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Master the art of creating compelling proposals and deal structures that win client trust and close more business.
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Building deals that close is a key skill for client services founders. It's not just about selling your services, it's about building trust with your clients, aligning on the solution, and helping them understand what to expect.
When clients come to you for your services, it's because they don't have the time, resources or expertise to solve their problem themselves. They don't know what they don't know. It's your job to help them understand what to expect and how you will deliver. Here's some things you should do:
Be transparent about your approach and pricing. No one wants to be surprised when it comes to pricing. Be clear about how you will come to your pricing, when they will receive invoices, and for about how much they will be. Explain how variability can get introduced and how that is managed, often by providing a process for change requests and a rate card that will apply to those changes (a list of billable roles and their rates).
Define timelines and explain how they might shift. It's helpful to break down a timeline into smaller pieces (such as milestones or sprints) so that clients can see the progress and understand how variability can get introduced. They don't expect you to perfectly predict the future, but they do want a system for understanding progress.
Talk them through the steps as much as possible. Before you sign a deal, talk to them about how the first week of the project will go: which meetings will occur, what they will see, and who they can get in touch with. As you reach milestones throughout the project, sit down with them and lay out the next week or two to make sure you're on the same page.
Client services are different than other types of businesses: the sale is just the beginning of the relationship. When you sell your services, you're creating a partnership - and how you build trust during the sales process will be a major factor in their decision-making process.
Trust is about more than intentions - it's about competence. When you're selling a partnership, clients aren't just investing the money, they're investing the time and the opportunity cost of not working with someone else. Put yourself in their shoes - what would make them comfortable with you and your team?
Here are some important things you can do in the sales process to build trust:
Find parallels to past experiences. You may not have experience with the specific problem your client is facing, but you can find parallels to past problems you have solved and share how you solved them and how they're related.
Break work up into smaller, more manageable chunks. A new client might be a little overwhelmed by a large scope of the work, so break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks and sign deals for each chunk. This builds trust, gives them the opportunity to "eject" (which they won't, because you'll do a great job!) AND enables you to plan your team's utilization and resources more effectively.
Stay curious. The beauty of the client services world is that you are constantly exposed to new problems and solutions. Be willing to admit when you don't know something and ask good questions - this will impress much more than a know-it-all.
Our deal-building tools help you calculate pricing, milestone and invoice schedules as part of your ordinary sales process. Quickly make changes and export the important terms and calculations of a deal into your proposal or statement of work, using your favorite tools while avoiding error and time consuming number crunching. You'll impress even the most savvy of procurement teams by turning around documents quickly, accurately and with all the right information that creates confidence in your ability to deliver.
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