You must effectively connect with the client team.

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the company and the industry in which it competes.

Communicate a clear understanding of what the client wants to buy.

Provide evidence of a superior capability to deliver what the client wants.

Building Client Bonds - Winning bonds are created from a combination of: active listening, showing eagerness and a genuine interest for their business, as well as through demonstrating personal conviction. Showing these qualities from the initial lead to the close will help build strong bonds and "chemistry" with the client. 

Conversely, the actions and behaviors that will quickly lead to loosing the business are: to show a lack of interest in the opportunity, arrogance, aloofness, and or a lack of conviction/heart in client interactions. 

Target the client's needs - Don't just make your "Pitch" blindly.  Many RFP losses stem from a seemingly "on target" strategy where solutions are offered before the client’s needs are fully understood.  Probing the client’s needs and listening before offering solutions is an effective way to increase your win rate. The solution we recommend is to use a little ESP.

Explore - Do up-front research on the company and the decision committee members to understand what issues may be affecting the client's business in addition to the various nuances of the decision process. Baxter Strategies can be very helpful in this stage by providing highly accurate, timely and needed intelligence. 

Understand your audience - Collect as much intelligence on the client decision committee members as possible.  Judge the composition and preferences of your audience and try to gauge the orals accordingly - e.g. if they are formal - be formal and structured; if they are informal - be more informal and conversational in format - intelligence on your audience and flexibility is key.

Understand their business - You also need to be fully aware of the company; it's competitors, and the industry trends that it is facing.  Communicating a thorough understanding of the target company and industry is one of the foundations of creating the level of trust needed to make the sale.

Spotlight - Don't just concentrate on your product or service, put the spotlight on the client.  Ask them "What do you really need?" and "What keeps you up at night?" - then take time to think it through and formulate a plan putting your capabilities in the context of the client needs - before offering your solution.  It is often helpful to ask the client to prioritize their needs from most important to least so that proper emphasis can be placed on those that are key to their thinking.  This process is helpful at getting needed information, but just as important, it develops a connection between you and the client, communicating that you are interested enough to ask.

Pitch - Once you have taken the time to understand the client company and decision committee members, discover and target their needs and to formulate a solution, you should prepare your presentation and get ready for the "pitch". 

By following this "ESP" proposal method, you will be able to better establish what the client needs are, what solutions you should offer, and where to place emphasis to help secure the win.  It will also help alert your proposal team to any Client issues or potential hang-ups that should be specifically targeted during the proposal process.