Growing Business with Technical Staff
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The document discusses strategies for using technical staff to help grow a business. It proposes a 6-month program where technical staff volunteer to regularly attend local agencies' meetings to become familiar faces, with the goals of generating more work opportunities and expanding the business's geography. Staff would be assigned local agencies and encouraged with small contests and recognition for their participation. Questions from attendees would be addressed to help them understand and contribute to business development efforts.
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Growing Business with Technical Staff
- 1. Growing Business with the Help of Technical Staff Laura Ricci, MBA Principal Consultant
- 4. STEP 1: Diagnose from symptoms Strategic Master Tactical Journeyman Ad Hoc Tourist Strong plan Weak planning Skip planning Technical confirmed Ask “what do they want?” Read RFP, start re-writing Best statement of benefits? Editing and adding graphics Checklist against RFP, filling gaps. Integrated Theme Timid theme Silly cover (call it a Theme) Hit Rate: 55 – 75% Hit Rate: 40 – 60% Hit Rate: 30 – 45%
- 5. STEP 1: Diagnose from symptoms Strategic Master Tactical Journeyman Ad Hoc Tourist Strong plan Weak planning Skip planning Technical confirmed Ask “what do they want?” Read RFP, start re-writing Best statement of benefits? Editing and adding graphics Checklist against RFP, filling gaps. Integrated Theme Timid theme Silly cover (call it a Theme) Hit Rate: 55 – 75% Hit Rate: 40 – 60% Hit Rate: 30 – 45% Agendas Scheduled meetings Get togethers Glitches anticipated and planned for / mitigated Late when something changes in the work plan Always late with projects
- 9. Goals Strategies Actions Objectives Constraints Metrics Win more work Feed office growth ID new projects Find new opptys Pipeline emptying Find 12 prospects for next year Grow BD capabilities Increase BD competence for growing office Add to BD capability by grooming engineers Add tech. staff to BD efforts How to ID? ID at least 6 candidates for mentoring Find BD talent Trial BD activities ABCs of BD for any/all interested engineers ID promising talent among staff Suspected lack of talent ID at least 6 candidates for mentoring Expand Geography Infiltrate new cities & plan BD for next year Visit new jurisdictions Investigate potential for work New/unknown jurisdiction Intel on 40 agencies by end of year
- 20. Questions?
- 21. Storytelling 101
- 22. Storyboards
- 23. How Can I Help You?
- 24. Questions?
- 25. Growing Business with the Help of Technical Staff www.1Ricci.com http://www.slideshare.net/LRicci/smps-2011
- 27. COMPETENCIES Ad Hoc Tourist Struggles to meet schedule. Hit rate: 30 - 45% Proposal Team intervention will raise this 10 percentage points. Measure of success: They meet schedule. Tactical Journeyman Struggles to create robust storyboards. Benefits are a bit weak, but will be improved by a strong white team review. Hit rate: 40 - 60% Proposal Team intervention will raise this rate 15 percentage points. Measure of success: storyboards become robust enough that new players can write sections without briefing. Benefits are obvious and strong. Proposal is compelling. Strategic Master A master is ready for theme development: They have a good understanding of the proposal process and they know the client. Their storyboards inspire unique and interesting additions. They are capable of delegating much of the writing and should be encouraged to do so by the Marketing Team Leader. Their storyboards are excellent training materials for proposal managers who may be asked to write a section or two. After storyboards, the Master's focus should return to the client and, if appropriate, monitoring of the client relationship. Hit rate: 55 to 75% Proposal Team intervention will raise this rate as much as 20 percentage points. Measure of success: Clients feed back your theme in subsequent conversations or meetings. Proposal is delivered early.
- 29. 08/24/11 Volume: Technical Writer: Laura Ricci Date Due: September 5 Section : Approach Subsection: Landscaping and Irrigation Title: Sacramento Skateboard Park Theme: Riding The Wave, Jumping All Hurdles Page Limit: 1 Tables/Art Notes/Sketches: No. Figures: No. Tables: No. Photos: 1 Find a picture of a skateboarder with trees and landscaping in the background. Benefit Statement: We will design and install landscaping appropriate for the site and skateboarding facility. Lead Paragraph: Supporting Paragraphs: Park Landscaping Heavy traffic area landscaping
- 30. 08/24/11 Volume: Technical Writer: Laura Ricci Date Due: September 5 Section : Approach Subsection: Landscaping and Irrigation Title: Sacramento Skateboard Park Theme: Riding The Wave, Jumping All Hurdles Page Limit: 1 Tables/Art Notes/Sketches: No. Figures: No. Tables: No. Photos: 2 Benefit Statement: Your landscape design will ensure LEED status and help Native Live Oaks thrive along with the skateboarders. Lead Paragraph: Supporting Paragraphs: Approximately 50 native Live Oaks are on the site and most will be preserved in the design and construction. Describe Madison Oaks where we saved over 200 Live Oaks that continue to thrive with our specialized care and treatment during construction and landscape design that accommodates their requirements. Irrigation will be drip irrigation to meet LEED standards and also to protect the native Live Oaks. Describe the rainwater discharge system at Fairway Terrace that serves the drip irrigation system. Elevated planters will be used to preserve water and prevent run off. However, we also use the elevated planters to produce pressure sufficient to power the drip irrigation system at ground level. This reduces maintenance and saves energy with fewer pumps required.
