Seven
Myths of Selling to Government
Smashwords Edition
© 2011 Rick Wimberly & Lorin Bristow
Published by Galain Publishing
106 Gillette Drive
Franklin, TN 37069
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When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
— Viktor Frankl
It is wiser to find out than to suppose.
— Mark Twain
People are very open-minded about new things — as long as they're exactly like the old ones.
— Charles F. Kettering
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface: You’re Doing it All Wrong
Myth #1: RFPs Drive Government Business
Myth #4: Consultative Selling is Desirable
Myth #5: Sales Presentations Seal the Deal
Myth #6: Good Salespeople Overcome Objections and “Close” Myth #7: Marketing and Sales are on the Same Page
BONUS MYTH: If it is to Be It’s Up to Me
Three Final Secrets to Winning
About Government Selling Solutions (GSS)
You’re Doing it All Wrong
If
you’re using traditional sales techniques to sell to government,
you’re doing it all WRONG.
That’s correct. Wrong.
This year, local, state, and federal governments will spend nearly $5 TRILLION on all sorts of things. And they will spend it with people and companies who know how to win government contracts. Will vendors win these deals because they are better at traditional selling?
Absolutely not.
Star performers in these companies know when securing lucrative government contracts, normal sales techniques simply don’t work. This book will reveal their secrets and show you what really drives success in selling to local, state, and federal governments.
We will eradicate seven long-revered sales practices (plus a bonus) that are simply not effective in the government marketplace. Learn what they are, how to change them, and what to replace them with and you’ll maximize your success.
Five trillion dollars is a big pie (and we all love pie). Don’t leave it all to the big companies. When you learn their secrets you can get a slice of it for yourself.
What is this book about?
This book is about YOU. A smart, motivated sales professional who wants to make money selling to the government.
This is not a book on how to write proposals, access contract vehicles, or find grant sources…those topics are well covered elsewhere. This is a book drawn from our decades of experience and success selling millions of dollars in products and services to government agencies.
We have lived what we reveal in this book, and we have stepped on more than our fair share of land mines in the process. We want to keep you from making similar mistakes while benefitting from the lessons we’ve learned over the years.
It’s not that we didn’t try traditional sales techniques.
We used to think RFP ’s drive government business. They don’t. There is something much more important and necessary.
We were led to believe cold calling is king. It isn’t. But there is something that is.
We had been told, and believed, we should always go to the top when selling. You shouldn’t. Read the rest of this book to find out where you should go, why you should go there, and what you should do once you get there.
We had always believed solution selling would land the contract until we learned why we couldn’t do this even if we wanted to.
We often spent hours, even days, developing sales presentations only to discover we were doing them all wrong. We will show you why and what you should do instead.
We developed comprehensive scripts to overcome objections and press for a close. Then we discovered these techniques were way over-rated. Keep reading to find out which techniques really are essential.
We thought sales and marketing work hand-in-hand. They do not. They’re not even on the same planet. We will, however, reveal how to leverage the efforts of both.
And we chanted the mantra “If it is to be, it’s up to me” only to find we could not achieve the financial and personal level of success we desired all by ourselves. This book will reveal how to get it for yourself.
We will do more than uncover the practices and principles that don’t work. We will open up for you a toolbox of techniques, principles, methods, systems, and attitudes that do work, and they work unbelievably well!
Selling to governments requires a complete package. By that we mean you need to address more than cold factual sales technique and methodology. We are confident if you understand how B2G selling is different from what you may have been taught, you, too can tap into this lucrative marketplace.
Building a Foundation
Before we delve into conquering government markets, we must first tell you a few of our biases and underlying beliefs. You’ll see these woven throughout this book as they are fundamental to our approach and, we believe, your success. Warning: they can be a bit sappy, but you’ll survive. Even hard-nosed sales and business development people have a few soft spots here and there (particularly the more successful ones).
Integrity
Government agencies buy products and services with taxpayers’ money – OUR money. We take this seriously. Because of this, we believe a sales or business development person has a duty to provide its customers with products and services that meet the expectations they set. Keep your promises! This doesn’t mean you have to give away the farm. You shouldn’t. It does mean you should approach the sale with the strongest measure of ethics and honesty.
The government sales and business development secrets discussed here will not help you manipulate or deceive customers into buying. It will help you determine what really motivates customers and how to position your products and services in ways that unleash value. You’ll benefit. They’ll benefit.
