The Win Without Pitching Manifesto

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Because to my surprise, this “radical” approach for winning new business was working well — exceptionally well. The book starts by painting a picture of the problem, which is that service providers/ freelancers/ business owners get caught in this cycle of vying for business, almost like supplicants, and needing to offer free work just to get a foot in the door on commodity pricing. Basically, doing a ton of work just to get by, if that. This book will help you rethink how you approach your marketing and sales. It will reframe the stories you were telling yourself about how sales can be manipulative. Also, it will help you embrace the process by also disproving the typical belief that if "you build it they will come". Technology and oversupply are combining to rapidly widen the gulf between the commoditized tacticians who now bid their services against each other online, and the expert practitioners who command significant fees for leading their clients to novel solutions to meaningful business challenges. The middle is disappearing. Freedom of Execution: "We welcome the client’s input on the strategy and in exchange we ask him to grant us the freedom to explore various ways of executing it."

Our mission is to position ourselves as the expert practitioner in the mind of the prospective client." We do not need to be faster, smarter or more creative than other firms, only more focused. Start with focus. Negotiating success goes to the party most comfortable talking about money. By talking about money issues as early and as often as possible, we make sure that that party is us. Make stepping over and taking control with a diagnostic process, rather than client's self-diagnosis, a second nature. It is your strength.When wanting to have open options. We must be narrow. We must walk through one door and close it. Only then we can see that new doors lie ahead, but the first we should close it. A good client will begin to relinquish control once he has the confidence that the expert practitioner knows more than he does, or has the tools to learn more. Formalized diagnostic processes are such tools." We Will Rethink What it Means to Sell 3 selling steps, based on client’s place in buying cycle Until we make a brave decision, we will complain about the market or about the clients, when the problem was us since the beginning. I read this because it was recommended by The Freelancers Show. I read it online. Following are my notes for several of the proclamations.

NOTE: when you pitch too hard, you make it difficult for the client to be honest / trust. This makes it hard to get to no / understand objections. Blair is a self-proclaimed “recovering consultant.” He’s shifted from full-time consultant to focusing on his Win Without Pitching program, a sales training program for creative entrepreneurs and their teams around the world. The Win Without Pitching Manifesto is a treatise defining how creatives, consultants, and marketers like you can reclaim your status as a prized practitioner… Then I started charging higher, and that did some great things. I weeded out the bad clients. I was earning way more while working 10x less. Expertise is the only valid basis for differentiating ourselves from the competition. Not personality. Not process. Not price. When the client has few alternatives to our expertise then we can dictate pricing, we can set the terms of the engagement and we can take control."

Seek those that see a fit between thier needs and our expertise, and are willing to leave us the lead of engagement. We will not develop, nor share with the client, creative of any kind before the challenge has been diagnosed and the strategy prescribed and agreed to." The second priority: Derail the pitch. “Our priority is to derail the pitch, to get the client to put the process aside and take an alternative first step with us,” says Enns. Freedom of Execution → Welcome input on strategy, but require freedom of execution. I.e. Client should focus focus on the “outcome” vs “how” you get there.

As we progress in the buying cycle, our role as a salesperson should be first helping (the client to be aware of his problems), second (inspiring and motivating to solving the problem), thirdly reassuring to act on his intent to solve the problem (with us).I read this because it was recommended by The Freelancers Show. I read it online. Followingare my notes for several of the proclamations. We Will Specialize Clients smell selectivity - when they know you are selective, they will drop their guard and participate in meaningful discussions of fit Enns' path is also one of control. He wants to be "in charge" of the client relationship, to show strength, and to not be screwed over. I understand that, but suggest there may be a path available that involves more collaboration, openness and empathy, instead of ratcheting up prices and control. The proclamation "We Will Replace Presentations With Conversations" is the closest thing Enns presents as an empathetic approach. Confucius quote: Speak softly and people lean toward you; speak loudly and they lean away.” —> It is human nature to follow what retreats? This book tells how creative firms can win business by being expert consultants instead of pitching. It also tells how to walk clients through the sales process and how to charge more, and provides other valuable advice. There are 12 proclamations in this "Manifesto of Business Practices for Creative Firms." The writing is intelligent, confident, professional, and sophisticated.

Through thought lidership, you educate clients and it helps them to get at you. However, thought lidership is not persuasion. Always write, cause experts always write. In this way you help the unaware client.Don’t start projects with clients who don’t know what problem they are solving —> get paid to clarify this. Our mission is positioning (Purpose, Calling). We will not sacrifice any short-term gains, if we do not position to our clients as the expert practitioner. Trading expertise for profit (working cheaply or for free) for a period of time is valid and should be sincerely communicate to the clients.