When it comes to account strategy, in other words, what you need to do to win the deal, renew the contract, or even persuade a key individual to take some kind of action, the way to increase your probability of success is by checking in with your inside advocate. I like to call this person “the coach”.
Some professionals refer to them as client advocates or champions, but no matter what you call them, in order to be considered a coach, this inside person MUST have these BOTH of these characteristics: (1.) They have key information that helps you develop your strategy. (2.) They want you to win.
That’s a tall order, but developing coaches is well worth it.
When I look back on my career, my biggest wins happened when I had a coach. Early on, it was someone taking me under their wing and giving me advice. Thank God for those folks! Once I figured out that developing a coach should be a part of my strategy, my overall win percentage went up.
Let’s drill down on these two key characteristics.
First, the key information coaches possess and can share with us takes many forms. They can share what their colleagues in the decision process really care about, not just what’s in the RFP. They can tell you what your competitor showed in their presentation and demo and who liked what and what they were concerned about. And a whole lot more. Bottom line: You don’t need to have a copy of the competitor’s proposal for your coach to provide valuable information so you’ll know what to do and what not to do.
Second, to be a coach, they have to want you to win. Some key players, I call them “fake coaches”, make you feel as if they’re giving you inside information exclusively, but they’re sharing the same info with your competitors. Why would they do that? Some feel that’s only fair. Some feel it makes the process more efficient. Or, worse, they’re giving you false information because they want your competitor to win. This is tough. If something doesn’t feel right, trust your gut. Take the information given with a grain of salt and look for confirmation elsewhere.
A real coach wants you to win. How come? Because they win when you win. Typically, their needs or wants stand a greater chance of being fulfilled with your solution than with other options. And, these needs or wants don’t have to be product or service related. They may feel a recommendation for your solution will be seen as less risky or get approved faster, both of which could benefit them.
Coaches are huge assets and not having them presents risk. To apply this in your world, you can do the following: If you’re a relationship manager, client partner, or account manager, click through your client portfolio. If you’re a sales executive focused on new account sales, look at your pipeline of forecasted business. Ask yourself, “What percentage of my client portfolio or pipeline do I have at least one coach?” And, then go through last year’s wins & losses. Which ones had coaches?