Listening
GSS is a division of Galain Solutions, Inc. “Galain” is a Native American Indian word meaning “listen,” which is something we strive to do with our customers (see how important it is?). It’s also at the heart of the government selling secrets.
The harsh truth is government procurement processes often make “selling by listening” difficult to achieve. Pre-bid meetings, RFPs, contract vehicles, etc. all are designed to water down your ability to unduly influence the buyer even when intentions are otherwise honorable. There’s a tremendous amount of accountability in government buying. No one, not even the President or the Mayor, really has the ability to write a check to a vendor without visibility and accountability. Not to say people haven’t been caught with their hands in the government till. They have. But be assured, someone, somewhere saw them do it. In order for the government to buy something, there’s generally a complex maze of things that must happen before checks are written. When you hear of abuse, it’s because someone figured out how to sneak around the maze without getting caught (at least in the short term).
Unfortunately the limitations designed to protect the public’s money also dilute the sincere sales professional’s ability to diagnose and present creative solutions. Despite the challenge, this book will teach you ways for getting to the heart of buyers ’ needs, then presenting your approach to fixing the problem – despite the maze you’ll be navigating.
Process
While we are not big fans of imposing weighty, rigid processes on sales teams, we have observed and fostered over the years certain consistent behaviors of top producers. Successful sales and business development people appreciate good processes. They embrace them. Weak performers hate them. (Umm, it is the processes they hate, not necessarily their successful colleagues…well, most of the time, anyway).
We believe outlining and distilling these habits (many of them natural tendencies) into a replicable, teachable process can positively impact individual results. We’ve seen it first-hand. So, we offer this sales model as a guideline for success − not something to focus on with such intensity it becomes its own distraction.
By dispelling the myths and practicing the secrets presented here, you can thrive in government sales, creating a lucrative long-term income stream that compounds year by year.
Patience
We’re going to show you short cuts, but they may not be what you would think. Our short-cuts come from placing you on a path, showing you how to navigate it, and encouraging you to stay on the path − even though the path is a not a short one. Government sales cycles are long…real long. Pretty much everyone knows that, but often we see people lulled into a belief they’re going to get lucky and huge government orders are going to fall from the sky in short order. They say they know better, but when a year passes and government sales haven’t closed, they start looking toward the blue sky. When they see nothing but blinding light, they lose patience and get off the path on which they embarked.
Don’t get us wrong. Even the best of paths need navigational adjustments. But getting too far off the path means you just waste time trying to find your way back. This is a common problem in government sales. We’ve seen it time and time again.
However, there are good maps (or I guess we should say good GPS devices) available. And, the rewards for staying the course can be quite nice indeed.
Are you ready to open your mind to new ideas that may challenge your old ways of thinking? Are you prepared to eradicate harmful selling myths and succeed like never before in government sales? Then read on and let our odyssey begin.
MYTH #1: RFPs drive government business.
Fact #1: Relationships drive government business.
When we first talk with potential clients who have little or no experience in the government space, they usually tell us their approach to government business has but two tracks - go to some trade shows and respond to some RFPs. They want us to tell them which shows to attend and, even more importantly, show them how to uncover more RFPs.
Ah, if it were only that easy! Business owners hear about people getting rich selling to the government. They hear about the huge amounts of money the government is spending in an effort to sweeten the economy. Their attention is captured by ads in magazines, even infomercials on TV, about how easy it can be to sell to the government. They want in on the action, too, and think all they have to do is respond to some RFPs. Even experienced government business bosses think RFP responses is how they’re making money. They are wrong!
We work with a client who, for more than thirty years, has an impressive record of winning RFPs. Their win rate is well over 80%. Meantime, we know another company with a win rate of less than 10%. Both bid on $100,000-plus solution-oriented contracts. Both have strong credentials and impressive stories to tell. Both are priced competitively.
Here’s where they are different: the winning company will not submit a response to an RFP, even if well-qualified for the opportunity, unless they have an established relationship and have been involved well before the RFP was issued. The losing company will bid on virtually any opportunity where they could possibly meet the specifications, prior established relationship or not.
You can imagine the difference in efficiency and effectiveness between these two companies. Enormous amounts of time and energy are expended in the RFP -oriented company. Lead generation, relationship building, and product development suffer because everyone is too “busy”. After all, an approaching RFP deadline fuels the fires of activity.
In the less RFP -oriented company, emphasis is placed on understanding needs early on, establishing strong value propositions, proving themselves at every turn, and gracefully walking away when they cannot help or cannot win.
