For TUTOR GRACEE only

This is Chapter 13 from the following book:

Johnson, C. M., Mawhinney, T. C. & Redmon, W. K. (2001). Handbook of Organizational Performance: Behavior Analysis and Management (1st ed.). New York: Haworth Press.

Chapter 13

Marketing Behaviorally Based Solutions

When you have experienced the effectiveness of behavioral interventions—when you have replicated results and delighted clients—when you yourself believe in the science of human behavior, it is difficult to imagine anyone not “ buying” it. The reality of the situation for organizational behavior analysts, however, is that few businesses and organizations have a history of reinforcement for choosing behavioral strategies to improve work-related behaviors. This poses a unique challenge for practitioners who have the tools and strategies to produce a measurable impact on organizations. Organizational behavior analysts may be able to create positive, lasting change, but unless they can communicate this to potential clients, their skills will achieve good for no one.

There are many ways to market your services. When people think of marketing, they often think of the traveling salesman who drags along all of his wares door to door. Such face-to-face contact with a single potential client is only one approach. We present several different marketing strategies in this chapter as well as ways of locating your services in a competitive position in the marketplace.

This chapter is organized to provide framework for developing a marketing strategy and covers the following main topics: defining your product/service, promotion and advertising, sales strategies, and market research.

DEFINING CORE PRODUCTS/SERVICES

Deciding who you are and what you have to offer is a first and necessary step in marketing organizational behavior management (OBM) or performance management (PM) services and products. After spending years, and perhaps decades, testing and refining performance improvement models and strategies, it may seem like a step backward to describe such features in common terms; however, this is a critical first step.

Connor and Davidson (1985) described a comprehensive approach to marketing consultation services and recommended (1) use of a “client-centered orientation,” which defines critical services and products in terms of what clients want and need; and (2) systematic description of strengths and the market opportunities they permit one to address. They recommend that a client-centered services analysis be done to clearly identify what you can do to help clients improve or protect something they value (i.e., their market share) and what kinds of unwanted conditions your service reduces or eliminates. The client-centered method guides thinking toward the client’s point of view and focuses attention on the value added by your services and not on technical descriptions or jargon peculiar to training, management development, or some other professional area.

When you describe what you have to offer, it is also important to consider three levels of benefits: core, augmented, and enhanced. Core benefits refer to the primary problem addressed or need served by your service. For example, if you educate workers to use safe practices on the job to comply with government regulations, a core benefit would be evidence of compliance with requirements across work areas. This outcome has immediate value for the client because it reduces the chances of fines or other sanctions by government inspectors. Safety education may also produce additional benefits (augmented) such as decreased accident rates or fewer lost work hours, which in the long run pay off for a client in terms of decreased health care or worker compensation costs. Finally, a safer workplace may have many indirect effects that do not translate readily into economic value (enhanced) but are easily identified; for example, a safer workplace may result in increased worker satisfaction.

Whatever the specific benefits of your services, it is important to carefully examine what value they add for clients and to describe what you do using phrasing and terms that clearly communicate these benefits. OBM consultants have an advantage over others in this regard because the outcomes of behavioral interventions are, in most cases, measurable and observable, making benefits quantifiable. Additionally, OBM interventions focus on performance change and not just lectures and attitude change; thus, behavior changes and their resulting effects can be identified as outcomes of your consultation. Such tangible effects can be justified more readily by clients than “train and hope” strategies used by many who use less direct intervention methods (e.g., motivational lectures, general communication skills, worker morale).

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Marketing Materials

Once a core description has been constructed, this information must be communicated through effective marketing materials. Printed marketing materials are frequently the first source a prospective client will encounter. Key decision makers will want to see in writing the services or products they will receive if they commit their company’s resources. Additionally, marketing materials make it possible for people who are not in decisionmaking positions to describe and perhaps recommend your services to others. In fact, one measure of success of your marketing strategy is the extent to which written materials are circulated beyond your initial contact. In keeping with the client-centered approach, it is important to demonstrate knowledge of factors that are likely to be of interest to clients. Many industry buzzwords convey current knowledge such as total quality management (TQM), ISO 9000 registration, OSHA STAR, price of nonconformance (PONC), and others.

