Last week, James Trotter, president of the SMPS Nashville Chapter, posted an important and provocative posting from hims blog, The Business Development Biz, on the rapidly-growing Construction Marketing Ideas linkedin.com group.
He writes:
How do we show value? First and foremost, it is not about you! Looking at this through the musician’s point of view brings to mind the Toby Keith song, “I Wanna Talk About Me”. In that song Toby is the potential client and each of us are the person to whom he is singing. As sales and business development folks, we must remember that we bring value to our clients by:
- Helping them defeat what concerns them
- Helping them to look good
- Helping them win
- Helping them come in on time and under budget
- Helping them make a profit
- Helping them make the sale
- Helping them get that pat on the back, that promotion
- Helping them help their client in the same way
In short, we create value by finding out what is important to the client, figuring out how to make that a reality and then delivering that reality in a meaningful, effective and profitable manner.
Stop beating your chest like Tarzan and find your value proposition and deliver!
Several other group members agree: You won’t get much business by bragging about your competency, but you will find it by relating what you offer to the real interests of your current and potential clients. Of course, this type of thinking takes more effort, thought, and commitment of energy and resources. But it is vital for success.
(Approximately 20 new people joined the group yesterday, bringing the membership to 320. There is no fee to join or participate.)
