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Secrets of Facilitation reveals the principles and techniques effective facilitators use to produce amazing results through groups. The author identifies 60 secrets that separate great facilitators from good ones. He then puts you right in the room through his case studies and numerous sample dialogues, so you can see and experience the techniques in action!

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Master the Art of Winning RFP's

Guest Author: Robert Potter

Service provider competition has never been more brutal. The best way to win when you decide to respond to that RFP (request for proposal) is to make sure you understand the motivation and process driving the client's selection decision. The more you know about why and how one professional firm or business is chosen over the others, the easier it will be to design your tactics to win. Let's review the motivations and patterns behind the typical RFP and explore how to respond and win each phase.

The formal RFP selection process is like a funnel with three phases, where criteria are used first to increase choice and then to eliminate alternatives until the final selection is made. The three phases of the selection process are the Search, Screening and Selection. Each phase is based on decision criteria that become increasingly selective and subjective. The number of candidates eventually narrows down to a single winning service provider.

Search Phase: "All of The Usual Suspects"

Decision criteria during the Search Phase are inclusive and designed to gather as many alternatives as necessary to assure (and demonstrate) a good decision. Inclusion is based on the client's awareness of, and access to, firms with relevant capabilities.

Screening Phase: "Who Will Be Voted Off The Island?"

The Search Phase frequently uncovers too many choices to be individually evaluated. The client's objective in the Screening Phase is to reduce the group to a manageable "short list" for closer evaluation. Standards for comparing similar characteristics are set, and these criteria are used to eliminate all but the few "short list" competitors who most closely align with the decision criteria.

To avoid being "voted off the island" during the Screening Phase, determine the decision criteria, build preferences that fit your strengths and position your capabilities to those criteria. For each criterion you must be able to clearly articulate how you are different and why that is important to this client, making it difficult for competitors to match-up. Then be prepared to prove it with success metrics and referrals.

Selection Phase: "First Among Equals"

The "short listed" candidates are invited to meet the decision-makers and present their cases. Anyone who has made it this far is well qualified, so decision criteria expand beyond capabilities to the unique rational and emotional fit of one provider over the rest.

The winner in the Selection Phase will be chosen based on emotional preference value: subjective and non-verbal decision criteria that include comfort (charisma and familiarity), confidence (in the service provider's understanding of the buyer's needs and situation) and commitment (the service provider's demonstrated loyalty to, and enthusiasm for, the client and the project). In a word, trust.

Build emotional preference by focusing on what is different about this prospective client. To build trust, engage the client personally. Instead of telling them what you are going to do, give a preview of what a working relationship with you feels like. Actually start the engagement. This gives both you and the client a head start.

In summary, market awareness and capabilities get you invited, rational differentiation keeps you in the game, but it is emotional differentiation that gets you selected. Throughout the Search Phase, you can use your capabilities and expertise to build credibility and get invited. To survive the Screening Phase, you will need to determine and rationally align your proposal to the service buyer's decision criteria. To win the Selection Phase, make as much personal contact as possible to demonstrate your understanding of the potential client and commitment to the project. Show them that you would make a good partner.

You can learn other strategies for enhancing your consulting skills in the Leadership Strategies course, The Facilitative Consultant.

Robert A. Potter is the author of Winning In The Invisible Market: A Guide to Selling Professional Services In Turbulent Times. He is also the managing principal of RA Potter Advisors, a marketing and sales strategy consulting practice for professional service providers. You can email him at bpotter@rapotter.com, call (415) 459-4888, or visit his website at: www.rapotter.com