New Math: Marketing and Business Development Realities for this Economy

For those of us in the trenches of short-list interviewing, we are aware of the current challenges of wnning work in a very different economy than we’ve ever seen.  Right now, firms are proposing on more and more projects, being short-listed more frequently, and preparing and presenting more interviews.  Unfortunately, this is not resulting in proportionately more work.  And, the truly negative outcomes can be seen in less return on investment for marketing dollars and demoralized team members.  What’s needed is an entirely new approach to the entire business development and marketing lifecycle that culminates in the short-list interview. 

What’s required to win work in this economy is “New Math”.  In the lifecycle of business development and marketing, there are four core elements:  Relationship/Reputation, Proposal, Cost or Fee, and Presentation.  Depending on the characteristics of the pursuit, each accounts for approximately 25% of the chance of being selected.  In the past, we might have been able to “wow” a selection committee with an exceptional interview and walk away with the job. That same interview today will bring us only to a close second.  Thus, we need firms to align business development and marketing efforts – looking at the short-list as the end of a long, intentional process instead of being an event in and of itself.

Relationship/Reputation has four levels of effective client “engagement”, the highest being having a strong relationship with an existing client with whom you have completed similar, successful work.  This requires not only superior performance and project management, but also maintaining the solid relationship with the client after the project has been completed. 

The next level is having a relationship with a potential client based on your having provided advice and/or assistance.  While never having performed a project for the client, the client is aware of the firm’s capabilities and trusts that your firm can do work of a certain type and complexity. 

                 

The third level is when the potential client knows of the firm’s and individual team members’ capabilities through conference presentations, journal and trade publications, or even industry-specific blogs.  In this case, the client knows of the firm’s past projects and can link his/her project to similar projects in the firm’s portfolio. 

The lowest level of effective engagement is when the firm or individual has “borrowed credibility.”  Borrowed credibility comes from an outside reference – usually another credible client who strongly recommends the firm and specific team members for the current work.

In the absence of any of the four levels of Relationship/Reputation, I recommend firms and teams take a hard look at their Go/No Go decision.  If any of these levels are missing, the firm should likely not be going after the work at all. The best decision would be to invest scarce marketing dollars in building client engagement vs. participating in a no-win proposal and presentation cycle.  Firm leadership should be actively publishing in trade journals, and they should be out in the field meeting with potential clients.  At a minimum, each client manager should be regularly meeting with the clients from their current and recently completed projects to maintain the strong relationship and the reference.