Editor's Notes
- Yes, 40 civil engineers in one office will volunteer to spend 6 months making weekly BD calls. Along the way, you’ll discover latent talent that needs a bit of encouragement and polish to shine. As the Marketing or Business Development leader for your firm how do you do this? We’ll talk about case studies like this one, but more importantly I’ll show you my techniques so you can design, implement and measure success of your own projects.
- First, we diagnose the level of expertise. You don’t ask a two year old youngster to ride a two wheel bicycle, you give them a tricycle so they can develop the muscle control to pedal and steer, then you work your way up to a two wheeler. Develop your own diagnostic for your firm. These are mine for proposal teams. Yours may have different metrics, but you can see here that they are easy to define three levels of development or sophistication.
- What is a diagnostic you recognize at your firm. Jot one or two down on the back of this sheet and I’ll ask for volunteers to share their examples for these three levels of competence. The top ones are mine for proposal teams. Yours may have different metrics, but you can see here that they are easy to define three levels of development or sophistication. Start with a “Pet Peeve” and see if you can make a diagnositic from that. Who can share a diagnostic from their notes?
- “ Win more work” is a goal, but it’s not a SMART goal. Win $2 million in new contracts by the end of 2011 for a group of engineers booking $30 million annually is a SMART goal. 1. Who has a person they’ve identified as an Ad Hoc Tourist, and would be willing to work with me on setting a goal in front of the group? 2. Who has a person they’ve identified as a Tactical Journeyman… 3. Who has a person they’ve identified as a Strategic Master…
- Global Dismay is the fungus I see growing among Marketing staff. 1. You get inspired and have an idea you want to use at your firm. But moving it forward feels like walking in quicksand. The folks at your firm aren’t buying it. No one will help you get it off the ground. You get discouraged and figure your firm is different from the others you’ve heard of who are doing great things. Those other firms must have better . . . More . . . Greater . . . Than you have available at your firm. Don’t dismay! Rather than curb your enthusiasm, these next tools are used to very quickly tweak your ideas and implement them more gracefully than ever before. You can have an army of support from your firm, but each soldier will man a different weapon in the battle to win work. 2. Luckily, getting marketing initiatives off the ground aren’t elections. You don’t need a majority. In fact, too many hands can be a hindrance. A small percent of the others in your firm are needed in order to succeed. And you don’t need expert marketers to succeed. Just a small willingness and your ability to match tasks to talents is needed. Less than expert marketers have a role to play. I avoid trying to make professional staff into marketers. This is not their area of expertise. Design to their strengths and they win, and make you win.
- During this program we successfully captured intelligence on over 40 agencies, captured contact information for almost 200 decision-makers new to our firm, and were sole source for a major project of 120 acres being developed for a master planned community. I had the great idea first, and then worked on selling it internally. Designed for a large A&E firm. This program corralled over 40 volunteers, in one office of 70, to swamp local jurisdiction meetings. We engage everyone at their own level. None of the experienced marketers were in this program. Ordinary engineers, planners, and surveyors joined in. We used contests and prizes to keep folks motivated. They were learning marketing principles when they thought they were just sitting there watching. The contests highlighted what they were learning and why it was valuable to the marketing efforts of the firm. And it was amazingly effective. “They do all that kind of work around here.” Or so the prospects said after 4 months of the Program.
- Goals to Metrics I love these charts. It allows you to cover an broad range of information in a format that executives can digest quickly. All the suggestions and hot buttons from your firm can be embedded in this chart and move the discussion for action forward instead of sitting around discussing to death the issues. Notice that the Metrics are SMART. Then we measure ourselves and adjust accordingly. Constant tweaking is how you design your own best system for your firm. By adopting these best practices, Marketing can improve acceptance and participation in Business Development activities at your firm. I’ll tell you a secret: I generally had the great idea, and then used these tools to help the idea get traction. We know more than anyone in our firm about marketing. But we forget that they don’t know what we know intuitively. It takes us a few minutes to put the guidance for our great idea into a Goals to Metrics chart, and by doing so, allows our technical associates to join in and support our activities. Without this help, our great ideas sound crazy.
