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| Contact |
When you pick up the phone to follow up with a client or send an email to check on the status of an opportunity, you might feel some trepidation. You don't want to become a pest--or jeopardize the sale.
We all know how annoying it is to be hounded by someone who wants our business, so maybe it seems safer (and easier) to put off that follow-up call. Before you make that decision, keep in mind that some research shows that it takes an average of twelve contacts to make a sale, including emails, voicemails, face-to-face meetings, and phone conversations.
Many sellers make three to four contacts and then move on to other opportunities. In some cases, that number of contacts may be perfect. But it may not be enough to get on some clients' radar.
There's a definite line between being attentive and becoming a sales stalker. Naturally, you never want to cross that line. But, as you think about your clients and prospective clients, ask yourself if you are paying enough attention to each one. If not, that oversight can cause you to miss out on an opportunity.
Enjoy this month's issue.
And send me an email if you have comments.
Mike
McLaughlin
Editor
Stay in Touch:
Management Consulting News is a publication of MindShare Consulting.
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| Events and Buzz |
Upcoming Events with Michael McLaughlin
Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 7:00pm EST
Guerrilla Marketing Association Webcast - Winning the Professional Services Sale
Interactive session on the three essential elements of every successful services sale, plus how to sell less, win more, and stay sane. Program and Registration Details
Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:00-1:00pm EST
Global Consulting Forum Webcast - Success Strategies for Lead Generation
Host: Jason Sanders and Associates
Insights for rethinking your lead generation approach to boost your success in converting sales opportunities into paying clients. Program and Registration Details
Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 5:00-6:00pm EST
Independent Computer Consultants Association (ICCA)
Webcast - Never Sell Again: Why Most Sales Advice Is Wrong and What to Do About It. Program and Registration Details
Friday-Sunday, November 13-15, 2009, San Francisco, CA
32nd Annual National Conference, Independent Computer Consultants Association (ICCA) Presentation - Send Me a Proposal: Winning Strategies for Technology Consultants. Conference and Registration Details
Buzz about Winning the Professional Services Sale
 Jill Konrath, sales consultant extraordinaire and bestselling author, says "You'll love his unconventional strategies to reach more clients, land more profitable work and maintain your sanity." Read her review.
Mike Schultz, bestselling author and publisher of RainToday.com, says "Throughout the book, Michael confirmed for me that he knows what he's talking about. That he gets it. Lots of people who write about this area don't." Read his review.
Debbie Weil, author of The Corporate Blogging Book, offers her take on Winning the Professional Services Sale in her blog review.
Read more reviews and grab your copy now!
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| MCNews 12 Index of Professional Services |
August was another strong month for the markets, which isn't too surprising: Amidst the economic headlines, some good news is emerging.
In the US, the housing market is showing signs of life, and the second quarter GDP declined less than expected. What's not clear is whether the US economy is actually reviving or just getting worse more slowly than before.
No matter--the MCNews 12 Index continues its climb back to respectability, returning more than 4 percent for the month. For the year, the MCNews 12 Index return is hovering near 19 percent.
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MCNews 12 Index |
YTD
Change |
| August 2009 |
862 |
+18.8% |
| July 2009 |
823 |
+13.5% |
| June 2009 |
738 |
+1.8% |
MCNews 12 Index firms continue to make strategic investments in spite of the uncertain economy. Wipro Technologies, the global IT services firm, announced that it has launched a Consulting Academy to strengthen the consulting and customer management skills of its frontline employees.
The firm's goal is to sell a broader range of high-value services to clients that usually turn to more traditional services firms, like Accenture and IBM.
There is also some bad news. The Hackett Group, the global strategic advisory firm, announced disappointing financial results for the second quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $34.6 million, a 29 percent decrease from the same period in 2008.
The company's CEO blamed the problem on "the volatile economic environment which our clients are experiencing across the US and International markets that we serve." Translation: The firm had a really lousy quarter.
But the CEO expressed optimism for the rest of the year by saying, "we now expect revenues to stabilize as a result of improved client activity which should allow us to improve our profitability during the balance of the year." Hackett's share price is off 6 percent for the year.
