Selling to the Board

The foundation of High AQ is the ability to provide six answers (High AQ Practice 1).  My AQ is a series of articles that feature business executives that provide six answers to important topics and questions.

Jason Langford Brown used AQ to help a 20-year-old big ticket project management company sell to the board of an international resort.  Engineers at the client firm were tasked with presenting to the board, something they were not comfortable doing.  Jason helped his client develop six answers the engineers used to answer pressing why-, what-, and how-questions.  The result... the engineers won the deal and two others from the same client valued at $2.5 million in total fees.  They are also now discussing more than 10 additional projects.

Each answer by itself relates to a specific question. If you take all the answers together, it is the cumulative and reinforcing aspect of the answers that communicate the value proposition of a selling organization. The AQ framework provided the engineers important preparation for a board level conversation as well as a dynamic tool to help them adjust their answers as the conversation naturally shifted to different types of questions.

WHAT is your service?

WHY should we buy from you?

HOW do we work with you?

WHAT is your service?

Concept

Metaphor

Concept

WHAT is your service?
​It was important to distinguish two key concepts: project management vs. project leadership.

The competition was focused upon project management which involves doing "what you are asked to do."  

Project leadership is being able to adapt to changes and bring expertise to achieve the best possible results.

Metaphor

WHAT is your service?
​To distinguish themselves from their competitors two metaphors were used. First, the competitors were described as a railroad, good at making sure the trains run on time.

Trains are fine if you know the stations in between and the final destination. But building a multimillion dollar resort is not straightforward and changes occur. 

Instead, Jason's clients navigate the stormy sea. A story sea requires dynamic changes.  This requires leadership.  There will be unforeseen rocks and storms, you need a captain to navigate the seas.

These two metaphors contrasted project management (the railroad) vs. project leadership (the story sea).

WHY should we buy from you?

Theory

Story

Theory

 WHY should we buy from you?

​The theory is:

Project Leadership → Maximization of Lifetime Value

For example, if $150 million dollars is put in and the investors are not just interested in the value of a project at the end. But the yield throughout the lifetime of the investment is important.  Project leadership, not project management, is required to maximize lifetime value.

Story

WHY should we buy from you?

The selling organization had many case studies.  The key was to identify those case studies that most closely aligned with maximizing lifetime value by showcasing project leadership.

A half-dozen case studies were pulled out for relevance in different ways (similiar geography, similiar kind of resort, etc).

Having the six examples gave the engineers the initial confidence going into the meeting they would have stories on point.

HOW do we work with you?

Procedure

Action

Procedure

HOW do we work with you?

The client had a clear 5-step process for ongoing project leadership.

Step1: Envision
Step 2: Clarity
Step 3: Challenge
Step 4: Delivery
Step 5: Future Proof 
(return to step 1)

Action

HOW do we work with you?

The engineers communicated to the board key actions that differentiated them in the marketplace as project leaders.

For example:

1. As Leaders they not only challenge the project teams, but also their clients, to deliver on the project goals that are collectively established.
   
2. As Leaders they assume the role of advocates of client goals and funds by providing detailed project accounting processes that ensure accurate and transparent reporting.
   
3. As Leaders they manage communication of project RISK.  All projects have levels of risk that need to be navigated and directed.  They have weekly and monthly reporting of exposure and risk that keep stakeholders updated.
   
4. As part of the Evaluation Phase on every project, as Leaders they visualize the project before they release the design team and execute.  It becomes their commitment to the project stakeholders and a road map to successful completion.