Value Based Prospecting Questions

March, 2015 | Business Coaching for Freelancers

Exploring A Value Based Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Understanding Business Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Understanding Measures of Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative Value . . . . . . . . . 12

Dealing With Push Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Additional Resources on Value Based Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Exploring A Value Based Price

a value based price. They might have sought us out because

we’re the best in our industry — but if their business objectives,

measures of success, and their specific understanding of the

qualitative value of the project don’t match up with what we’re

able to provide, we’d doing the client a disservice by presenting

a proposal.

Understanding Business Objectives

First, you want to understand the business objectives behind the

project. Sure, the client might want a new website, a logo, or

brand, but, well, why do they want that?

As a consultant, your first step here is to understand the busi-

ness objectives behind the project. What do they want to ac-

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Understanding Business Objectives

complish? What would the difference be if the project were

successful? Why handle the project in this way?

Here are the questions that I ask my prospects as I’m qualifying

them to work with me — and building towards a value based

proposal.

> What would you like to accomplish?

> Ideally, how would conditions improve as a result of this

project?

> What would be the difference in the organization if you

were successful?

> If you had to set priorities now, what three things must be

accomplished?

> What precise aspects are most troubling to you?

> What is the profitability improvement expected?

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Understanding Business Objectives

With these questions, we’re starting to explore the why behind

their decision.

“What would you like to accomplish?” — Imagine this: a client

has shown up on our (metaphorical) door-step and asked us to

build them a website and how much it will cost. Our first step is

to understand what the client is looking to accomplish.

When they show up they’re saying “I need a website!” (e.g.,

“What they’d like to accomplish”). But, well, why do they think

they need a website?

By taking your clients on a journey through these questions, you

start to learn more about the specifics of their organization.

“**Ideally, how would conditions improve as a result of this

project¿‘** — If they had a new website, how would their

conditions improve? What would they be able to achieve?

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Understanding Business Objectives

Potentially, launching a new website would allow them to make

more sales.

Okay, if you were able to increase your sales, what would you be

able to achieve? (“We’d be able to hire three new employees and

expand!”)

“What would be the difference in the organization if you were

successful?” — The goal of the project might not just be “We

need a new website.” The goal — and, well, the value of the

project — comes from the difference that the organization will

experience as a result of this project.

“If you had to set priorities now, what three things must be

accomplished?” — This gives you insight into what, specifically,

they need assistance with. Do they need help with Launching A

New Website or do they need help deciding on a platform? The

UI/UX? Or something else?

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Understanding Business Objectives

“What precise aspects are most troubling to you?” — This helps

you understand why they’re seeking out you and your expertise

- and not handling the project in-house. Maybe they don’t have

the technical knowledge necessary. Or perhaps they don’t have

the time or resources.

“What is the profitability improvement expected?” starts to get

you at the financial value of the project. Maybe the client runs

an eCommerce website and it looking to see their conversion rate

increase from 1% to 2%. Or perhaps they have an overall goal of

growing their revenue by 25% this year. By understanding the

profitability improvement the client is aiming for, you’re able

to best judge how you can help their business grow — and begin

to understand the value of the project to their business.

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Understanding Measures of Success

Understanding Measures of Success

Once you understand the business objectives behind the project,

you want to understand how the client will measure the success

of the project.

Here are the questions that I ask my prospects as I’m qualifying

them to work with me — and trying to understand how they’d

measure the success of working together:

> How will you know when these objectives have been ac-

complished?

> Who will be accountable for determining progress, and

how will this person be held accountable?

> What constitutes acceptable improvement? Ideal

improvement?

> Let’s say this project is a huge home run. What would that

look like?

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Understanding Measures of Success

With these questions, we’re attempting to measure and under-

stand how the client will know if the project is a success. It’s

one thing for you to ‘ship’ a website, but if the client’s needs are

actually deeper — ‘increasing revenue’ or ‘updating their image

to reflect the company of today’ — the measures of success can

differ dramatically from your early assumptions.

And in what should be shocking to absolutely no-one, the closer

you are in alignment with the client’s measures of success, the

more apparent value you have to their firm, and the easier it will

be for them to justify you value you present in your proposal.

Let’s talk through each of these questions one by one:

“How will you know when these objectives have been accom-

plished?” — This question literally gives you the baseline for

understanding how the client will know their business objec-

tives (explored in the previous set of questions) have been ac-

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Understanding Measures of Success

complished. In our example of the canonical website, the objec-

tives might just be larger than ‘launch a website’ and likewise,

the measures of success may be along the lines of ‘We see an

increase in visitors’ or ‘We rank higher in Google for our key-

words’.

“Who will be accountable for determining progress, and how

will this person be held accountable?” — While this question is

similar to identifying the primary decision maker (or ‘economic

buyer’) for the project, what it really gets at is helping you better

understand who ‘owns’ the success of the project and how that

ownership affects what they value.

“What constitutes acceptable improvement? Ideal improve-

ment?” — There’s a range of improvement available on

any project. Acceptable improvement, to one client, may be

‘launching a website that reflects our modern image’ while

ideal improvement may be ‘we start to receive sales inquiries

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Understanding Measures of Success

through our website’. Knowing what constitutes acceptable and

ideal improvement lets you better understand the value that

you’ll be contributing to the project.

