Take Time to Win by Being Smarter

Even though the economy is slow, most of my clients are quite busy and are finding it harder to spend the time they need to prepare for winning proposals and/or short-list interviews. As a result, while marketing departments are churning out more proposals, many firms are not seeing their hit rates go up with the number of proposals submitted. I’d like to change that in three ways:  working earlier, working smarter, and working faster.

After some stunningly depressing second place finishes this year (as well as some happy first place wins), I’m more and more convinced that firms have to spend the majority of their marketing time before the RFP is released instead of expending intense effort to develop the best proposal and presentation. This doesn’t mean the proposal and presentation aren’t important; rather, it means that we have to be a strong contender before we get invited to the dance or we won’t have a reasonable chance of winning. Firms need to take time and effort to establish relationships, gain name and reputation recognition, and communicate specialized talent and resource expertise. Teams need to get in front of potential selectors through meetings, conferences, and other industry events. Great teams will take the time to publish, speak, and facilitate at the events that clients attend for their own professional development. The days of being able to wow a new client with a great proposal and take away the job are over; clients choose teams they know and trust. That knowledge and trust takes time to develop and grow. While a great proposal may get you to the shortlist, it won’t win the job.

Teams can work smarter, not harder in the proposal and presentation development process. As I’ve written and said before, the most important first step in any selection process is to actually read the RFP – make sure we have a plan to be compliant with all aspects of the request.  Treat the proposal response like a project.Teams that create a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the proposal with task leaders and clear milestone deliverables tend to be able to finish the documents with higher quality in the least amount of time. Teams that determine their core messaging strategy upfront – before they put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) are dramatically more successful than even the most artistic proposal designer.

Presentations are won in strategy, not in delivery. Teams that work diligently through the four stages of presentation development (alignment, strategy, choreography, rehearsal) are able to develop higher quality presentations in less time than teams whose leadership or marketing department creates a fabulous PPT presentation and gives team members the core messages. The best presentations of the last year have been created by teams that started thinking about the project and the client, then translated the results of their thinking into compelling content documented in a clear team outline. These teams were able to very quickly choreograph and rehearse very complicated and impressive presentations in a short amount of time right before the interview – even the day or night before. In this economy, I’m not just advocating for substantially better presentations – I want us to be able to develop them faster and better.

So, how do we work smarter, faster, and better? First, smarter teams think before they act – strategic thinkers gather the right information, develop the right plans for moving forward, and act strategically. They manage the business development and marketing process just like a project - maintaining scope, schedule, budget, and quality along the way. Second, faster teams work their plan, sticking to schedules and milestone deliverables throughout the phases of the marketing process. They don’t jump ahead to visuals or content before they have a strong strategic framework for the proposal or the presentation. Finally, better teams craft proposals and presentations that are aligned with the goals and aspirations of our owners. Smarter, faster, better proposals and presentations stem directly from the information we gather and relationships we build before the proposal/presentation development process ever starts.

Develop Your Team Strategy to WIN - Join us at SMPS Chicago!

Meg Winch, the principal of Communication Resources Northwest will be speaking at SMPS Chicago this month. If you are in the Chicago area on June 14^th, join us! Read below for details from the SMPS Chicago web site. You can register for the seminar here.

Please join nationally recognized strategy speaker and coach, Meg Winch, for a 3-hour workshop where she will share her approach for propelling your firm across the finish line.

Emphasizing that “Content is King,” Meg will present an integrated model for presentation preparation and delivery that results in consistently winning short-list presentations. Most importantly, her approach to presentation development and delivery helps teams improve their performance in a significantly faster and more cost-effective manner. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to better develop a message and differentiators that give the client something to vote for.

