Art
Siegel

When The Customer Hires A Consultant To Help With Vendor Selection

When corporations make very large purchase decisions, they often bring in one or more specialized consultants to help evaluate prospective vendors. The presence of a consultant can make your job as a salesperson much more difficult, unless you understand how to adapt your sales process When The Customer Hires  A Consultant To Help With Vendor Selection. 

What's a sure-fire way for corporate buyers to strike fear into the hearts of most salespeople? Simple. Just say: "Oh, by the way, we've retained the services of a consultant to help us with our vendor selection."

There is good reason for this fear. The presence of a consultant means that not only must you beat out the competition in convincing this buyer that you are the best, but you may end up spending even more time trying to make your case to the consultant. And to earn his or her keep, that consultant is probably going to ask you tough questions and will want to check your references, not to mention having you respond to a tricky request for proposal. As if that weren't enough, the consultant may have a preferred vendor that will be recommended no matter what you do, so the whole exercise could be a waste of time.

All of this is why top salespeople in industries where consultants are often involved don't fight the presence of consultants. They embrace consultants with an effective consultant relations strategy.

The Role Of The Consultant

Depending upon the industry and their individual areas of specialization, consultants serve many roles for their clients. When it comes to helping their clients make major purchase decisions, consulting roles typically include:

• Analyzing the client company's needs to help determine the objectives for the purchase.
• Helping plan for smooth implementation and staffing related to the purchase.
• Recommending vendors/products to include in the search.
• Evaluating vendors (may include reference checks, conducting benchmark tests, choreographing demonstrations, etc.)

In the end, the consultant's performance will be evaluated by the client on how well the ultimate purchase addressed the client's needs. If the consultant helped the client make a great choice, he or she is a hero and will be called upon again and referred to other companies. If the purchase decision is not a good one, the blame will fall heavily on the consultant.

Thus, consultants forever live in a precarious position. A so-so product choice may not help them a great deal, but a poor product choice can severely hurt their business. Few consultants strive to make excellent recommendations to their clients; most attempt to give solid recommendations which embody minimal downside risk. So, the key to your successful relationship with consultants is providing them with information they can use to make safe, solid recommendations, with no unpleasant hidden surprises.

What Do Consultants Want From You?

Let's start with what they don't want. If you misrepresent your company's strengths, and the consultant recommends you based upon those misrepresentations, you can count on having made an enemy who will hurt you many times over. Consultants don't want you to sell to them. And you'd better not try to lie to them.

When a consultant is asked to specify or recommend a product/company they will turn to, in order:

1. Their memory.
2. Their files.
3. Easily accessible resources -- companies they know to call.

You need to serve all three of these needs:

1. Keep Your Company Clearly In Their Memory

• Make enough contact, and be clear enough in communicating the things which make your company unique, so you will stick in their memory.
• Stay focused on the few issues which most distinguish your company, so they can easily identify when there is a good fit between your company and one of their clients.

2. Keep Your Company In Their Files

• Provide them with complete (but relevant), current information for their files so they can easily access it when they need it.
• Tell them honestly what is special about your company. When they recommend you to a client, consultants want to give reasons why they chose you. They need your help in communicating the handful of characteristics which distinguish you from the competition - not vague statements, but hard facts they can confidently include in their reports.

3. Serve As An Easily Accessible Resource

• Respond punctually, accurately and precisely to their requests for information. When consultants ask for specific information, they generally know exactly what they want. Give them that, and you can also throw in extra information that is favorable to you.
• Share your understanding of industry developments to help keep them up to speed in the markets they serve. Educate them on technologies or other nuances that will help them maintain their expertise.
• If much of your information is now available on the Internet, make sure they know how to find it.

Implementing Your Consultant Strategy

This involves three steps:

1. Build your target consultant list
2. Make initial contact
3. Keep in touch

Build Your Target Consultant List

Chances are you already know who some of the consultants are in your industry, but there are many more you don't know. To build your complete list, try these sources:

• Ask friendly customers for names of most influential consultants.
• Look for advertisements ads in trade magazines.
• Check consultant directories which are available in the public library, sold through trade publications or available on the Internet.

