Five Alternatives to Cutting Price
Five options to consider the next time you find yourself in a situation where you think you must cut price…
Win Without Pitching®: Thinking
Menu
Navigating the Sale
Everybody On the Same (New Business) Page
“We never pitch.” It was a lie. We pitched all the time but I was getting tired of it. I’d seen this film before and I knew how it ended. I wanted to try to change the ending, even if I didn’t know what should come after my small act of defiance.
The Only New Business Indicator That Matters
If you want to predict your likelihood of winning new business (and therefore whether or not it makes sense to pour resources into the opportunity) just ask yourself this one question.
Who Will Be the Adult In the Room?
Why do agencies get themselves into these situations where they feel they have to take work on onerous terms, where they have to put up with procurement’s powerplay moves and where they have no power to affect price?
The PowerPoint Problem
There are many patterns one sees after working with hundreds of creative and marketing firms on their approach to business development, and one of them is an over reliance on presentation software like PowerPoint. When I spot a strategy document written for a client or the firm itself that was composed in PowerPoint I know we have a problem and I can immediately identify the co-presenting symptoms.
Coaches Corner: How Would You Derail This RFP?
The WWP coaching team received this email this week from a webcast viewer about an opportunity they’re trying to close. We thought we could have some fun by answering publicly to see if you would respond the same way or differently.
The Art of Walking Away
‘You are never worse off walking away,’ said Harvey Mackay in his book on selling and negotiating, Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. People want what they can’t have and often they need to lose or risk losing something before they fully appreciate it. That’s one of the reasons why the Take-Away can be one of the more effective closing techniques in your arsenal.
The Polite Battle for Control
In simple terms, agency business development can be described as the polite battle for control. In this brief 20-point thesis on modern day business development philosophy for marketing communication agencies, I’ll make the argument for control as the goal.
Responding to Requests for Proposals
Building an agency one request for proposal (RFP) at a time is a painful and potentially humiliating way to grow a business. And while winning without pitching means not playing the RFP game, there’s more subtlety to the approach than simply saying no and feeling good about yourself all the way to bankruptcy. In this
How to Respond to “Show Us Your Work”
“Show us your work,” is an invitation from a prospect to step closer, to open or deepen a dialogue. This request can take many forms: “show me what you can do,” “tell me about your services,” or even “I’ve got an RFP, and we’d like to know if you’re interested (in giving away your high value thinking for free).”
Learn how to win
without pitching and apply value-based pricing.
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