better than written or auditory data. Memories are also stored visually, so this helps your message stick.
Emotional - focus on the emotions of fear and desire. Perhaps they fear the outcome of their current trajectory. Perhaps they desire the opportunity they don’t currently have.
Get your head away from the rational and speak to the primal. And then layer in the data your client will need to post-rationalise the decision they made emotionally.
Reframing: a technique to handle objections
As you head towards the decision point, people will often get anchored on one particular issue. There are many frameworks for objection handling, but one we like to teach is the concept of reframing. This helps somebody shift their understanding of the solution and commit to taking action.
There are four different tools within the reframing technique - re-educate, remind, relate, real life - and you can pick any which feel comfortable or appropriate to the situation.
If you are keen to explore this technique further, it is best brought to life with more detailed examples. The pdf below is a few slides from our training deck on reframing.
It provides a sample script for each of the four tools in response to a client anchoring on an effort objection: “I just don’t have the time to even get this project started”.
If you can write a really tight, compelling proposal that aligns with STONES, you can talk to the primal brain of your client, and you can be prepared for a reframing discussion, you are going to enable your client to make a decision to work with you.
And that is the end goal of this selling phase. The point where they are emotionally committed to working with you, and they've decided they want to go ahead. All that leaves is to lock it in through a contract as fast as possible.
Give these three techniques a go and let us know how you get on. Want to learn more Consulting BD skills? Get in touch and we'll be happy to share details of our training programmes.
Good luck!
There are several other ways you can interact with Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training….
Connect with Deri Hughes (Founder & MD) on LinkedIn
Connect with Colin Mann (MD) on LinkedIn
Book a 30-minute intro call with Deri Hughes
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