To more fully imcorporate the methods outlined, organizations are highly encouraged to send more than one person. To register, please visit:

Where:             Tuesday, June 14, 1011

                        8:30am  - Networking Breakfast

                        9:00am  - Start

                        12:00pm  - Finish

Location:           Pepper Construction, 643 North Orleans Street

                         Chicago, Illinois   60654

Member Price: $195 (2 or more at $175)

Non-Member Price: $225 (2 or more at $205)

*Workshop will be limited to first 40 people to register

Short List Interview Coaching: Why I don’t focus on individual speaker delivery

I’m a bit different than the standard presentation coach in that I don’t focus a great deal on how speakers hold their hands, articulate words, or stand in the room. Not only are these elements of presentations not particularly interesting to me, I don’t really think they matter all that much to selectors.  I believe that most selectors are more interested in the speaker’s approach to the project and how his/her experience indicates future performance. So, unless someone’s delivery is seriously getting in the way of the message, I tend to leave delivery issues alone. In my world as a coach, content rules the day; delivery is just the vehicle to get the content communicated.

This does not mean that I don’t care about delivery. I do. I just care more about team delivery than I do about individual performance. Teams that come across as collaborative and supportive, and that work together well, will always win over teams with excellent, polished speakers who aren’t well connected.  And, the coach can’t create a connected team by picking on individual speakers.

Everything I know about presentation skills in particular and communication in general, is that they are learned behaviors. This is good news for all of us who make our living coaching presentations – and it should be good news for presenters:  it means that anyone can learn effective presentation skills, no matter the skill level at which they start. However, the bad news is that speakers come to us with 20-30-40 years of learned behavior, which needs to be unlearned in order to make some delivery skills more effective. To think we can “fix” a speaker in a short period of time just doesn’t make sense.

The worst time to try and correct someone’s deep-seeded delivery issues is when the team is days or hours away from an interview. As a result, I’ve decided that delivery coaching right before an interview requires the coach to carefully choose her battles, and not mix training and coaching. In training, we try to help a speaker slowly improve his/her skills through repeated practice and trying new techniques. In coaching, we try to help a presenter give his/her best performance in a very short period of time. This means carefully selecting the minor corrections we can make in delivery and “ignoring” behaviors that we might otherwise comment on in a training context. For example, I coached a recent winning team where one of the key team members has a habit of loudly clearing his throat before beginning to speak. He does this repeatedly at the start of the presentation and at key pause points in his delivery. But, otherwise, his delivery is friendly, his content is well-organized, and his message is solid. I decided to let it go. The quality of the presentation was otherwise strong and I believed that trying to change this habit would have made him much more nervous, perhaps resulting in negative outcomes for his presentation overall. In other words, I chose my battles and decided to focus on the overall goal, which was a confident speaker with strong content.

I also believe in coaching with kindness, using humor when appropriate to get the best speaking behavior possible from each presenter. When a speaker feels picked on or ridiculed, it doesn’t help his/her ability to present with confidence. I try to tell speakers what I like about their delivery, helping them build upon those strengths versus continually pointing out and correcting deficiencies. I’ll adjust the presentation parameters to help a weak speaker be successful. For example, if a speaker is more comfortable speaking from his chair, I’ll try to accommodate that to make him more comfortable. And, if another speaker wants or feels she needs to use notes, I’ll find a way to help her use notes most effectively.

When I’ve got a delivery “train wreck,” and there have been a few, I always take the person aside and provide some one-on-one coaching, again choosing my battles to help the speaker be as confident as possible. There are always options for speakers with a great attitude, even when they have limited skills. These options include limiting time, having the team present in a conversational back-and-forth manner, using visuals as notes, and even creating directed response with a team leader. In only the rarest of occasions have I recommended someone be removed from a presentation team; in those cases, the problem was less about the speaker’s delivery and more about his/her negative attitude combined with extremely poor delivery. And, if that person is the project manager, project executive/principal, or lead designer, your options are much more limited.

As I get older, I’m more comfortable with the “quirks” speakers bring to teams –and I think that makes presentations more interesting. I’ve been professionally speaking for more than 25 years. I’m pretty good at it, but I know that I’m not ever going to make speakers deliver just like me, nor would I want to. Speaker differences make for more engaging and interesting presentations. My goal as a coach is to help each speaker give his/her best performance in the limited time we have to get a team ready. Ultimately, in short-list interviews, we want to be compelling, interesting, and memorable. But content still trumps delivery and real people speaking with passion about the details of the project always trumps scripted or overly polished presenters speaking in generalities.