Your list should include full-time consultants as well as other professionals who often serve in that capacity. For example, many accountants serve as buying consultants for accounting software, and engineers advise building owners on air conditioning and lighting systems.

Once you've built the list, your next step is to divide all of the names into two groups:

Tier 1 Consultants: The most influential people - the ones you plan to meet with personally and with whom you will try to build an ongoing relationship.

Tier 2 Consultants: The people who influence fewer sales - you need to keep in touch with them and let them know about you, but you don't plan to spend as much time with them.

Make Initial Contact -- Tier 2 Consultants

After you have built and prioritized your list, the next step is to begin to make contact with the consultants.

Since you only have so much time to spend on consultant relations, your primary mode of contact with Tier 2 Consultants should be by mail, possibly with occasional phone contact.

Your first communication should be a personalized, one-page letter (no brochures) in which you:

• Introduce yourself and your company.
• Tell them how you heard about their firm.
• Acknowledge the importance of consultants (or whatever the individual's actual profession is) to the buyers in your industry.
• Offer to assist the consultant in any way you can to make their job easier.
• Advise them that you will send them information about your company from time to time to keep them informed.

After the initial letter, mail out a single item (brochure, article reprint, newsletter, etc.) about your company every month or two, with a very brief cover note repeating your offer to be of assistance to them.

Then, when you have the time, try a phone contact to get to know the consultant's needs better.

Make Initial Contact -- Tier 1 Consultants

For the most important consultants in your industry, your goal is to set up a face-to-face introductory meeting as a first step towards building an ongoing relationship. Depending upon your preference, you may start this process with an introductory letter followed by a phone call or by simply placing a cold phone call. But whatever way you make the first contact, your primary objective is to sell the value of the meeting:

• Have the consultant come to your office to see your company/products first hand, meet others in the company, get a peek at new products under development.
• You go to the consultant's office to learn more about their consulting practice and to give them useful information.
• Or, invite the consultant to a seminar which you are putting on for consultants or for your customers. (Many consultants like the latter because it gives them an opportunity to network with potential clients for themselves.)

What You Want To Accomplish In Your First Meeting With A Consultant

1. Build a relationship by establishing a dialog
One of the best ways to accomplish this early in the meeting is to ask a provocative question: "What do you think about (some aspect of the industry)?" Listen to their opinion; then tell your company's ideas on the topic.

2. Demonstrate your presentation skills
If the consultant recommends you to one of their clients, they want to be comfortable that you will make a good impression. So, while most of your first meeting with the consultant should be an interactive discussion, it is also valuable to include a segment of formal presentation, including your best audio-visual or PC-based presentation.

What to talk about
Once you've gotten the consultant talking and established that you are a credible supplier, it's time for you to learn more about the consultant in order to build your strategy for working with them.

The following are some types of questions you need to ask and how they will influence your strategy for working with each consultant:

What are your areas of specialization, types of companies you consult for, nature of your consulting practice?

Besides expressing interest in the consultant and getting them to talk, you will gain valuable insights about what types of information to provide to them in the future.

What market trends are you seeing?

The answer to this question gives you a window into the consultant's view of the world and prepares you to express ways in which you and your company hold similar views of the industry.

How familiar are you with (our company)?

This sets up your presentation. and tells you how much new information you need to include.

When you think of (our company), what do you think of?

Another variation on the preceding question, this leads consultants to share their view of how your company is positioned in the marketplace. If they are right on or close, tell them so. If they are off, you can say "A lot of people in the industry think of us that way, but . . . "

What do you think of as our strengths in the (market segment)?

This may sound like a repeat of the previous, but it's not. The question forces the consultant to reinforce in his or her own mind the good things they know about your company.

What do you see as our major areas where we need improvement?