A clear marketing message and effective materials require that you know who your competitors are and your position in the marketplace relative to them. Take it as a given that dozens of other consultants and practitioners are purporting to do what you do. For OBM consultants, competitors often include seasoned business professionals, counseling psychologists, communication specialists, and industrial engineers. The most frequently observed difference between behavioral approaches and other more eclectic ones is that nonbehavioral interventions typically lack precision in implementation or, in lay terms, tactics for getting others to carry out the plans. Behavioral technologies for reinforcement and punishment can be extremely effective in arranging an environment that promotes follow-through. Nonbehavioral strategies also place little emphasis on measurement, especially at the individual-behavior level. Your specific skills and training may create other advantages over your competition and define a market niche for you or your consulting firm; it is up to you to complete the research that permits development of a comparative profile with competitors and a clear message that describes the relative advantage of doing business with you or your firm.

One other reason for packaging your services in a written brochure or other presentation document is that it forces you to think through logically the system of intervention you use. You should be able to answer basic questions such as:

• “What steps or phases does a typical project include?”

• “What will be the project outcomes or deliverables?”

• “What sets you apart from the competition?”

• “How will you get started with the project?”

• “When can an organization expect to be doing this without your services?”

• “At what level of the organization will you work?”

• “What project results have you been able to produce elsewhere?”

• “Whom can I talk to about your previous projects and performance?”

If you are just getting started you might not have enough of your own “war stories” or project results to include in your materials. As an alternative, you can illustrate the power of behavior analysis by using published results from studies that have applied similar technology (after receiving releases from the journals or publishers).

Your promotional materials can be packaged in many different ways, ranging from threefold pamphlets on standard paper to color-coordinated glossy folders with multiple inserts. Choice of packaging depends largely upon your budget and the target audience. The appearance and content of materials is less critical if a prior relationship exists with a client organization. For example, if you were given entree into an organization by a personal referral from a close friend of the key decision maker, your materials will be less important than if you are meeting someone for the first time on a cold call.

In summary, your marketing materials should contain, at a minimum, a description of your core services, an explanation of who you are, your approach to solving organizational problems, and your specialty areas (e.g., safety, quality, instructional design, compensation, etc.). Additionally, you should provide a clear means for differentiating your services and products from those of competitors who are likely to have contacted your prospects. Finally, any information on your history of success and client references, which attest to your effectiveness, is helpful in creating confidence on the part of prospects.

Exposure in the Marketplace

Once the message is defined and packaged in promotional materials, you must arrange for frequent exposure of this information to those who are likely to be good prospects. Several promotional strategies are described in the following sections.

Seminars

Most have seen seminar brochures that cross every manager’s desk daily. Seminars are a popular marketing tool for a number of reasons. First, they offer potential clients a chance to better understand you and your approaches before buying a bigger contract. Second, they offer you the opportunity to showcase materials, past successes, and unique applications. Finally, they allow you to cover marketing costs through seminar fees, rather than as additional overhead. You might want to consider working out an arrangement with a university to offer your seminars as part of its continuing education program. Many professionals need to complete a certain number of continuing or professional education courses each year, and this provides a good way to attract participants and potential future clients to your sessions.

If you are interested in offering seminars, attend one or two taught by the competitors to assess their weaknesses, and develop a seminar outline and materials that overcome these weaknesses. We have found that most seminars do not build significant skills; this is where behavior analysts can make a difference. People should leave a seminar with at least one or two new skills that can be applied immediately. Also, remember that adult learners like to be entertained while learning something useful; games or active learning exercises provide an effective approach to teaching and permit you to display your information in a stimulating way.

Professional Writing

Another effective marketing technique is professional writing. Authors of magazine articles, management texts, and popular books can reach larger, more diverse audiences than any individual on a one-to-one basis. Many of us come from academic backgrounds and are tempted to write only for students and other faculty. Although these books are necessary for the growth of behavior analysis, they will not have a broad-scale impact on your client base. More potential clients can be contacted and informed when we write books with mass appeal. Read the business books on The New York Times Bestseller List. Try to figure out what it is that attracts people to these books. Look at books such as Unlock Behavior, Unleash Profits (Braksick, 2000), Bringing out the Best in People (Daniels, 2000), the One Minute Manager series (e.g., Blanchard and Johnson, 1982), and In Search of Excellence (Peters and Waterman, 1982) to identify the critical features that made them successful, such as readability, case studies based on common examples, and prescriptions for problem solving. The authors of these books are sought after by their clients.

Even if you do not have time to write a book, it is worthwhile to spend time producing other written materials that can be presented to clients to demonstrate your ability to organize ideas and training materials in a visually pleasing manner. Develop training materials, quick reference guides, and manuscripts for publication in trade journals and periodicals as a way of getting your expertise and success before the public.