Creating Memorable Short-List Presentations

As I coach more presentations, I’m convinced that it takes more to win in the interview beyond the requisite experience, team members, and technical competence. Winning a presentation in this competitive environment requires that teams be memorable. In fact, in most short-list situations, all of the teams can usually be considered qualified and able to succeed on the project. As a result, being memorable in the presentation makes a real difference in close competitions. Teams can be memorable through compelling content, eye-catching visuals, and well-choreographed delivery.

Being memorable by itself isn’t the goal – particularly if the memory isn’t a good one. Pulling my skirt off in an interview was certainly memorable, but not in a good way (no, I did not do this on purpose, and no, we did not win the job). Teams want to be positively memorable for the right reasons – reasons that drive the client to select them for the work.  Fortunately, there are numerous opportunities to be memorable in the three main elements of a presentation:  content, visuals, and delivery.

Content that is focused on the client and organized into clear “packages” is more memorable. Speakers who package their content and emphasize the differentiator in each of the packages tend to be more memorable. And, if the content packages are organized into a logical structure, selectors can more easily recall both the differentiators and the sequence of arguments. There are a variety of reasons why this strategy results in more memorable content:  Organizing content into a logical sequence fits the way the human brain selects, organizes, and interprets data. When listeners can understand the logic of an argument, they listen better and may be able to better internalize key messages (like differentiators). And, using a logical structure of content “packages” lends itself to creative repetition of content throughout the presentation. Finally, if speakers “signpost” content as it flows through a logical structure as in “First, I’m going to cover X, then Y, then Z”, listeners are able to “relax” into the content and really absorb the main messages.

From a visuals standpoint, teams should move beyond PowerPoint to truly be memorable. Sometimes this means low tech solutions; sometimes it means raising the bar on presentation technology.  In the past month, I’ve seen both utilized to create very effective team presentations. One team used presentation banners and sat on stools to create a more conversational environment with their audience. Another used a writeable site plan to interact with selectors. One more team used the largest touch screen I’ve ever seen to interact with their system during the presentation. In none of these interviews did speakers rely on flashy photography with superimposed bullets on PowerPoint. In all of these interviews, speakers used visuals as “frosting” to their presentations vs. letting the visuals take over the presentation. These days, creative teams are pulling out the crayons and white board markers. They’re making models out of non-traditional materials. And, they’re using technology in innovative ways – pushing the limits of what we thought we could do within limited time and space parameters.  From my perspective, this has been fun and engaging; it seems visuals are finally working for my teams in ways I always hoped they could.

Team delivery can also be memorable in how individual speakers speak, how transitions are made between speakers, and how groups of team members move around the space. Memorable presentations are well choreographed without being overly staged. In the most recent presentations, I’ve had a large number of speakers cycle through eight chairs, individual speakers speaking from stools, and project managers acting as emcees for their teams. All of these teams understood the value of rehearsal and took the time to get each other comfortable with movement and sound before the interview. Each team was able to anticipate visuals, handle the unexpected, and assist struggling team members because they’d worked through choreography and rehearsal together. Crafting memorable delivery is actually quite simple – come up with a good idea and then rehearse it until it becomes second nature.

Finally, I think the most memorable interviews have been the most fun. Team members were so comfortable with each other that they supported one another throughout all stages of the presentation and they laughed together when things didn’t work out as expected. At the end of memorable interviews, team members come away knowing they gave their absolutely best performance, leaving nothing back.

The Benefits of In-House Training on Tight Budgets

(Re-post from June 2010)

With ever shrinking budgets, how do we continue to do training in our organizations? And, how do firms even find the time to train the professionals who so desperately need training? These are questions those of us in the training profession must address if we hope to stay relevant in this chaotic marketplace. While some firms are still purchasing aggressive programs designed to develop their next generation of leaders, most firms have minimized training budgets and/or cut their commitment to staff development.

Some organizations are finding that though they value training, their limited staff don’t have time to take two days away to attend a training program. So, what do we do?  One thing is clear: Firms should never walk away from a commitment to training. I say this not as someone who sells training but, as a leader of a staff who believes the more time I spend educating my team, the more productive and stable they’ll be, and the more relevant my company will remain.

