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Thousands of business owners find themselves asking that question every day. They’ve lost out on a big sale, an important contract or massive project and they want to know why. Why didn’t they land it? Why was a competitor chosen instead?
There are a multitude of reasons why they didn’t get chosen.
- Their proposal was very professional. But someone else’s proposal gave 3 recent, checkable examples of exceptionally high quality work.
- Their presentation was really good. But the CEO’s best friend personally recommended another provider.
- Their meeting with the prospective client went well. But their marketing caused the prospect to assume the fee would be lower, so the prospect hired someone cheaper.
It’s natural for our initial reaction, when we miss out on something, to be externally focused. We tend to look for reasons why another person wasn’t smart enough to see how good we are and hire us or buy from us. That’s certainly how I used to think.
But not any more.
Get picked or chosen
Experience has taught me, that it’s a great deal more profitable to look for ways to improve. To focus on how we can do better the next time.
Get feedback whenever possible. Though the quality of the feedback is often inaccurate. That’s especially the case in situations such as the first 2 of my examples.
Above all, seek out ways to increase your odds of success the next time. Replay the situation where someone else was picked. Unpack it.
Look for all possible opportunities to improve. For example.
- Could your opening be stronger?
- Do you check for clarity (often enough) before moving on?
- Does your proposal, presentation, sales pitch or introduction have maximum impact?
- And is it memorable?
- Are there enough trust building assets; reasons for a prospect to trust you?
- Are you leveraging your contacts?
- Do your testimonials inspire confidence and desire?
- Could you improve with expert training?
- Is your content, proposal, follow-up, etc., professionally written or DIY?
Those are a few of the most obvious places to start looking for ways to improve.
And keep on improving, until you manage to get hired, get the account or get the contract, 10 out of 10 times.