- Most of these agencies met weekly. Some met more often.
- 0. Take a few business cards in case someone introduces themselves to you and offers their business card. Baseball Cap to all comers. We discovered that they were being questioned as to why they were “just showing up” so we coached them on possible answers. 2. Just keeping in touch and making sure they knew management was aware of their commitment. 3. Taught them about being able to conjecture the outcome from just watching them on other issues. Prize was their choice of homemade pie. Keeping management visible. This month we also did “bed checks.” Office VP and I randomly showed up at a few meetings. Word got around fast that we were checking to be sure they were there! Most engineers weren’t aware we HAD a corporate database of contacts, but they all knew we sent Christmas cards out each year. They helped populate the database by contributing. Round up of results reported out. Gratitude expressed with a sweater with an embroidered company logo. Letter of “significant incident” for the personnel files send by Office VP.
- Baseball Cap to all comers. We discovered that they were being questioned as to why they were “just showing up” so we coached them on possible answers.
- 2. Just keeping in touch and making sure they knew management was aware of their commitment.
- 3. Taught them about being able to conjecture the outcome from just watching them on other issues. Prize was their choice of homemade pie.
- Keeping management visible. This month we also did “bed checks.” Office VP and I randomly showed up at a few meetings. Word got around fast that we were checking to be sure they were there!
- Most engineers weren’t aware we HAD a corporate database of contacts, but they all knew we sent Holiday cards out each year. They helped populate the database by contributing.
- 0. Take a few business cards in case someone introduces themselves to you and offers their business card. Baseball Cap to all comers. We discovered that they were being questioned as to why they were “just showing up” so we coached them on possible answers. 2. Just keeping in touch and making sure they knew management was aware of their commitment. 3. Taught them about being able to conjecture the outcome from just watching them on other issues. Prize was their choice of homemade pie. Keeping management visible. This month we also did “bed checks.” Office VP and I randomly showed up at a few meetings. Word got around fast that we were checking to be sure they were there! Most engineers weren’t aware we HAD a corporate database of contacts, but they all knew we sent Christmas cards out each year. They helped populate the database by contributing. Round up of results reported out. Gratitude expressed with a sweater with an embroidered company logo. Letter of “significant incident” for the personnel files send by Office VP.
- Should be at 68 minutes or less.
- Storytelling 101 was designed when our marketing folks and engineers working for clients commented that they felt uncomfortable talking about the other work performed by the firm. They didn’t know how to talk about things outside their specialty. But by saying nothing, they watched clients hire competing firms without realizing we could have added that work onto our project. The motivation was ripe to avoid losing work with existing clients. Storytelling 101 was the result. First, we wanted everyone to understand why storytelling is important for clients. Second we knew that you didn’t need a strong technical background to accurately tell a story with the details intact. So, we worked on storytelling with our professional staff in brown bag lunch meetings. We took notes and wrote up the best stories about technical prowess and outstanding project saves. Then we published the stories with each author’s picture and circulated copies to everyone in the offices that might need to use these services. Finally, we encouraged professional staff to repeat the stories to their clients when they saw an opportunity to talk about other work that we might do for them. The story was all they needed to open the door. The technical professional in that specialty, or a marketing professional would be given the lead to follow up and develop the deal. Again, we only asked our professional staff to work within their comfort level. We didn’t try to make them do more than they’d be comfortable doing. But it brought us some great projects which we also made sure were storytold throughout the firm to remind folks about the storytelling book. What’s the conventional approach? We load up our professional staff with brochures and urge them to hand them out when they see the opportunity. It makes them feel like salespeople, and makes them feel silly because they don’t know anything about that specialty and are loathe to open the door to being asked questions. Wouldn’t you be?
- Storyboards are a tool used for proposals. Lots of folks don’t use them. I’m going to show you how to use them and hopefully, convince you to try them for a variety of marketing writing projects in your Professional Services firm. First of all, storyboards save time. You suffer no lost time due to writer’s block / Engineer’s avoidance. And the copy delivered fits, and requires less editing and no re-writing. In tests we proved that we cut the time needed by technical staff to contribute material for proposals to 1/3 of the previous time needed. However, we spent time creating strong storyboards in order to do this. Here is a paragraph from an RFP and here is a storyboard for that same section. If you must write this section, can you do it from the RFP? Can you do it from the Storyboard? Let’s walk through creating a storyboard for one subsection of a proposal.
- Magic words from Warren Yerks. It allows technical staff to set up the request in terms you can address, and it makes them feel comfortable. Comfortable engineers are downright chatty.
- Handout 1: Just in case something goes wrong or we don’t have enough handouts, this can be shown to continue the conversation.
- Handout 1: Just in case something goes wrong or we don’t have enough handouts, this can be shown to continue the conversation.
- Just in case