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Managing Your Client 163

ing new engagements. When he moved to GE, even though he
didn’t have outside clients, he realized that he had to start selling:

My client is really the CEO of this business. I have more
clients as well—the managers of specific business units. We
have to sell. The products I’m selling are my ideas. In many
cases, I’m trying to get them to think differently and put my
thoughts into their thoughts—to get them engaged with my
ideas, so that when they have a problem, they turn to me.
This requires an up-front investment of resources and time.
That’s the secret—to create awareness of your offering so
that selling becomes less of a push and more of a pull.

This is the practical application of the McKinsey approach to
indirect selling. Rather than sticking a foot in the door and barging
in cold, build up a reputation and let it preceed you. Put the client
in a position to recognize that you’re the one who can fill her
need—then she’ll call you.
Effective selling, then, becomes the identification of client
needs and the building of expertise around them. Once you’ve
done that, you can begin the subtle art of indirect selling by mak-
ing people aware of what you know. Since you have done your
research up front, you don’t need to be explicit in your sales effort.
Just allow the potential client to make the connection between his
need and your expertise—as the voice said in the movie Field of
Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” Just make sure they can
find you.

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDANCE
It’s time to return to our team at Acme Widgets. Lukas, the newly
minted Grommets purchasing manager (you hired him in Chapter
6), has just finished his introductory training course and is ready to