Conference Presentations and Speeches

Conference presentations and association memberships provide additional opportunities to network with potential clients and showcase your materials and services. Participating in local community groups and statewide organizations provides networking opportunities and additional exposure for your talents and products.

Adjunct faculty appointments with teaching opportunities in the evening or on weekends offer a good means for connecting with business community members who are likely to need your services. University courses, particularly those offered to adult learners and working professionals, provide an excellent opportunity for practitioners to market their services and receive positive and constructive feedback on the content and delivery of the instruction. If you do not have much experience in presenting to adult learners, this is an excellent way to gain experience in a relatively nonpunitive environment. Contact your local college to see if you might be able to teach courses. If you are asked to teach a course that is nonbehavioral, such as personnel management or organizational development, do not reject this option. A behavioral approach can be applied to most subject matter and nonbehavioral approaches provide good opportunities to demonstrate the comparative effectiveness of different methods to learners.

Front-End Assessments

Many organizational systems require audits or formal measurement of achievements or problem conditions. Supplier quality certification (e.g., International Standards Organization [ISO] registration), safety audits, and customer satisfaction audits are but a few of the internal audits that many organizations are required to do. Offering to assist or execute such audits provides a useful way to aid an organization with an immediate need and demonstrate the services and strategies you have to offer. Organizational climate surveys, training needs assessments, employee satisfaction surveys, and leadership development needs assessments are additional popular and useful assessments. Some consultants offer one- to two-day audits at little or no cost in the hope of gaining a larger project. The information you will obtain during the audit will help identify project opportunities and provide invaluable time onsite to begin to build relationships.

Regardless of the approach taken, the marketing activities above offer opportunities to demonstrate your capabilities and strategies and display past client successes. Furthermore, you can convey to potential clients the range of services you offer and the uniqueness of your approach relative to competitors. Conducting seminars or audits allows potential clients to sample your services and increase the chances of further business based on outcomes rather than on promises.

SALES AND MARKET RESEARCH

Identifying Potential Clients

Once you have developed materials and selected marketing activities, your next task is to identify who might benefit from your offerings. Several factors are important: potential for securing a contract, lowest marketing cost, and lowest effort up front. Undoubtedly the best way to obtain useful marketing contacts is via referral from past clients. Past clients can offer objective data on approach, style, intervention strategies, and outcomes achieved. Furthermore, if that client is still working with, or has maintained a continued relationship with you, commitment and satisfaction with services can be conveyed to the potential client.

Reference books such as manufacturing or health care directories for your state provide information on businesses, including the services and products they produce, the number of employees, organizational contact names and numbers, and brief descriptions of the organizations. Researching the background of targeted industries and businesses allows you to further customize your materials and approaches as well as target your potential client list. It is wise to target specific industries (e.g., chemical products, health care) so the experience in one firm transfers quickly to the next and materials development is made easier.

Getting Your Foot in the Door

Once you have decided to whom you wish to market, the challenge is getting your foot in the door. When following up a referral or client-initiated contact, this step may involve nothing more than a simple phone call. If you initiate through a cold call, this can be a make-or-break contact for you. Be sure to include the following activities before and during your initial phone contact.

Write Out a Script

You may be nervous and forget to include important information about yourself and your services. Avoid this pressure by writing out what you wish to say, and a brief checklist of information you wish to convey.

Identify the Right Person

Knowing the person to whom you should speak is important. Just as you dislike being disturbed at home by phone calls from solicitors, potential clients will fail to appreciate being taken away from business unless it is for something worthwhile. If you do not have the name of the person you need to speak with, call the organization’s main phone number and ask for his or her name by title (e.g., manager of quality, human resources manager, etc.).

Get a Referral/Name Drop

Even during an initial cold call, having a referral can be extremely helpful. If a past client or contact has already mentioned your name or services to the prospective client, much of the initial formality of introduction and description can be dispelled. Drop the names of organizations with which you have worked (if you have already received the organization’s permission to do this) and describe results you have achieved. This can help sway individuals to meet with you to learn more.

Schedule Initial Meeting

Your goal during the initial phone discussion is to arrange for a future meeting with the contact (and/or additional persons) to further describe how you might assist their organization. In doing so, you will need to describe what you have to offer, how you think it could be of assistance them, and how much of their time you will need (e.g., one hour) in the future meeting.