The more selective relationship -driven RFP responder is growing. The RFP-driven company is shrinking.
A “passive-aggressive” sales strategy is a mistake.
Many times, companies use a “passive-aggressive” sales strategy . They passively wait for an RFP to be issued within the company’s line of business. Then, once identified, they aggressively invest the attention and actions of hordes of people to figure out how to spin the company’s response so their proposal is favored.
Don’t misunderstand us. Responding to RFPs is certainly a requirement for playing in the government space and doing it effectively is both an art and a science. You’ll likely never be able to eliminate RFP responses completely (more on this later); however, if the bulk of your opportunity development strategy is built around uncovering and responding to RFPs, yours will be a difficult ride.
Get in front of an RFP, not behind it.
It is imperative to understand that, at the RFP stage, specifications are set in stone and you’re already too late to the party. Many times, preferences for a certain vendor have been well established. Plus, at the RFP stage, all of your competitors have the same information at the same time, and limited discovery can occur once the RFP is issued. And any questions posed to prospects must be shared with everyone. Not the ideal situation. No, our real goal is to get in front of prospects BEFORE specifications are developed so we can have an impact on the requirements before they’re locked in. And, no, we’re not talking about bid-rigging or exercising undue influence…far from it.
The ultimate picture of success here would be creating a sole source situation where competition is effectively excluded because your company is the only real option given the prospect ’s needs—needs you helped define after understanding their problems and objectives.
How, as a sales team, do you get in the door before the RFP is issued? It’s all about relationship -building. Read on. Here’s what you need to know.
Build relationships, emphasize commitment, and demonstrate trust .
When we talk about relationships in government sales, we’re not talking about making buddies and BFFs of the people involved in government buying, (although we enjoy the relationships we’ve built over the years with many of our government customers). We’re talking more about relationships that genuinely serve the mutual needs of everyone involved. They don’t have to be especially friendly relationships, but they do need to be ones where a foundation of trust has been forged and a structure of reliance and competence has been built.
“Isn’t that true of selling to anyone?” you ask.
Yes, you’re right to some degree…but it’s more acute in government sales. People in a position to buy something, or more accurately, recommend something be bought by the government, are not risk-takers. In the first place, they generally take very seriously their duty to spend tax money wisely. Those who don’t do so won’t stay in a position to buy long. They may not lose their jobs. They may not be demoted. They may not even know they’ve lost their clout, but lose it they will.
People who buy stuff for the government know their decisions will be closely watched by many people. In some cases, votes can be lost, or worse, people can literally suffer injury because of bad government buys. Government buyers (and when we say buyers, we don’t mean just the people who have “buyer” in their title; we mean anyone involved in the process) know that, if they make a mistake, it will not be a quiet mistake. They know their mistakes stick even if they do well the next quarter. Government moves at a slower pace than the private sector. That means, when a mistake is made, it takes longer for people to forget about them.
So, it only makes sense that folks in the government want to do business with people and companies they trust. Trust only comes through a positive relationship. Sometimes these relationships take years to establish. Other times they can be established in a first meeting.
What we’re about to discuss is information from some pretty heavy-duty research on how business relationships are formed. Much of the information here stems from work conducted by Robert Morgan and Shelby Hunt in the area of relationship marketing. 1
While research details can get pretty hairy when delving into psychological processes such as this, we will simplify the findings to provide realistic and practical advice on building relationships and trust with prospects and other business partners – particularly in the government space.
The first question you may ask is, “What exactly do we mean by relationship commitment?”
The definition Morgan & Hunt offer is a pretty good one:
Relationship Commitment—An exchange partner believing that an ongoing relationship with another is so important as to warrant maximum efforts at maintaining it; that is, the committed party believes the relationship is worth working on to ensure it endures indefinitely.
That sounds about right to us. After all, from both a corporate and individual selling standpoint, our ultimate goal should be to create lasting relationships with our customers—relationships so valuable they will expend their own energy to sustain it.
A few years ago, a large, prestigious customer from a law enforcement agency visited us and the company we were representing. We paraded him in front of Mr. K, the CEO, knowing the customer would sing our praises and make us look good to the boss. Imagine our shock when the customer said, “Mr. K, your company has let me down.”
We squirmed. We wondered what in the heck we did wrong. We had been working hard to make this persnickety customer happy. He continued by telling Mr. K, “I invest a lot of time and effort into building a relationship with a vendor, and I don’t let many penetrate our walls. I’m very selective, and your company is one of the ones I hand-picked, but here’s where you let me down…you’ve not come back to sell me anything else!” Mr. K started squirming at that point, knowing we had been pushing him for more product to sell.
