When you’re pitching a project, sometimes you’re favored to win, and sometimes you’re the underdog. I want to share an example of a time when I was coaching an underdog team that didn’t really have the horsepower. In this case, they were the little guy going up against big firms, and I want to talk about how we leveraged strategy to help the underdog take the day.
The situation was that we weren’t big like the other companies, who brought more bench strength, a national perspective, high-profile project experience, and more. We really didn’t have that, so it became very clear we wouldn’t be able to “out-big” them. What we had to do was differentiate and stand out by changing the equation, bringing something the other teams didn’t. This is exactly when you want to be a starfruit amidst apples—we couldn’t be the bigger apple; we had to be something different.
We focused on the personalities of the selection committee. There are four basic personalities: the CEO type, who is all about results and tends to be blunt; the thinkers, who want every single detail figured out; the relators, who care about people, teams, and politics; and the visionaries, the inspirers who are very passionate and have big ideas.
We looked at the selection committee and identified that the powerful decision makers were inspirers and relators. In other words, they were the vision people who wanted a high-level concept, not every single detail. They wanted to know we were on the same page and held emotional, heartfelt opinions. The other group consisted of relators, who cared about how teams, stakeholders, customers, and departments all found harmony together.
So, we structured our entire interview to differentiate our communication to match up with those folks. We had made a mistake in that the proposal that got us through the door for this competitive sales pitch was highly detailed. We realized we hadn’t thought through the selection committee at that time, so we decided to adjust. We started our presentation by telling them we were down in the weeds in our proposal and wanted to fly the helicopter a little higher to ensure they understood the concepts under the hood of our proposal. We went on to speak about vision and team—always talking about how stakeholders were addressed, how we achieved consensus when pulling in different departments, and how we created a cohesive unit that allowed all voices to be heard.
By doing this, we were able to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. The selection committee connected with us because we understood what they cared about, and in the end, we secured the deal as underdogs.
The lesson here is to be strategic about what you’re going to do to stand out from your competitors. Don’t fall back into the old “we do this all the time, we know what we’re doing” mindset. Sure, you might know what you’re doing, but you know what? Your competitors do, too. I’ve seen them all. So many people think they’re doing something different, but it’s just the same old thing. You really want to be strategic—consider your point of view, understand who your customers are and what they like, and figure out what approach you will take to show them something different than the standard “apples to apples” comparison. Show them a tailored value unique to their needs. That was our strategy, and we, the little guys, took the day.
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