Page 100 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Analyzing the Buyers 91

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FIGURE 6.4 The coach
FI GU RE 6. 4 T h e c oa c h

even though I might need you (you still have to convince me), I’m not likely to
reveal everything. I might not believe that what you need to know from me is
actually worth your knowing. Even those things I’m reluctant to tell, you might
forget to ask, and you might not have another opportunity to do so. Or you may
never even have the opportunity to meet me at all, because I’m too busy to see
you or I judge you too unimportant to see.
This is where your coach (or coaches) comes in. The coach may be able to arrange
introductions with me or with other buyers on my team; identify buyers you have
overlooked or normally would not be able to identify; elaborate on our evaluation
criteria; provide advice and counsel about selling strategies and maybe even the
competition; and, in general, act as a guide and confidant during the selling pro-
cess. Although coaches often can help you indirectly by arranging introductions
and providing intelligence, sometimes (as an experienced consultant and friend of
mine explains), they can actually help you sell. As my friend tells the story:

A young fellow who is an internal consultant for a company I was trying to sell
invited us in a competitive situation to talk about inventory. We had a long meeting
with him and then a long second meeting, and then we had to write a proposal to
go with him to his boss. I hate that kind of situation. We never met his boss; all we
knew was that his boss is a hard-charging, young, very creative guy who, like all
the other top people at XYZ, shot up in the organization. And I said, “Does he like