Our customer and other people of influence in the government have a lot on their plates. Forget about the stories you hear of government people constantly goofing off on the job. Yes, government has some hacks, like private businesses do, but these are not the people to whom you are selling. Goof-offs don’t find themselves in a position to buy, or to recommend buying. Their bosses and colleagues make sure they don’t. Besides, it’s as difficult, if not more so, to buy something in the government as it is to sell something to the government. Lazy government workers don’t want the hassle.
The people you want to influence are movers-and-shakers. They’re the ones with power, the ones like our visiting customer. And, they place a high value on trust and relationships.
Government customers with clout will actually help you sell to them. If they trust you and value the relationship, they will be your coaches. They will let you know what they want, and why. They’ll guide you through the maze you’re going to face. They won’t let pesky lower-priced competitors come between the two of you (even when pricing must be particularly competitive). Customers like these will keep buying from you over and over. Since they take their responsibilities seriously, they would be reckless not doing so.
So, understanding the factors affecting customer commitment could be very beneficial, right? We absolutely think so, too.
We can’t go much further into the discussion without defining trust:
Trust—the willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence.
As you might expect, the amount of trust that exists between two parties has a major impact on the level of relationship commitment and involvement. Trust is central to commitment, but technically it is also a concept that stands on its own. Trust and commitment are two sides of the same coin to some degree. Increase your level of relationship commitment and trust, and you’ve got yourself a long-term customer you can’t beat off with a stick.
Strong commitment & trust yield four benefits.
Before we dig into the key drivers of relationship commitment and trust , let’s first take a look at what focusing on these two things will get you. Technically, these are often referred to as “outcomes.” Research has shown there are some pretty nifty benefits to making concerted efforts at building relationship commitment and trust.
Benefit #1: Greater
“Acquiescence.” Acquiescence is not a pretty term as we
hard-charging, independent types don’t typically like the idea of
“acquiescing’ to anything. And, we have made it pretty clear our
sales approach should not be coercive in nature. However, it’s an
accurate description of one of the relationship benefits. Take a
look at how Morgan and Hunt define the term.
Acquiescence—the degree to which a relationship partner accepts or adheres to another’s specific requests or policies.
We hope prospects will take our advice and acquiesce to our requests related to buying our products. With channel partners or distributors, we expect them to actively promote our products and conform to certain policies and procedures. Stronger relationship commitment and trust will yield a greater likelihood of compliance with these desires.
It should be noted that such acquiescence doesn’t stem from abusive power. Acquiescence through intimidation or coercion is a hallmark of dysfunction. However, in healthy relationships, we frequently find ourselves bowing to the other party’s wishes (“Yes, dear.”). We do so because we value the relationship and desire for it to continue. This is the “right” kind of acquiescence that stems from positive relationship bonds.
Benefit #2: Lower Propensity to Leave. No you haven’t just turned on an episode of Dr. Phil. We are still talking about building relationships and the benefits of doing so within a government selling environment. In this case, “propensity to leave” is not about showing up at your house to find your clothes, your collection of vinyl records from the 70’s and your flat-screen TV in a pile on the front yard while your significant other is escaping to Tijuana to “find themselves”. It is about a customer, prospect or channel partner’s decision not to buy or continue a partnership.
The research shows, as one would expect, buyers and business partners are less likely to seek another source for their desired product or service, and conversely more likely to hang around and spend money when there is a strong relationship commitment and trust . (As in our “Mr. K” example above.)
Benefit #3: Better Cooperation. The research shows greater relationship commitment enhances cooperation and coordination between two business-focused parties. Whether a new prospect or long-time channel partner, cooperation is needed to achieve virtually any desired result.
Cooperation is really a “higher order” outcome more than mere acquiescence. With acquiescence, only the most basic level of participation will occur—just enough interaction to get by. When a spirit of cooperation has been sown and cultivated, the fruit is a true collaborative partnership, with both of you pursuing the means to achieve a set goal.
For example, in the case of a channel partner, the company may begrudgingly yield to contractual requirements for advertising your product. When cooperating, they may actually proactively suggest new messages and media for advertising—fulfilling the role of a truly engaged business partner.
