Winning New Consulting Business

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While all opportunities are different, nearly every partner and client
interviewed emphasized five key elements that influence our chance
of success - when consistently applied.
Five Elements of Winning New Business
Interaction
Relationship
Professional trust and
empathy
Measurable strength of
relationship
How clients feel about
XYZ and what we know
about the client
Message
XYZ’s response on how to
address the issueIssue
Scope and context of
what should be
addressed
Making issues and
setting direction
Interaction
Quantity and quality of
contacts between Client and
XYZ as proposal is being
developed
Client access and company
knowledge
Team
Those who prepare the proposals and
meet with the clients
Collaboration, leadership, “on the ground
capability”
Issue Message
Team
Relationship
Interaction
Interaction enables the
understanding of issues. XYZ
should quickly assemble a team
which is most capable of responding
to the issues. The team should
develop the appropriate messages
while in parallel building the right
relationships.
Five Key Elements
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Critical Element
Effective interaction requires active listening, early communications
and intensive engagement with decision makers and influencers.
Interaction
Embark on discovery process Listen intently, especially in early meetings
Make clients feel understood
Reiterate client concerns and issues to demonstrate understanding
Respect the client’s challenge by delaying some responses even if you already know the answer
Confirm problem definition and understand solution boundaries
Ask client if you are understanding the problem correctly
Ask about the project sponsor’s span of control and what items are out of bounds
Determine if any solutions would be infeasible
Test insights and approaches
Be subtle; use analogies from past experiences
Take risks to test approach and scope (e.g., suggest that a broader contingent of client executives
should be involved in decision-making)
Note concepts that resonate with the client
Revise approach to reflect most recent discussion with client
Swarm decision-makers and influencers with proposal team members
Match appropriate XYZ personnel with client individuals
Tailor messages for client individual hot buttons
Hinder competitive access when possible by occupying client’s time
Respond with immediacy and commitment / leverage professional equity to make the schedule convenient
Be sensitive to XYZ-client chemistry; make team adjustments as required
Abandon bids where client limits interaction for reasons that are disadvantageous to XYZ such as:
Client is looking for an approach for another consultant
Client is seeking to confirm the price of a competitive bid
Purchasing agent manages the bid process and the project sponsor is inaccessible
It seems likely that the engagement would proceed without sponsor involvement
How we should do it
Make problem solving
collaborative
Demonstrate disproportionate
commitment vs. expectations
Consider abandoning bids where
client interaction is restricted

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Assemble Appropriate Team
Early
Critical Elements
Dedicate Significant Partner
Time
Target team resources to
each element of client
problem (expertise and
chemistry)
Demonstrate firm
leadership, commitment
and experience
Embody Business Integration
in the Team
Personalize the abstract
concept of BI by involving
industry and functional
experts
Effective teaming is critical to winning proposals since it leverages
the wealth of XYZ and client resources and mirrors the scope of the
issue addressed.
Team
Appoint and Empower a
Partner Proposal Leader
Centralize effort and ensure
expertise, leadership and
commitment
Issue Message
Team
Relationship
Interaction
Why we should do this

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Effective message delivery outlines XYZ's tangible value to the client,
relative strength compared to competitors, and unique qualifications.
Message
Critical Behaviors
Be concise
How we should do this
Focus on items on top of the client’s mind
Identify the client’s key questions about the project’s issue
Respond to those key questions early in any communication
“Pre-consult” to articulate insight and strong points of view on a topic or the client’s industry
Think of the proposal as a first progress report
Show progress toward solving the client’s problem by presenting some initial data, or a rigorous framework
that will clearly lead to a solution
Some competitors structure orals as project status meetings, with proposal details as a minor agenda item
Outline engagement benefits
Clearly and concisely describe how a project will benefit the client organization, especially how a project will
meet a client’s goals
Subtly address how client individuals will benefit from the project
For projects with quantifiable results, use numeric business cases; for other projects, list intangible benefits
Include milestones and deliverable schedule
Support evaluation criteria that are to XYZ’s advantage, for example:
• Speed of change Multiple competencies
• Global reach Implementation strength
Determine who the competitors are
Ask the client, XYZ experts and experienced hires about competing firms and individuals
Determine nature and extent of client relationships with competitor firms and individuals
Reflect this understanding in our approach; determine competitors’ likely approaches and selling tactics for the
specific issue, industry and client
Subtly and indirectly call out competitor weaknesses in our message
Avoid naming or putting down competitors directly
Emphasize project and consultant requirements that are difficult for competitors to meet
Use only hard hitting relevant credentials
Include explicit statements of unique XYZ qualifications
Demonstrate tangible results achieved for solving similar problems
A few hard hitting cases are more effective than a laundry list of clients in the same industry
Early in the proposal process, provide easy-access client references to serve as XYZ advocates
Add value immediately
Emphasize Integrated Strategy
Subtly undermine competitors
Demonstrate similar successes