Use High-Impact Words

The initial discussion is a prime opportunity to use high-impact words that might affect the organization’s willingness to meet. Through minor, preliminary research, you can quickly learn about issues with which an organization or industry is struggling (e.g., quality, safety, recruitment, communications, union relations) and use these issues to increase confidence that you know not only the science of behavior, but also the current concerns of organizations.

Get Directions

Be sure to get directions to the organization including parking and security clearance information. Most facilities have multiple entrances and designated parking for visitors. Be sure to get specific instructions so confusion and complications are minimized on the day of your arrival.

Send a Confirmation Letter and Something to Read

Follow up your discussion with a confirmation letter and an article, brochure, one-page summary, or similar description of you and your services. This serves as a reminder, as well as an opportunity to further specify how you might be helpful.

Find Out How Many People Will Be Present

Be certain you learn how many people you will be meeting with so you may bring one to two extra sets of materials and business cards. It is important to be prepared for the meeting; additional participants provide an opportunity to increase the number of internal sales agents for your services. Prepare for more than the number you are told, just to be safe.

Preparing for the First Visit

Prior to your first visit to a site, study the industry and the organization. The U.S. Industrial Handbook is a reference manual that contains a summary of all industries according to classification codes. If you are marketing to a medical supply manufacturer, you can look up information about that industry’s viability, growth strategies, competition, trends, and pay rates. In three or four short pages you can become very familiar with the concerns of the organization you are about to visit, and use this information in targeting your presentation to address critical issues. The handbook also includes the names and phone numbers of government employees who are responsible for answering more detailed questions. The Internet offers unlimited options for researching companies. For example, information found on the Internet becomes more extensive and detailed every day.

Search engines such as Yahoo, Infoseek, AltaVista, Hotbot, Dogpile, and Metacrawler offer users the opportunity to search the Internet with keywords. The complexity of a generic Internet search can be overwhelming because most search engines are designed to search an entire Web site for a keyword. Marketing research has become more refined with the addition of sites such as eLibrary.com , Northernlight, and Hoover's Online. eLibrary and Northernlight are large database sites that include magazine articles, books, reports, newspaper, and newswire, as well as radio, TV, and government transcripts. In addition to these sites, many of these sources also have Web sites with archived information from publications such as the Journal of Behavior Management, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, and Sloan Management Review.

Hoover's features links to news, lists, stock quotes, and profiles such as Hoover's Industry Snapshots (global industry overviews). Hoover's offers approximately 14,000 company capsules (brief company descriptions and financials) for free and approximately 4,000 company profiles (company histories, strategies, market positions, major events, and other information) available through an online subscription. The profiles cover U.S. and foreign public and nonpublic companies and are written for executives, investors, job seekers, salespeople, consumers, and scholars—anyone who needs company information written in an informed and engaging style. Other notable online research tools available are Harvard Business School Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble where users can purchase books, reference materials, and videos quickly.

Many of today’s companies have Web sites, and users can obtain mission and vision statements, annual reports, press releases, executive profiles, contact information, human resources, company policy, and community projects. The Internet is not only a good resource for establishing and recognizing a potential client’s culture, but also your competitor’s culture.

Another way to gather information about your prospective client is to speak with people who are experts in the topic area. For example, if you are going to focus on safety, then talk to someone who is outstanding in the field or read materials on safety issues. Ask the experts how they conduct their work, what types of outcome measures they apply, and what is happening in the area of safety for the particular industry you will be visiting. Spend time talking to people in organizations similar to the client organization. Ask them how their organization is structured. Query them about their competitors. Ask what they know about the organization you will be visiting (be sure to maintain the confidentiality of the potential client’s name through this process). Ask them to describe typical pressures facing the industry and current threats and opportunities. Find out if industry organizations are amenable to change.

Finally, you should read journals and trade magazines in the potential client’s industry. These trade journals will help you to quickly learn the language of the industry. You should be familiar with common acronyms within the industry. For example, DRG became an important acronym for hospitals in the 1980s because the basis for payment for services rendered was switched to Diagnostic Related Groups instead of individual cases. A consultant who did not know this faced a significant disadvantage when marketing consulting services to health care organizations, even if DRGs were not involved directly in the proposed activity.

The Marketing Visit

Once you have invested the time and energy to secure a meeting, be sure to take the steps described here to heighten the probability of success during that face-to-face interaction.

