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VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE:
Public Sector Perspectives
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January 2005 (revised) |
A series of white papers
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Relationship Management:
Basic Precepts for Dealing with Government
Over my many years of public service I literally have
met with thousands of vendors. As expected, all were
promoting their product or service. Clearly, some were
more effective than others. Being a student of human
dynamics I made mental notes about the approaches and
techniques that captured my interest or sustained a long
term, positive relationship. These mental notes have
been distilled into the following ten (10) basic
precepts for effectively dealing with government:
- CREDIBILITY
COUNTS. Specifically credibility means honesty,
respect, trust, consistency and fairness. Government is
particularly sensitive to gaining and retaining a
credible relationship as a condition of doing business.
If they lose respect for you or your company there is
little chance your proposals will receive an un-bias
evaluation.
- FOCUS ON
RESULTS, NOT PROCESS. Prior to each client
meeting, document what result you are seeking and how
you will guide the discussion to ensure the result is
achieved. In advance, ensure you learn as much as
possible about the organization, people and projects
through sources like a government web site, lobbyist or
other knowledgeable source. A well prepared account
representative instills a feeling of work ethic and
commitment that can set vendors apart. At the conclusion
of the meeting quickly summarize any agreements, define
next steps and keep your commitments.
- LISTEN MORE,
TALK LESS. When meeting with senior government
officials use it as an opportunity to gather strategic
business intelligence (priorities, likes, dislikes) that
can be used to submit subsequent proposals. Listening
also denotes a sense of respect; that is, you must think
what they are saying is important because you are
listening. Therefore, be strategic. Do not dominate the
agenda. Rather, impart critical pieces of information
throughout the discussion that capture the interest of
the government official and lure them into a deeper
conversation about how your product or service can solve
an identified problem or meet a stated objective.
Citing specific examples of success for similar projects
in the public sector can be an effective way of
capturing interest.
- BE
COLLABORATIVE. Treat government staff as
partners and peers, not subordinates. Welcome their
input. Gain their confidence. This is a window into
their thoughts and plans. Communication and respect is
critical. Like it or not, it is all about
relationships.
- LOOK FOR
OPPORTUNITIES TO RECOGNIZE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FOR A
JOB WELL DONE. These are the folks who will be
making decisions about who they will be working with
next. Your expression of recognition and appreciation
for an achievement could make the difference in a close
procurement (Pavlov’s Dog Theory: The sound of your name
invokes a picture of their next award ceremony).
Subsequent to the recognition ask if they will agree to
tell “their” success story to others pursuing similar
projects. They can be your best marketing tool.
- DOCUMENT YOUR
BEST PRACTICES. Government is risk adverse.
Therefore, there is safety in numbers. Take time to
properly and objectively document your successes (best
practices). If possible have independent evaluators
like the Gartner Group or Meta capture the metrics.
These success stories with documented metrics can be an
excellent source of information for those trying to
solve similar problems. In addition, prior successes can
provide a level of comfort to senior officials and the
needed political cover if the project fails. Using other
public service officials who have succeeded to tell your
story further adds to its credibility.
- SEEK WAYS TO
LOWER RISK. Government is evolutionary, not
revolutionary. Expect reluctance and resistance to
change. Seek ways to lower risk. For complex projects
or new areas, propose a pilot, or proof of concept vs. a
“Big-Bang”. Then make sure the pilot is wildly
successful. Use the success to justify either a Big
Bang implementation, or the next iteration.
- BE FLEXIBLE
AND PATIENT, BUT PERSISTENT. Accept the fact
that government is rigid and lumbering. In response,
vendors need to be flexible and patient, but
diplomatically persistent. Everything is possible with
the right mix of flexibility, finesse and tenacity.
- FAMILARITY AND
CONSISTENCY ADDS VALUE. Ensure those vendor
representatives front-facing to the public sector
customer are well known and respected. Seeing the same
faces can be reassuring to your public sector partners.
Having regular dialogue with your customers is essential
to maintaining a good relationship. Allow sufficient
time and opportunity for the customer to be critical of
your support. This allows you time to repair any
mistakes and prove your commitment to the customer.
- ALWAYS
MAINTAIN A POSITIVE APPROACH. When it happens,
accept defeat in a positive and professional way.
Respond that you are very disappointed; however, you
accept their decision. Try to use this positive
approach to gain better business intelligence why your
proposal was not the best. Keep a log of such
information so that future proposals can benefit from
this insight. Only protest procurements if there has
been a major breach of procurement policies or
laws. Otherwise, you will be viewed as a roadblock to
progress and not a potential partner.
©2007, Gerhards Consulting Group. All rights reserved.