Some of these may be areas of misconception. Some may be honest weaknesses in the mind of the consultant that you will have to overcome in future meetings. But don't try to rebut them now. Save them for a future contact in which you say: "When we spoke last May you mentioned that one of the ways we could improve was to upgrade our line of (products). You were right, of course, so we we've been working on exactly that area. I'd like to get together with you and bring you an advance look at what we are doing."

Which leads us to another point: consultants like to have an edge - over the press, over their clients, and over other consultants. Give them an advance look. If necessary, make the information proprietary and confidential.

What is your typical search and selection process?

Process steps are important to understand, because they prepare you to deliver your information in stages at the appropriate times.

What are the most important criteria you look for in a supplier and how are they weighted?

This is another way of getting to the vendor/product characteristics which this consultant considers most important - the ones you will need to stress to win over this consultant.

What can I do to be most helpful to you?

This confirms your focus on serving the needs of the consultant, as well as telling you exactly what you can do to stay in this consultant's good graces. Ask follow up questions to determine what types of information to send, how frequently to meet and other ways that the consultant would like you to keep in touch.

How to end the meeting
Throughout your first meeting with a consultant, you are looking for ways your company fits their view of an ideal vendor, not just your product line, but also the way they think a good vendor should operate. You are also looking for the types of information the consultant needs which you can supply. Thus, your last step in the meeting is to promise some additional information or action which will be perceived as beneficial by the consultant.

What information to leave behind
As the last step in your initial consultant meeting, you'll want to leave behind some information, but not too much:

• Leave enough literature to reinforce your major strengths.
• Hold back enough information so you have a reason to send or deliver it in the future.

What information to send later
As a result of your initial meeting and any subsequent conversations, you'll know what each consultant considers important in a vendor. After that meeting, establish a plan to continually forward information by mail or in person to:

• Sustain your company's visibility in the eyes of the consultant.
• Reinforce your interest in the consultant.
• Give the consultant specific data which will help him or her know when to recommend you
• Demonstrate the advantages that distinguish your company.

With all of the information you provide, it is extremely important that you tailor it to the consultant's interests. Select information to send which comes closest to reinforcing the consultant's views of what a good vendor looks like - if the consultant specializes in larger client companies, send case studies for your large clients, not the small ones. If the consultant prefers products based on a particular technology, send information that emphasizes that technology, not your other technology.

Always include a short cover note that clarifies what you are sending and how you think it fits with something the consultant has told you: "Based upon our conversation last week on concrete reinforcement techniques, I thought you would find this article interesting, because the author stresses exactly the same issues that you raised."

Keep In Touch

As a result of your initial meeting with the consultant, there should be some piece of additional information you have been asked to provide (if you didn't give out too much at the meeting), and the consultant will have expressed preferences in terms of subsequent contact. Whatever you have agreed to, stick to it.

In addition, establish a schedule of follow-up communications:

• Make phone calls. Always call with a specific purpose, not just to keep in touch: "I'm seeing a lot in the news about growing concerns over OSHA compliance. I'd like your opinion on whether this is just something the press is picking up on or whether you're seeing a pattern as well?"
  
  
• One of the best ways to earn the love and respect of a consultant is to refer business to them. They will definitely return your call when the message is: "I have a customer who is looking for a consultant, and I thought of you."
  
  
• Send the consultant your customer newsletter or your company newsletter.
  
  
• Send copies of major press releases (preferably in advance of the actual press mailing to demonstrate you are treating them as VIPs).
  
  
• Mail brochures describing new products and offer a personal demo.
  
  
• Send reprints of articles about your company, particularly those that announce major contracts.
  
  
• If you learn of an accomplishment by the consultant, such as being awarded a contract, send a congratulatory note.

The mission of a professional consultant is to serve his or her client's needs by specifying and recommending vendors that are most suited to those needs. Since so many sales people do their best to sell around consultants, you'll likely earn a sharp increase in referrals from consultants once they understand your commitment to work with them in support of their mission.

SeaBird Associates Inc
3011 NE 7th Drive
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561-750-9233
E-mail: Art Siegel

About Art Siegel