Arrive Early and Read Lobby Information

You can learn important things about an organization by perusing what is posted in the lobby. Often organizations will display their mission or vision statements, quality awards they have received, certifications or other recognition from customers, publications or brochures in which they are featured, and other pieces of information that may help direct your questions and presentation to your prospective client.

Dress Appropriately

Because it is important to dress appropriately, you are advised to consult, where possible, with internal people on how they define “appropriate.” Consider the activities in which you might participate while you are there, and target your dress accordingly. For example, for a presentation at a manufacturing plant, it would be impractical and unsafe for a woman to wear a skirt or high-heeled shoes because this would likely rule out the possibility of a plant tour (which is a rich source of data collection when visiting with a prospective client). The same may be true of a tie or other loose clothing for men, especially in manufacturing plants where clothing may become caught in machinery.

Briefly Introduce Yourself

Do not run down your litany of accomplishments, but ensure that the individuals with whom you are meeting understand your preferred pronunciation of your name and can confidently introduce you to others. You will have time during your meeting and through the written materials you leave with the client to describe your many experiences and accomplishments in a more humble fashion.

Get Them Talking—General to Specific

It is important to get the prospect talking in general about how things are going at the company, the initiatives they have underway, problems they are facing, etc. This provides an excellent data-gathering opportunity for you, as well as a chance to learn the company’s terminology and organizational structure.

Listen for Strengths and Weaknesses

While you are setting the stage with a more free-flowing discussion about the client organization, you should listen closely for what it perceives to be its strengths and areas in need of improvement. This will allow you to target your presentation and describe the ways in which you can specifically add value to the organization.

Past and Current Efforts

Accept as a given that your proposed system will be evaluated against current or past programs. It is important that you fully understand the organization’s history with OBM or PM interventions, the systems it has tried and maintained, and those which have “failed” in their opinion. This will allow you to learn the ways in which you can better assist them, or modify your proposal if necessary.

OBMIPM Goals

It is important to have the potential client identify its goals with respect to OBM or PM interventions. This will allow you to understand the company’s expectations and measurable performance improvements it is looking for from your intervention.

Decision Processes/Makers

Depending on the level at which you enter the organization, the person with whom you are speaking may not have the budget or positional authority to hire you as a consultant. Furthermore, in the numerous team-based organizations of today, there are often several decision makers or teams that will need to endorse your proposed intervention before a decision is made. Be sure to fully review this process and to get the names and positions of those involved. Furthermore, identify the time frame for decision making so you may plan accordingly.

Commitment to Next Step

Before leaving your meeting, identify a clear next step for both the prospective client and yourself. Set a target date and time to get back together either in person or by phone to discuss the follow-up steps and what has changed since you last met. Do not leave the next steps undefined by speaking in generalities about getting back in touch.

Overcoming Objections

In most cases, objections will arise during your meeting. Sometimes these objectives will center on the intervention steps, whereas other times they will revolve around the proposed costs, and they could even involve the project scope or you. Sample objections include the following: “We're already doing this.” “We do not have the budget or time.” “How does this fit in with our other programs?” “This is manipulation.” “This is too simplified.” “We're working on problem solving and team building.” When these points are raised, ask clarifying questions, and use paraphrasing to ensure that you fully understand the objections. Provide simple, direct, nonblaming replies to their objections. Use examples and case studies to provide additional data that they can base their opinion on.

Avoid Letting Them Take the Next Step

You want to determine the next steps, so you can be sure they occur. Whether it be a follow-up phone call or a visit, writing a letter, or mailing a proposal, offer a specific suggestion—one which you have control over—for the next step in developing a working relationship.

History with Respect to Consultants

Although we would like to think otherwise, consultants are common. They are everywhere. And, as downsizing in large companies continues to occur at a high frequency, more and more individuals will be entering the job market with the nondescript title of “consultant.” Because the field is full and the skills and experiences of these individuals vary so much, the probability that a company has had a bad previous experience with consultants is high. Be prepared for this, and be ready to describe how you are different. Cite a track record that contradicts assumptions that you are “just another consultant.” Share the risks of the project with your client by using a pay-at-risk model tied to the achievement of agreed-upon business results.

Preparing the Proposal

A good proposal tells a client exactly what you will be doing for them, how long it will take, and what it will cost. The proposal should be written concisely and should get to the heart of the matter quickly. Most proposals are about five to ten pages and contain the following components.