I believe there are some tangible solutions to correct the current training vacuum. Training can take a variety of forms. Rather than investing in the two-day offsite training that costs thousands of dollars, firms should consider shorter, more targeted programs to address specific needs. They should consider using in-house training resources particularly for repeated courses. Nothing hones a professional’s skills better than having to teach a class.

We’re finding that as demand for packaged training programs has waned, design services that enable clients to bring in-house training to employees have increased. We have also found, with our own training video, that the best value we can deliver to customers is to provide an accompanying training guide so firms can use the video as part of an in-house training program. In fact, we think this model of training is so effective that technical firms ought to consider designing their own in-house training programs with linked instructor and participant guides.

Designing specific in-house training can be both extremely cost-effective and can maintain consistency across learners. The cost of creating a credible in-house training video has gone way down in the last several years.  Creating a training video is now more accessible even to moderately sized firms in our industry. Once created, the training program can be used again and again within the company. We just completed a video for one of our clients at a 5^thof the cost that a similar video would have cost several years ago.

Quite simply, making employee training a priority makes companies better. With effective training and information, employees perform better and customers ultimately receive better products and better service. Firms across the nation need to evaluate how training is currently being done and take steps to streamline and prioritize their in-house programs.

The Often Misused and Maligned Semicolon

I’ve spent the last week helping write and edit a missive about wastewater treatment – otherwise known as “The Greatest Proposal EVER Written” in the wastewater treatment category.  I’m going to wake up screaming about various “terms of art” such as anaerobic digestion.  Stay tuned. 

While I love being a part of high-profile design pursuits, working in wastewater puts everything in perspective. And, despite words to the contrary, working with engineers is often a real treat.  I really do mean that.

BUT, given the piles of editing I’ve done, and have yet to do, I thought I’d write a short educational piece for my dedicated readers about the often misused and maligned semicolon.  Plus, if this blog post can effectively educate the public about proper grammar and can keep me from having to change one more semicolon into a comma or vice-versa, I’ll be a happy editor.

Semicolons have three uses. You can check this out on the web if you need more clarification – Wikipedia is a good source. Even though information on Wikipedia can be altered by anyone on a daily basis (this is more relevant for celebrity biographies), the grammar gurus of the world make sure the punctuation articles on the site are up to date and correct.  And, for the truly cultured among you, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White is still the definitive source for all things written. I stand with my mother on this one.

1. Semicolons are used to separate independent clauses (e.g., clauses that could stand alone, but prefer being together as in “Writing wastewater proposals is fun; I’d like to do it more often”).
2.  Semicolons are used to separate independent clauses containing transitional phrases (e.g., logical movement from one clause to another) as in “This proposal will change the way our clients think about wastewater treatment; clearly, this will result in our being selected for this project!”
3.   Here’s the hard one, the ‘Triple Sow Cow’ of punctuation:  Semicolons can be used to separate items in a list that includes items that require internal punctuation as in “We must complete every section of the qualifications section chronologically:  the executive summary, which summarizes our overall qualifications; the team overview, which includes short descriptions of each member firm; and the resumes, which are only one page each. 

Note, unless the list contains internal punctuation, you don’t need the semicolon as in “We must complete every section of the qualifications section chronologically: the executive summary, the team overview, and the resumes.  Just because a sentence contains a colon before the list does not mean you need semicolons between items.

So, there you have it; semicolons are easy and so fun to use!  Semicolons separate linked sentences; they communicate a strong link between thoughts.  Semicolons communicate transition from one thought to another; as a result, you can use them to make a point stronger.  And, semicolons can be used to separate punctuated items in a list after a colon: a, b, c; 1, 2, 3; and x, y, z. 

In all seriousness, let’s make a commitment to stop playing “fast and loose” with punctuation.  It behooves all of us who write for a living, and that means most of us, to learn how to use punctuation appropriately.  We should also use punctuation consistently.  Punctuation conventions, like language, change over time, but the need for consistent use is constant.  Know the rules, follow the rules, and be creative in your content, not in your use of punctuation.

