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How to stop losing projects that should be yours

By Jeffrey A. Echols Assoc. AIA posted 03-27-2018 07:38 PM

  

By Bryan Gray, CEO of Revenue Path Group, and Jeff Echols, Assoc. AIA

Zack Moore

  

Have you ever wondered why you keep hearing “It was close” when you lose a bid?

Have you ever wondered why it’s harder than ever to separate yourself from your competition?

Have you ever wondered why it’s so painful when you lose those opportunities that should’ve been yours?

If you’re like so many other architectural firms and you’re always competing in tight races, please read on ...

  

Will the real prospect please step forward?

Believe it or not, you’re not selling to people, hearts and souls. Your real prospect is a 3 lb. organ called the brain. And while it’s a fascinating and complex organ, it’s actually a highly primitive and predictable decision-maker. Those who are consistently winning more projects are using brain science to separate from the pack and connect at a visceral level with their audience, whether or not they realize it.

 

Know your prospect.

The brain is just 2% of your body mass but requires 20% of your blood flow and calories to keep it awake and functioning. The neocortex, which is the logical, data and reading part of the brain, requires an outsized share of this energy. Because of this, the limbic brain - which operates on a much more automatic and “gut” level drives 95% of all decisions, including who they’re going to choose for the project you’re going after!

In fact, that “relationship” your competitor might enjoy with the prospect? It’s just a shortcut for your prospect to make it easier, a way to keep the decision out of the neocortex, safely in the limbic system. To compete against that relationship, you need to challenge the shortcut your prospect wants to use. You can start by addressing three things.

 

Winning the brain in 3 crucial ways:

  1. Messaging that fits the process, speed and emotion the brain uses to make decisions.
  2. Selling Tools that keep the brain actively engaged whether presenting to one or many - learn why this is so important and how so many are doing it wrong.
  3. Presentation Execution that makes you the “best fit” by engaging the limbic brain. No more winging it. The presentation is the most important meeting you will have. There’s hundreds of thousands of dollars riding on it.

  

Why the brain? Why now?

We now live in a world where not only the rate of change is increasing, but the speed at this rate of change is increasing at the same time, creating this accelerating effect. The net result is prospects that can’t keep up, can’t be an expert and can’t tell the difference between you and everyone else. Every competitor is ‘good’. They’re in on every project and “sameness” will permeate your business more than ever before. If you can’t separate yourself in the most meaningful and personal way, you will become a commodity. And it will all come down to price.

You must not only be aware of these current dangers and spot the signs that you’re being commoditized, but you need to start coaching your firm around your real value, how to connect this to your prospect’s brain and how to do deploy it when and where it matters most … the presentation.

When you’re pitching the room, the key is to know the job to be done. When multiple people are all looking pointedly at you, they want to know WHY you. This is no time to repeat why you’re there in the first place. Your job is to create a deep, visceral connection with those in the audience that has them completely bought into you, and not your competitors.

Those in the audience have hidden fears and concerns and most presenters are afraid to bring them up. Unfortunately, after multiple presentations the prospect’s brains are muddled in similar sounding firms, projects and processes. It can’t distinguish among them and defaults to those who made an emotional connection.

  

It’s not cynical. It’s science.

Consciously, we like to think we focus on wishes, wants and needs. However, these aren’t what drive priority and decision. At a subconscious level, the limbic brain is focused on elimination of pains, threats and fears, with an emphasis on threats.

Priority is given to those who can address threats and then quickly demonstrate resolution, creating an emotional “journey” during their presentation. When the audience emotionally engages with you and your presentation, there’s a “melding of minds” and all of the sudden you start hearing things like “You really get us.” Your beliefs connect with their beliefs and you have what Simon Sinek, author of the bestseller ‘Start With Why’, calls a deep personal connection around your why.

  

Your purpose: Win the deal.

  • How are you going to do this? Win the room.
  • To win the room you have to win the brain.

   

Your objective:

  • Gain access to information your competition can’t.
  • Gain access to decision makers your competition can’t.
  • When the “Why’s” connect, trust is created. Then you’re getting access to information your competition can’t. You’ll earn access to decision makers your competition can’t get to. You’ll start creating the same kinds of shortcuts that your competitors’ relationships took ages to forge.

  

So how do you win the brain?

  1. Understand the brain’s focus - relieving pain at a deep-rooted, base level.
  2. Identify the most important pains your prospect’s brain wants solved.
  3. Articulate your value - connect your value to the pains your prospects want solved.
  4. Create your Convincing Advantages™ - the compelling reasons Why YOU — why you are the best and only real choice.

 

It’s go time. Pitch to win.

There are now many firms that are going to “pitch” for the work. Now that you know how little “thinking” the brain does, how the limbic brain gets activated and the difficulty in keeping the brain awake for a full hour, you have to harness your presentation. No phoning it in now! Keeping your audience’s attention for an hour is difficult, but a brain-friendly approach using great visuals, good timing and an easy-to-follow structure will make you hard to forget.

Here’s how you win and keep their attention to close the sale: When a room of decision-makers demands to know why you’re different, you must convince them beyond any reasonable doubt you’re the one to solve their pains.

Let science do the work. From the introduction and every minute after, your approach has to differentiate. Create real emotional lift to raise your prospects up to where you want them: choosing YOU. Do this right, and your competition — including “no decision” — won’t stand a chance.

  

Six things your presentations must do:

  1. Follow the brain’s process, speed and emotional context to decision-making
  2. Create a high degree of emotional lift throughout the presentation
  3. Present for just 15-17 minutes, so you can leave up to 75% of your time for conversation
  4. Drive deep conversation that builds fast trust
  5. Quickly build enough trust to negate longstanding relationships with competitors
  6. Close on very clear next steps

  

Put it all together.

Deliver presentations having your audience on the edge of their seat. During your presentation, start by acknowledging the pain and showing resolution. This is called driving emotional lift. That last movie or book you enjoyed? It was a great example of setting up a pain or threat and then giving you the same kind of emotional lift through its resolution. Your presentation doesn’t need Hollywood special effects, but it can make the pitch better if you follow the formula.

Each pain you address must be quickly countered with its resolution: your product or service. Then, back it up with solid proof. This engages the right part of the brain (the limbic brain) first, then gets the influencers (emotion and logic) to stop by and agree.

You can’t fight the speed of change and the dynamics driving commoditization. You can, however do what’s necessary to separate yourself. You will win the room by winning the brain. When you harness the process, speed and emotion that drive decisions, you will find your firm winning more of those projects you rightfully deserve!

  

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Bryan Gray, Revenue Path Group (RPG) CEO, helps firms integrate the latest in brain science with a proprietary persuasion-based messaging model and creative solutions to help organizations leverage their Convincing Advantages™ to drive superior results. Bryan has previously led two businesses to the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies. You can reach Bryan at Bryan.Gray@revenuepathgroup.com or 317-490-9425.

Jeff Echols, Assoc. AIA, leads Revenue Path Group’s architectural efforts, helping seller/doer teams to get the right messaging, selling tools, training and talent analytics that help them win more projects at higher fees. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Echols@revenuepathgroup.com or 317-408-4322.

 

(Return to the cover of the PM Digest: Presentation Strategies)

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