Cover Letter

Each proposal should go out with a cover letter that has your company’s letterhead across the top. Oftentimes, proposals will get circulated around the organization, and it helps to let the reader know who is sending the proposal and to whom it was sent. By attaching a cover letter, you increase the probability that this information will be routed with the proposal. Also, proposals are often not accepted for a year or more, and the cover letter serves as the one document to help the client organization piece together the background on why the proposal was developed and who requested it.

Proposal Cover Page

On the proposal’s cover page, include a title for the project (which becomes your official descriptor for your project files) and the client’s name and city, along with the date, and your company name, address, and phone number. Anyone who reads the proposal should be able to determine quickly which company submitted it and how to contact that company.

Project Background

The project background section describes your understanding of the organization and the particular problems you plan to address. It is designed to clearly show the clients that you listened carefully to their issues during the initial marketing discussion, and you understand the way their organization is structured. Use their terms and acronyms. Use specific titles and names of people you talked to in order to personalize this section.

Project Description

The project description is the meat of the proposal. It lays out clearly what you will do for the organization (e.g., conduct training, complete an audit, coach senior managers, facilitate teams) and what will be the project deliverables (e.g., interim reports, training modules, audit results). Structure this section using sequential steps if possible. Indicate who will be affected in the organization and how much time will be required of each person.

Project Budget

Determining a project budget is the most difficult part of developing a proposal. First, budget development requires experience with estimating the time required for each step (usually in number of days). Avoid quoting one overall price without estimating the number of days each major portion of the project will require. As a consultant, you will need to keep detailed records of how you spend your time, so you can justify it to the client and determine the actual costs of conducting future projects. If you do not have such records in place yet, ask others who have conducted similar types of projects to help you with the estimate. Do not lose contact with the needs of the customer during the estimation process. They might tell you that another consultant proposed the same project with a budget of $50,000. If this was too expensive for them, they might not accept your $75,000 proposal even though you have calculated that as your true cost. In such cases, it is better to find ways to cut the scope of your work rather than trying to justify a larger budget. Also, find out how many days per week they would like to see you onsite. Find out whether they would like you to attend their regularly scheduled meetings or whether they want you in for special events only. This type of information will give you an idea of how extensive they want your involvement to be. Often you can gain acceptance for a smaller project and once you have gained a foothold, use your newfound information about the organization to obtain additional work. Whatever you do, avoid submitting an artificially low budget estimate just to get in the door, only to later find that you cannot complete what you proposed because of a shortfall.

Project Timelines

Use a Gantt Chart or other graphic display to show the client what activities will occur and when (see Kerzner, 1989, for a description of planning and management tools). This is a very important component because it will help the organization determine how much time needs to be freed up for its staff to participate in the project and when to expect important milestones to be reached. You will need to be considerate of the client’s vacation schedules and production peaks in planning the time frame.

Project Staffing

If a team of consultants is involved in conducting the project, you will need to briefly describe their expertise. Emphasize their experience in solving similar problems and describe the types of clients with whom they have worked. Also include a description of everyone’s role on the project (e.g., who will discuss the invoices with the client, who will oversee the project team, who will interview employees, who will analyze the data, who will be responsible for the quality of the consulting services, who will deliver the training, etc.). Some clients will want to know the daily rates of each project staff member, and this also should be inserted with the list of staff.

Proposal Delivery

It is important to deliver the proposal in person. That way you can better gauge which parts of the proposal the client likes and which parts need to be changed. One strategy is to show the client the most extensive version of what can be done, and, if they find it overwhelming, work with them to determine which pieces of the larger picture they want to implement first. In such cases, you should rewrite the proposal and recalculate budget estimates; do not rely on informal notes or understandings as a basis for a business relationship. Oftentimes the relationship will have developed to the point that you can discuss the second draft over the phone.

Proposal development has two golden rules. First, ensure the elapsed time between the initial marketing trip and the proposal presentation is no more than ten working days. Second, try to make sure all the key decision makers are available for your presentation of the proposal. If this is not possible, ask to speak with them individually. Never rely on someone else to sell your proposal up the chain of command. OBM is hard enough for a behavior analyst to sell, let alone an untrained manager.