As for me, I’m back to writing about wastewater; thank you for the break.  If appropriately inspired, we can tackle the appropriate use of a comma next time. :) 

Send a "Valentine" to your Clients

As we collectively lick our fingers from the Valentine's Day chocolates we received on the 14th (or bought for ourselves for half price on the 15th), I’d like to send out my own little message of “love” to clients and colleagues.  Because this is a blog about relationships and communication in the A/E/C industry, I’ll stick to writing about love from a purely professional perspective.  In this season of love, I’m drawn to think about what makes some clients love us and some think of consultants instead as commodities – interchangeable and eminently replaceable.

As many of you know, my team and I spend a lot of time calling our clients’ clients. We ask about the quality of relationships and the perceptions these individuals have of our clients, their work, and their firms.  After more than 3000 interviews in the A/E/C industry – and through my own experience working as part of project teams – I’m pleased to report that while being on schedule, below budget, and meeting scope are essential elements of client satisfaction, they are actually far less predictive of long-term client relationship health than we might assume.  Schedule, budget, scope, and quality performance are expected parts of project delivery and don’t seem to differentiate firms or teams across the industry. 

In fact, one of the more surprising things we’ve found in our research is that sometimes clients can love us even when our projects aren’t going as well as we – or they – would have hoped.  And, sometimes clients can feel ambivalent or worse about us when projects are actually quite successful. This doesn’t seem to make sense.  Or does it?

In love relationships, there’s a lot to be said for shared values and world view.  After the initial chemistry has sparked interest, most couples find they have to have something in common to forge a lasting relationship.  The same goes for client relationships: the best predictor of a long term, positive client relationship is choosing the right client – people and organizations who share your view of the world, the market, and the services you provide.  If you want clients who treat you as trusted partners, choose clients who tend to have these types of relationships with other consultants and contractors.  If a potential client treats your peers as commodities, chances are you’ll be the “flavor of the month” once selected.  If a potential client consistently engages in litigation to get what they want, think carefully about why your firm will be different before diving in to a working relationship.

That said, it’s not enough to choose the right client – you also have to treat the client right.  Just like in long-term romantic relationships, it’s not about the grand gestures (though those are nice). It is instead about the daily commitment. What nice things can we do for our clients, balancing giving services away with staying profitable?  We can help a client get ready for an important meeting.  We can come in after hours without complaint to fix a problem.  We can prepare a draft agenda for a meeting to get the discussion rolling.  Think of small gestures that communicate “affection” vs. grand gestures that embarrass and overwhelm.

Good relationships start with good communication.  Firms interested in long-term client relationships start those relationships by asking the client, “How can I make you successful on this project?”  They ask what the client’s fears for the work are, and take the time to understand the client’s aspirations and hopes for the work.  They focus outward on the client instead of inward on their own firm’s success.   Firms who can master this will reap the benefits in long-term profitable work.

Successful firms only surprise clients with good news (or birthday cake); they don’t ever surprise the client with bad news. They especially don’t ever surprise the client publicly in a meeting with bad news. And, they never surprise the client with bad news, in a meeting, with a bill for services.  Clients want information, options, solutions, and assistance.  Just as romantic relationships can weather almost any storm together with the right balance of communication and care, client relationships are capable of the same thing. Our clients want and need trusted partners who are with them through thick and thin.  They want partners who will be their advocates in good times and bad. And, they want friends who share their desire to make projects and communities successful.

When things go badly on a project, successful consultants and contractors will throw their metaphorical coats over the puddle – they pitch in to solve problems, they share the sacrifice of issues, and they stay late to get the job done.  This may sound “Pollyannaish”, but this is what proven experience with clients has taught us.  It’s not about the cost – that’s a symptom of a much more important problem.  The real issue is how the client feels they are being treated in both the good times and the bad.

When the project is over, firms who are successful in building and keeping long-term client relationships don’t go away. They don’t ignore the client until the next budget cycle or the next project pursuit.  Their principals check in on a regular basis, sharing information and advice, asking how the past project is performing, and occasionally providing some free advice.  They think like and act like their clients matter as more than a project.  These firms know that the secret to not being treated like a commodity is to not treat our clients as commodities.

So, in this season of love, that’s my message – care for your clients and prize your relationships with them.  I do believe that if more of us actively sought to “share the love” with our clients on a more regular basis – within the bounds of the appropriateness and professionalism – we, and our clients, would be happier and more successful with our work relationships.  Happy Valentines!