We’ve written in the past about the factors clients consider when deciding which consulting or professional services firm to shortlist for work. Since the pandemic, three broad aspects have topped the bill: expertise (in both a client’s sector and a specific subject), the ability to get things done (not just a firm’s perceived ability to implement, but also its responsiveness and flexibility), and innovation (evidenced by a firm’s thought leadership, for example).  

But what happens when we turn our attention to the final stages of the buying process?  

At that point, much comes down to, if not quite luck, then something like it: the people on the proposed project team and the rapport they’ve managed to build with the buyers at a personal level; the past experience of those buyers with the firm in the past, which can have a lasting and substantial impact on how they still see the firm; internal politics on the client side, which can mean that the work won’t always go to the firm with the best proposal or pitch.  

These factors are hard to capture in research because clients don’t want to admit that seemingly trivial factors can sway major decisions. But research can tell us how clients justify their purchase decisions to themselves, which is still critical to understanding their decision-making process.  

Four things stand out from our data when it comes to winning work at this late stage in the process:  

• The first is the extent to which clients understand how a firm will carry out the proposed work (its methodology). Eighteen percent of clients say this is the most important factor in deciding which firm to hire, and 31% say it’s one of their top three factors. This is significantly higher than at the shortlisting stage, where methodologies are typically ranked tenth out of 17 attributes that we ask about. Based on interviewing clients, we think there are two reasons behind this shift: The nearer clients get to the end of the sales process, the more important it is for them to understand precisely what the firm is proposing to do; moreover, there’s a huge opportunity for firms to differentiate themselves in the way they think through and set out their approach. In other words, the quality of the suggested solution is paramount. 
• A second noteworthy finding from our research is the extent to which account managers play a critical role in orchestrating a firm’s diverse resources during the final stages of the sales process. With so much of the work that professional services firms are asked to do being multidisciplinary—i.e., the complexity of the problems is such that it requires many different skillsets and perspectives—16% of respondents say that good account management is the most important factor in their final choice of firm, and 33% that it’s one of their top three reasons.
•  Thirdly, innovation and thought leadership continue to be as important in the final stages of the sales process as they are earlier on, suggesting that what clients are looking for is not blue sky thinking but the practical application of new ideas embedded in the proposed solution.  
• Finally, there’s culture. This attribute languishes towards the bottom of the factors that clients consider when deciding which firms to shortlist, probably because so much of the buying process continues to be done remotely, making it harder for firms to demonstrate that they have a distinctive culture. But it turns out that that’s only part of the story: At the very end of the buying process, clients recognise that how professional firms work is almost as important as what they do, with 13% saying that culture is the single most important factor when deciding which firm to hire.  

Why do firms lose sales pitches?

While clients may be reluctant to acknowledge the crucial role played by relationships when it comes to awarding a contract to a given firm, they’re quite comfortable in acknowledging the extent to which relationships cause firms to lose work. Asked why they hadn’t awarded a specific piece of work to a particular firm, 34% clients said it was because they had a stronger relationship with the winning firm, 29% blamed lack of awareness of the losing firms, and 23% told us that the firm concerned wasn’t already on their list of preferred suppliers (and they weren’t prepared to go through the hassle or length of time required to get them on it). Although the quality of the proposal, expertise, and price can also cause firms to lose work, these factors are relatively unimportant.  

But relationships are not the only major reason why firms lose work. Forty-three percent of clients say that consultants and other professional advisers are too busy trying to sell them something rather than listening to what they, clients, actually want. What’s more, 41% of clients say that consultants and advisers don’t talk about issues that resonate.  

What does all this mean in practical terms? Professional services firms need strong client relationships at both the personal and corporate level if they’re going to be in with a realistic chance of winning. But having a relationship won’t be enough: Winning depends on being clear about what you’ll do, how you’ll do it, and why both aspects are different and better than anything your competitors can do. And all of this depends on taking the time to find out what clients really want. 

 

If you’d like to better understand your own pitching performance, we can speak directly to your clients and prospects to gain insights into their experiences with your firm. We’ll analyse these findings and provide clear recommendations to drive your pitching success. If you’d like to learn more, please do get in touch.