If your proposal is not accepted immediately, do not give up. Look at it as a success that you were asked to present a proposal. The organization is now familiar with your approach and your pricing strategies. In such cases, an organization will be more likely to think of you in the future if other projects come up. We have experienced situations in which three or four years of relationship building were required before a client accepted a proposal. Consider any interaction you have with the potential client as a relationship builder, not as a sales job for a particular project. Develop a tickler file to call them periodically to see how they are doing. You will often obtain useful information to help you approach the same client again more effectively. Do not give up even if they accepted another consultant over you. Many consultants cannot produce the results that behavior analysts can, and many companies come back because they remembered the original presentation.

Do not be shy about sharing the results of other projects on which you are working. Oftentimes, we have developed relationships with current clients to the point that they will meet with prospective clients to discuss PM and OBM. Exposure to others helps reinforce a current client’s use of behavioral principles by prompting them to prepare for a guest tour and showcases expertise to the prospective client.

Closing the Sale

Once you have presented your proposal and obtained feedback, prospective clients may ask that adjustments in the proposed intervention be made to better fit their needs. Also, the proposed budget may have to be adjusted to fit within client guidelines or projections. It is important that any adjustments requested be done very quickly and that follow-up meetings with key contacts be scheduled to complete the sale. It is a good idea to provide a project agreement letter or contract along with the revisions so the client can indicate formal acceptance of the proposal and budget at the first opportunity. A request for a formal commitment provides a clear indication of whether the client is willing to go forward. The project acceptance form or letter should include a synopsis of the project, the names of consultants and staff who will be working on the project, and the budget total to which you have agreed. It should contain the signature of key participants and decision makers for the consulting firm and the client.

It is important to limit the number of revisions and meetings you are willing to arrange after the formal proposal has been presented. During this phase, clients are receiving valuable information concerning their current problems and needs and the exact procedures required to address them. If they obtain your expertise and ideas without cost, they are likely to try to extend this interaction as long as possible. It is reasonable to ask that a short-term assessment contract be developed to pay your expenses and fees if the proposal process extends too long or if the client seems unwilling to make a financial commitment; if the client is unwilling to provide these resources, it is unwise to continue regular contact at your own expense.

Building Relationships

Although your expertise and advice should not be provided to a prospective client without cost, it is important to build relationships with past and potential clients over the long run. Thus, even if a proposal is not accepted by a client, occasional contact should be made to obtain information on current needs and the possibility of activating the proposed interaction at some later time. A client might choose not to go forward with a proposed project for many reasons including budget limitations, change in leadership, indecision by leaders, disagreement among leaders, etc. These factors are subject to change, possibly causing a shift in receptiveness to your proposal; in such cases, it is important to have an open line of communication so the proposal can be updated quickly and resubmitted. If a formal presentation already has occurred and the needs are unchanged, your proposed intervention could be activated without delay and could lead to immediate work for you or your firm.

Ongoing relationships are also important in a general sense. Even if a proposed intervention is never accepted, the proposal process makes it possible for you to showcase your skills, products, and services and to encourage a client organization to review what you can do and how well you do it. This general knowledge may lead a decision maker to ask for your help when a problem arises rather than seek out a completely new consultant and initiate a new relationship. This holds true, however, only if you maintain contact and keep your communication lines open. This can be done through an occasional telephone call to a key person for a quick chat about recent events (e.g., newspaper stories about the company) or by sending clippings, articles, and other items of interest to key people with a personal note.

CONCLUSION

The brief treatment of marketing strategies presented in this chapter outlines several critical factors in successful prospecting and sales. Because of space limitations, many details have been omitted; however, sufficient information to provide context for beginning a marketing effort was presented. To achieve maximum effects, it is recommended that a written marketing plan be developed by an internal cross-functional team so all concerned become familiar with your organization’s products and services, position in the marketplace, and client relationship-building strategies.

Johnson, C. M., Mawhinney, T. C. & Redmon, W. K. (2001). Handbook of Organizational Performance: Behavior Analysis and Management (1st ed.). New York: Haworth Press.

REFERENCES

Blanchard, Kenneth H. and Spencer Johnson (1982). The One Minute Manager. New York: Morrow, William & Co.

Braksick, L. W. (2000). Unlock behavior, unleash profits. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Connor, Richard A. and Jeffrey R Davidson (1985). Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Daniels, A. C. (2000). Bringing out the best in people (Second edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kerzner, Harold. (1989). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (Third edition). New York: Van Nostrand-Reinhold.

Peters, Thomas and Robert H. Waterman Jr. (1982). In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies. New York: Warner.

(Redmon)

Redmon, William K. Handbook of Organizational Performance. Routledge, 20130403. VitalBook file.

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