Jeff really wanted to land a large corporate client. He literally drooled when he drove past those corporate behemoths headquartered in his area. As a financial planner, he envisioned himself setting up a virtual office in these firms. His days would be filled with a steady stream of employees seeking his investment counsel.
The idea was so seductive, he couldn't shake it. So he called me to brainstorm how he might turn this dream into a reality.
"Well Jeff," I said. "I can see why it would be great for you. But frankly, I don't see why a big company would want to do that."
"Yeah," he said. "I've been struggling to figure out my value proposition. I just can't seem to come up with a good one."
"If you look at what you're offering from the perspective of a corporate decision maker," I replied, "I'm not sure there is a good one."
To be truthful, I don't know a great deal about his business. All I know is that when I sat in his prospect's shoes lots of red flags popped up immediately. The first thing that hit me was that recommending someone to advice employees on financial matters was pretty risky. If he screwed up, I'd be blamed. Then I thought about my office being inundated with employees who would want me to talk to their relatives (spouse, child, parent) who were in the same business.
As a prospective customer, I couldn't imagine why I'd want to open that can of worms when employees weren't clamoring for it. And since Jeff hadn't come up with one good reason for me to overcome these major aversions, the likelihood that I'd meet with him was slim to none. I suggested that he consider other strategies in which his time investment would yield a better payback.
There are times in our careers when we're looking for sales in all the wrong places. One the surface, the opportunities we targeted seemed good, but they don't hold up under rigorous scrutiny. I'm guilty of making these bad decisions too. And let me tell you, they can be very costly.
Early in my consulting business, I took a near career-derailing detour. I decided that professional services firms such as lawyers, accountants and consulting engineers could really use my services. Their market was becoming much more competitive and they were, quite frankly, lousy at selling. It was a perfect opportunity - or so I thought.
Unfortunately their aversion to selling made them an incredibly difficult market to penetrate. Then when I did help them land clients, they quickly abandoned any additional sales or marketing efforts. In short, it was an unsustainable business model that needed to be abandoned. (Note: This was in the days before the internet when I was only choosing to work in my own metropolitan area.)
Just because you want to work for big companies or specific market segments, doesn't necessary mean they're worth chasing. Hope is not a very good strategy - and I've seen too many sellers cling desperately to it, long after it makes good business sense.
Be brutally honest with yourself. Look at your ideas from your prospects' shoes to really determine if an opportunity exists. If not, walk away. That's being smart.
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