When you first go in to see a prospective client what do you typically bring with you? And how do you prepare for it?

As with any sales process - you bone up on the company and you bring examples of your work. We do knowledge management/knowledge discovery consulting and use a somewhat unique method of "blueprinting" our strategy - literally a 34" x 60" piece of paper. Very compelling talking point.

However, I have yet to really walk in on a consulting sales call w/o knowing why I am there and thus I am prepared to talk about something pretty specific.

We try to find an inside coach to try to give us some idea about some of the problems the company is dealing as well as the personality of the person we are meeting with. Then we really start a discussion with the client and confirm that they are in fact the issues if they are we bring out our deck if not we take another direction.

I agree with the advice given above. I think it's great if you can get a heads-up from an inside person but that's not always possible. That leaves two choices: either come prepared to do a short overview of the type of work you do and types of clients (as the blueprint above) OR suggest a one-hour initial meet and greet type of thing where you find out what problems they need solved. Then you go back with a full presentation of why you're the one to solve their problem.

__________________

C.J.

www.HRjungle.com
Trust a professional with all your HR needs!