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Interaction
Always strive to over-deliver
Issue
Always set up the “burning question” to show deep understanding
of the issues and articulate the need for action
Always place exceptional emphasis on a client’s task, personal,
and political motives
Team
Always lead with the most appropriate and credible contact, not
necessarily the client partner.
Message
Always test and shape your selling messages with the client before
you deliver the proposal
Always “ring the cash register” in the proposal - demonstrate
tangible P&L impact from the engagement
Always try to incorporate Integrated Strategy’s unique value
proposition in the proposal
Always know and effectively position your offering against our
competitor’s selling strategy or approach
Always conclude a job by delivering a submission memo which
summarizes work done, value added, and subtly identifies new
areas of concern
Relationship
Always view the selling process through the eyes of the prospect
Always take client’s interest first - the big engagements will follow
Interaction
Never invest in Alpha or Alpha+ opportunities without sufficient
client interaction or without the presence of a strong relationship
Never surprise the client, except as a strategy to deny the
competition an opportunity to respond
Issue
Never ignore the client’s initial question; reframe the issue after
first addressing the client’s key concern
Team
Never delegate primary responsibility for driving relationships or
proposals below AP
Never ask for a partner’s initial point of view the night before the
proposal is due; seek to get early partner involvement
Never propose by committee; appoint a partner to lead efforts
Message
Never assume that the superiority of what you are proposing, by
itself, will ensure you win the work
Relationship
Never rely on relationship alone to win new work; seek to
leverage relationships to improve interaction, issue, team and
message
We have also developed a checklist to be used as a helpful
reminder for Winning New Business.
Moving Ahead with Winning Proposals
Always Never

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Team
ComplicationSituation Winning Behavior - Team
Assemble Appropriate Team Early
The market unit team assigned to this client
marshaled firm resources by reaching out to the
partner within XYZ who had a personal relationship
at Frito-Lay. The ‘customized’ team of partners
“rallied around the opportunity, contributing
whatever each could do best, and trusting each
other to act in a manner most likely to secure our
success.”- John Rollins, Partner
Dedicate Significant Partner Time
Ten partners worldwide, mobilized in a coordinated,
cross competency effort to develop and lead
proposal workshops, meet with client teams and
craft an integrated proposal approach and value
proposition
Embody Business Integration in the Team
Team representation came from multiple operating
units (consumer packaged goods), lines of business
(supply chain), and competencies (Strategy,
Technology, Process and Change Management)
Large packaged foods
company transforming
from a country-based to
a pan-European
operating model and
supply chain structure
Business transformation
intended to capture
financial benefits (from a
new tax structure) as
well as wide range of
operational efficiencies
No existing XYZ working
relationship with the
company in Europe
Demand for
accelerated
reorganization
schedule
Consolidation of
supply chain over
several geographies
Massive
transformation already
underway across the
organization -
encompassing
Supply Chain
Organization
Corporate
Structure
Business Systems
Unit Consolidation
The Frito-Lay team embodied Business Integration, representing a
wide range of personal experience and firm capabilities in a single
business transformation engagement.
Team - Frito-Lay Europe
Case Study

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ComplicationSituation Winning Behavior
Issue
Define Problem Accurately - Clearly articulated client’s internal challenges in
packaging design, manufacturing, and distribution
Frame Issues Insightfully - Used industry data and experience to show depth
and breadth of clients supply chain problems; compelling burning platform
Team
Assemble Appropriate Team Early - Four experienced partners with deep
industry, functional and executional experience demonstrated world class insight
and experience
Message
Be Concise - Took risky approach with shock proposal; made very strong point
of view that captured the attention of client individuals
Add Value Immediately - Told client which plants should be closed in proposal,
and set target savings goals
Emphasize Integrated Strategy - Explained implementation difficulty of closing
plants and making broad demand and supply chain changes
Subtly Undermine Competitors - Demonstrated deeper insight and action-
orientation that undermined competitor approaches
Relationship
Build Trust - Frank communication in proposal began deep and serious
dialogue with client individuals
Nurture and Maintain Personal Relationships - After proposal presentation,
client immediately asked to get to know proposal team personally
Consciously matched XYZ and client individuals
Intense series of dinners and informal meetings strengthened individual
bonds
Also made good impression on receptionist and limo driver, whose input was
sought by selection team.
Understand State of Mind - We learned prior to our presentation that the client
had already made a decision; we changed our approach.
Fruit grower
cooperative/beverage
manufacturer faced supply and
demand pressure from:
Peaking commodity raw
material prices
Fragmented and intense
competition from new and
established entrants
Growing consumer
demand for healthy, single
serve drinks
Growing retailer
sophistication and power
Client was internally challenged
with:
45% over-capacity
Outdated manufacturing
technology
Long lead times
Long change-overs
Large product waste
High unplanned downtime
No existing
relationship with
client individuals
Not all client
issues were
clear and
revealed at first
Learned late in
proposal
process that
decision was
already made to
award work to a
competitor
A very experienced team strongly articulated Ocean Spray’s multi-faceted
strategy and executional challenges and recommended a solution to
undermine a competitor who was nearly awarded the engagement.
Ocean Spray Case Study

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