Benefit #4: More Productive Conflict. Productive conflict? Do we really want conflict from prospects, customers and channel partners? The answer is a resounding “YES!” In any relationship, there will be disagreements and differing viewpoints. The goal should not be to eliminate these divergent opinions, but instead harness and leverage them.
When there is strong relationship commitment and trust between parties, conflict can produce ideas and innovations that would have never arisen otherwise. The benefit of working through difficult times will have lasting positive effects. In fact, the time to start worrying the most is not when conflict arises, but when no one cares enough about the relationship to raise a fuss.
Besides, you’ll find many government decision-makers are crusty types. They appreciate candor, even disagreements, more than “suck up sales types”. There have been many times when disagreements and differing viewpoints, expressed properly, showed me a government buyer was buying into what we had to say.
[Rick] I was recently in a meeting with a senior official of a state police agency. He was a cantankerous guy by nature and skeptical by training. He took me to task more than once, then very openly questioned my motivations for doing something significantly less expensively than others, who would have charged a pretty penny. I quietly fumed and let him go on. After the meeting, I asked to speak to him privately in the hall. For a short guy without a gun and badge talking to a tall guy with a gun and badge, I explained to him in very clear terms why I was motivated to do the work for as little as I was charging. I laid out two very reasonable things I wanted from him in exchange. I also told him that I had been asked to do the work as a favor for a staffer of his I had known for years. His tone changed immediately. I got what I wanted. He got what he wanted. This senior official is now an ally, a very good and important one. We had just gone through productive conflict.
Then, there was the time I rather forcefully suggested to a big group of U.S. Postal Service buyers that we could use FedEx to ship the product I was trying to sell to the Postal Service to post offices across the country. Umm, not such a productive conflict.
Strategies for Building Commitment & Trust
Now that we’ve seen the benefits of focusing on relationship -building, let’s dissect business relationships and discover the steps to building better commitment and trust. The discussion points here apply to all manner of government business relationships, ranging from prospects, to customers, to channel partners.
Strategies for Building Commitment & Trust
Strategy 1: Discover and Nurture Shared Values.
Shared values are simply beliefs or principles commonly agreed upon between exchange partners (customers, prospects, channel partners, etc.). Strong shared values indicate two people are like-minded with regards to what is important or unimportant, and what is right or wrong.
While “shared values” sound like deep, complex sets of beliefs, they can be fairly mundane interests like sports, hobbies or activities if they are truly important to the exchange partner. The common interest could be a certain volunteer creative problem-solving program for students. (Shameless plug for my pet volunteer organization, Destination ImagiNation®.) Interestingly, research has shown shared values is the only component to impact both relationship commitment and trust at the same time.
It is a concept with which we are all familiar. Each of us has met people with whom we’ve “hit it off” very quickly. Many times, the connection is made due to the discovery of some belief, practice or principle shared between us. This can be as superficial as recognizing the person sitting next to you on a plane uses the same brand of computer, or as deep as finding yourself in the middle of a crisis and discovering another person shares your same religious views.
Leverage shared values to enhance sales performance. If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, you have probably heard the rapport-building advice that upon entering a prospect ’s office, you should look for ways to connect with what is important to him/her on an individual level. Pictures of family on his desk? Talk about your kids. Golf trophies on her bookshelf? Tell her about your trip to Pebble Beach. These cues are indicators of some interest or value that could provide a connection point.
The goal, according to traditional thinking, is to establish personal rapport through aligning oneself with the prospect’s interest. It’s decent advice on the surface, as honing in on prospect passions is clearly an effective method for easing initial introductions.
However, deeper relationship building requires expanding this practice beyond the initial meeting. Salespeople should move past thinking the method is just an ice-breaking gimmick. Instead, focus on ways to build a deeper shared value framework between you as the seller and your prospect or partner over the long-term.
Even though there’s little, if no, wining and dining in government sales, shared values can still be established in short order. Those who influence government buying are generally passionate, multi-faceted, and interesting people. They don’t mind talking about their interests, and will appreciate your interest …as long as it’s not forced or insincere.
Practically, what steps do we take to make this work? Here are some key steps in the process:
Leveraging Shared Values
Observe. Make a concerted and discreet effort to become more aware of interests and values.
Capture. Make notes about the interests/values you uncover and capture these in your contact database for future reference.
Review. Revisit the values you have observed and captured for your entire prospect list regularly so you’ll keep them fresh in your mind.
Collect. Be on constant lookout for things you know will pique your prospects ’ interest or tap into mutually shared values. Simple things like news articles or pertinent websites are great.