Getting New Business: Closing Consulting Deals

If you’re thinking of becoming an Independent Consultant, one question that might be weighing on your mind is how to get your first few clients and land your first few assignments. After all, you’re not in business until you can start successfully closing consulting job deals. If you’re new to consulting and haven’t yet landed your first big project, you may be in the process of trying out various marketing methods to try to generate some leads. But what happens when you finally get that first big lead? Many new consultants end up getting so involved in the process of marketing themselves and landing their first assignment that they didn’t think about what their next step would be when they finally received an inquiry.

Know who you are talking to. If you take a live phone call inquiry, you won’t have much of a choice but to think on your feet and try to google your new lead while you talk. But if you get a lead through a voicemail message or email, take a few moments before you respond to research the company. Is your contact a gatekeeper, or are you speaking directly with the decision maker? If you have the opportunity before you have a live conversation, find out whatever you can about the person you're going to be speaking with and his or her role within the company.

Research the company and their competition. As a consultant, you’re ultimately trying to help your client improve something about their business, and this often involves competing with similar businesses. Do your homework and find out what their competitors are doing in the areas that you’ll be helping them. This will help you identify trends in the industry and may even help you uncover a missing consumer need that you can help your client fill. You also want to research your client. Find out what’s been said about them recently in the news, interview some of their staff if possible, and if it applies, and research their website, their history, and their executives. Knowing your client inside and out allows you the best possible chance of meeting their needs.

Start by asking open-ended questions. Open-ended questions get the dialogue flowing and require your client to give you more than a simple one-word answer. You want them to share as much information as possible, because you want to identify a need that you can fill. Don’t assume you understand their challenges or what they are looking for. Find out how they found out about you, what services they’re interested in, why they need your help, and what they’re looking for in a consultant. Before ending this initial conversation, set a firm follow-up date when you’ll meet or talk again.

Determine who has the decision making power, and make sure you can get in front of that person. If you aren’t careful and tuned in, you might be about to waste your efforts selling to someone who doesn’t have the decision making power to hire you – and then be reliant on that person selling you to their boss. Identify from the beginning who will be making the decisions, and focus the proposal process on them.

Identify the benefits your services will offer. Using your research findings and the information you gathered from your client during your intake interview, match the benefits of your services to the needs of your client. Benefits are different from features. A feature is an aspect of your business or your services, such as the fact that you offer search engine optimization services. A benefit is what it means to your client, in this case, improved search engine rankings.

Create a winning proposal. Put all this information in writing in a professional format. Discuss the background of your client, identify their problems, and outline how your services are going to solve each of their problems. Don’t forget to include cost information, using value-based propositions, and any legal information that is necessary, such as ownership of written materials. While you should include features, or what services you are providing, be sure to focus on the benefits that your clients will receive, or how you will help them obtain their objectives. Also remember that while it’s good to use a standard, professional looking template for your proposal, always triple check to make sure that all the boiler plate text you are using is relevant for the project at hand. And more than anything, ensure you have correctly spelled the name of your new client!

Present your proposal in person, if possible. If you and your client are geographically distant, try to review your proposal with them live over the phone. This will reduce the possibility of them misinterpreting something in your proposal, and makes you aware of any potentially confusing areas that you can clarify in writing prior to getting a signed contract. Being as clear and concise as possible in all written communications and contracts reduces your liability. Before ending this call, ask for the business, and if your client is not able to commit to using your services on the spot, set a firm follow-up date. Many times, a client will have to get a final approval from a higher-up or a finance manager before signing on an independent contractor. Setting a firm follow-up date makes your next call predictable; Your client expects your call, so you don’t appear like a pushy salesperson.

Always leave the door open for a potential business relationship. If your client says no, try to find out what the deciding factors were, and ask if you can follow up with them in a few months. Just because your client cannot or chooses not to use your services at this time, doesn’t mean that there will never come a time when they might need or want what you have to offer. Be sure to leave yourself an in that allows you to communicate with your potential client periodically, just to remind them that you’re there if they need you, even if it just means adding them to your mailing list. And be sure to capture any valuable feedback you can glean from the experience – there may be areas where you were not competitive, or did not have specific skills to offer, that may have made all the difference. Knowing what cost you the business can help you improve your offerings in the future.

Get the deal in writing. If you do win the business, make sure you write up the deal with a solid contract, and get it signed before the good feelings fade. Don’t rely on their generic contract – it will be on terms favorable to them. When you’re setting up your business, work with a legal advisor to create your own contracts that are favorable to you, while still being fair. Cover yourself by making sure the terms for delivery of services and payment are clear. You can also consider running the contract through an intermediary, such as a portable employer of record, which can create an advantageous buffer between you and your client. As with anything, it’s a good idea to explore all your options and take the road that has the best deal for you.

Following these steps will help you have a plan to close deals effectively. Having a solid plan of approach means you will always know what your next step should be, and leaves little room for you to leave potential business on the table because you failed to follow up effectively. This is particularly helpful for new consultants, who may get excited at the possibility of landing that first client, and fail to follow up after submitting a proposal out of fear of rejection. Few clients will refuse to allow you to follow up with them periodically, so by following the above method, you will rarely get a full rejection.