“Let’s say this project is a huge home run. What would that

look like?” — I love this question because it lets me know, in the

client’s own words, what a great result of the project may look

like. And often the result could be non-quantitative! I have a

colleague who, when he asked a prospect this question, was told

that a home run would be ‘enough additional revenue to pay for

a birth for my boat at the yacht club’. With that information in

mind, my colleague was able to anchor the value he was able to

deliver to that quantitative goal.

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Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative Value

Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative

There is more than one type of value. Quantitative value is, well,

numeric. Sales, Return on Investment, Leads, or Revenue, etc.

Qualitative value is a bit more squishy. Your image, your brand,

the length and number of vacations you can take in a year are all

aspects of qualitative value.

When you’re focused on value based pricing and a value based

proposal, part of your job is to understand both the quantita-

tive and qualitative aspects of what the client wants to achieve.

These are a handful of questions that I use to understand that

aspect of value:

> What if you did nothing? What would be the impact?

> What if this project failed?

> What does this project mean to you personally?

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Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative Value

> How will this project affect performance?

> How will this project affect image/reputation?

With these questions, we’re trying to understand what the world

would be like if the project didn’t happen. We’re asking the client

to walk us through the scenarios where the project didn’t start or

failed to understand what the alternative to working together is.

Likewise, by asking what the project means to them and how

the project will affect performance, image, and reputation, you

understand more of the qualitative value behind the project.

Maybe the client is coming to you for a logo that, for whatever

reason, will create no financial upside to the company.

However, to the client, the logo represent a huge change in the

image and perception of their company and the value of the

updated logo is immense. Maybe it’s non-quantifiable, but by

understanding the weight that the client places on that logo,

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Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative Value

you’re better able to produce a value based proposal, instead of

an hourly price quote.

Let’s talk through each of these questions one by one:

“What if you did nothing? What would be the impact?” — This

question allows you to see inside of the the mirrorworld of the

clients mind. What do they fear will happen if they did nothing.

Would the company collapse? Could they lose their job? Would

sales decline? Would their bonus be at risk? Knowing what

the prospect fears — and presenting your value as the reverse

of those fears — will better allow you to understand the value

inherent to the project.

“What if this project failed?” — Likewise, this helps the client

paint a picture for you of what is at risk if the project fails. Will

they lose their job? Could the company go bankrupt? Would it be

a normal day? By understanding how the world will be impacted

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Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative Value

if the project fails, you’ll be able to better understand the value

you bring to the client.

“What does this project mean to you personally?” — Is this a

pet or personal project? Is the project owner heavily invested

in the success of the project? Does the project represent a bold,

new direction for the company? The answer to this question

contributes to your understand of the total value of the project,

both quantitatively (“If we 2x sales, I get a boat!”) and qualita-

tively (“If we launch this website, I’ll feel like a leader within the

company”)

“How will this project affect performance?” — Does this project

improve processes? Does it make it easier for people to do their

jobs? Are there time savings involved?

“How will this project affect image/reputation?” — Will

completing this project help improve the company’s brand?

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Dealing With Push Back

Your personal brand? The reputation of the company? I once

worked with a successful startup who had the worst results for

“{Company Name} Reviews” in Google. While not representing

a quantitative / financial return on investment, the success of

the project had a positive impact on the company’s image and

reputation, representing a high qualitative value.

Dealing With Push Back

Often, when you start asking your client or prospect deeper ques-

tions about their business, you’ll get push back.

Sometimes, this pushback can easily be overcome with a few

clarifying comments. Othertimes, this is an indicator that this

isn’t a client that you want to work with — they see you as a pair

of hands, not a trusted advisor — and you should politely decline

to work together.

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Dealing With Push Back

When I’m working with a client to understand the value in their

business and experience an objection — “Why are you asking

these questions?” or “I’m just curious if you can help me build a

website, you don’t need to think about my business” — I draw

on these statement to help educate the client about the value

behind the questions I’m asking:

> “If I can ask you a few questions, I can put together a

proposal to show you the ROI if we worked together.”

> “What I do isn’t as important as what we’ll create

together.”

“If I can ask you a few questions, I can put together a proposal

to show you the ROI if we worked together.” — With this state-

ment, you’re helping clarify the value of your questions - un-

derstanding the return on investment they can experience from

working with you - and position that you won’t be able to put

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together a proposal until after you understand if you’ll be able

to deliver an ROI for their business.

“What I do isn’t as important as what we’ll create together.”

— If the client sees you as a pair of hands - someone to build a

website and then be done-with - this statement helps educate

the client on the value of working with you. What you do —

build a website, design a logo — isn’t as important as what you’ll

create together for their business in terms of quantitative and

qualitative value.

Additional Resources on Value

coaching program, we’ll work together to identify

everything that’s causing you stress — or preventing

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your business from growing. Then, I’ll prepare a plan

of action for your business, contributing my insight,

recommending specific next steps for you to take, and

establishing goals for you to work towards. Finally, I’ll

provide weekly accountability and support and 24/7

access to ensure you have the support you need.

> Ask Me Anything About Value Based Pricing — Not yet

ready to work together? That’s fine. You can ask my any-

thing you like about Consulting, Freelancing, Value Based

Pricing, or anything else under the sun on my ‘Ask Me

Anything’ page

> Value Based Fees by Alan Weiss is a great, self-guided

resource for helping you learn how to implement Value

Based Fees into your freelancing or consulting practice.

It’s one of the most valuable books I read in 2014.

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And, as always, if you have any questions, or there is any way I

can help your business grow, feel free to email me. I read every

email I get — and I respond to 95% of them.

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