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| Interview: James Champy |
"Most of the words marketers use to describe their connections to customers are now lifeless or irrelevant."
James Champy is Chairman of Perot Systems' consulting practice, and an expert on leadership and management. He's the coauthor (with Michael Hammer) of Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, and author of Outsmart! How to Do What Your Competitors Can't.
Champy's latest book, Inspire! Why Customers Come Back, shows how organizations can drive new levels of customer loyalty in an ever-shifting market. We asked Champy how we can apply these innovative ideas to our clients and practices.
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| Social Media and Organizational Risk |
Does employee participation in social networking sites put companies at risk? A new study from Deloitte LLP says yes. Almost two-thirds of the survey respondents believe it is "easy to damage a brand's reputation via sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube."
Faced with such risks, some executives will attempt to implement new policies and rules for how people use social media sites in the workplace. Unfortunately, the study found that even "clearly defined company guidelines will not change how nearly half of respondents behave in cyberspace."
The report's authors offer some vague advice about how leaders can mitigate risk by focusing on "culture, values, and ethics within an organization."
What isn't vague is that more than 70 percent of the organizations in the survey have no formal policy for how employees should use social media sites at work, and no way to monitor the potential risks of that use.
Significantly, 67 percent of the respondent organizations are not discussing how to best leverage the use of social networks while mitigating risks. It all adds up to a major blind spot for most organizations that the right consultants can and should help resolve.
Read the full report here.
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| Give Us Your Opinion |
We want to hear from you.
As we continue to develop the content we'll offer to readers in the coming months, we want to be sure to provide information you want and can use. To that end, we'd appreciate it if you would complete a three-minute, seven question survey to help us understand what you'd like to see in this newsletter.
For those who complete the brief survey, we'll enter your name into a random drawing to win one of five copies of my book, Winning the Professional Services Sale.
There's no better judge of what we should offer than you, so let us know what you like, what you can do without, and what else we should think about.
Take the survey here.
Thanks.
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| IMC Webinar: Becoming a Better Strategic Thinker |
The Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) is offering a three-part webinar series to help you become a better strategic thinker.
Stephen Haines, an authority on the Systems Thinking Approach® to strategic management, will present these sessions. Haines offers you an opportunity to gain new skills for leading organizational change.
You'll learn about the top tools of strategic and systems thinking and several theories of change that will guide your thinking as you plan your next project.
The three-part program is offered at multiple times, so you're sure to find a convenient way to attend. You can learn much more about the program, the speaker, and the IMC by following this link.
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| Toward Better Presentations: PowerFrameworks |
You can finds tons of general advice on how to deliver a great presentation, but finding resources for developing a great slide presentation is more difficult.
Kathy Villella and her team at PowerFrameworks.com can help. They've used their years of experience as communications designers to bring you a comprehensive library of PowerPoint templates that you can use for any presentation.
These professionally designed templates provide an essential starting point for creating a high-impact slide presentation. You'll find pre-formatted text tables you can use instead of dreary bullet points, and templates for communicating data. There are examples of how to use each template, helpful articles, a frequently updated library of slide templates, and more.
To give you a sense of the resources available to you, Kathy has agreed to offer our readers access to several templates at no cost. If you've ever wanted an alternative to the bullet point slide, you can pick up a series of alternative templates by visiting the PowerFrameworks site here.
Plus, if you decide to subscribe to the service, you'll qualify for a special discount as a MCNews reader.
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| Coming
Attractions |
"Project managers are prone to annoying others. Some of it is avoidable."
Next month, we'll talk with Scott Berkun, author of The Myths of Innovation and Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management. Berkun formed his perspectives on managing projects and teams during a ten-year stint at Microsoft. While there, his projects focused on Internet Explorer, MSN, and Windows.
We'll ask Berkun for his advice on ramping up projects effectively, managing the common issues that arise during a project, and how to finish any project on time and within budget.
Look for the next issue of Management Consulting News on October 6, 2009.
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