The substantial curse

Get the team together because we're launching an attack! Wait, what are we attacking? And who invited the crickets?

Oh, they just seem to follow us around.

Ok, crickets are the not the only sound we expect to hear when questions are asked about a client's needs. Ususally someone jumps in to the fray, silencing the silence with a nugget or two of information. But it's not enough and it's rarely documented. How can this be possible? Perhaps it's the curse that comes with being a substantial competitor in the market. Too many wins have been produced without needing to thoroughly understand the client's needs. Wins that resulted from simply showing up and being a major player. Someone said 90% of success is showing up, but such success can also put a chill on future innovation. In the case of tailoring content to earn new business, this innovation starts with strong knowledge about the client. What are they struggling with? Do they have an idea about the solution? Are they beginning to fit the solution concept into a broader strategy? What constraints are they facing in working on a solution?

The term "content strategy" might be used to explain the process of working out the client's needs, building a framework to message to those needs and providing examples of where those types of needs have been met successfully. When the account team shows up with a strong understanding of the client's needs, this process can move quickly and more of the project's time can be invested in the solution messaging.

Lesson: Just because you've won some business based on the substance of prior successes, don't rest on those successes. Dig into the needs of the client and prepare your pitch by having a strong sense of those needs.

If you need help building a plan to accomplish this, contact us.