A "How To" presentation on tips for planning and executing a successful sales call on a military client. A brief overview given at AFCEA West - 2008 during the Small Business track by Bill James from Senior Executive Services, Inc. A detailed "How To" seminar is also offered. Contact info@seniorexecutiveservices.com.

1. SENIOR AFCEA West 2008
EXECUTIVE
Small Business Training Forum
SERVICES, INC.
Succeeding With the DoD
as a Small Business
“Perfecting the Military Client Call”
Bill James
Senior Executive Services, Inc.

2. SENIOR
AGENDA
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Introduction
• What is an Office Call?
• Why Make Calls?
• Value of the Visit?
• Preparation
• Execution
• Follow Up

3. SENIOR
Who’s He?
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
Bill James
• EVP & GM Senior Executive Services, Inc. (WOSB)
• SES Inc. is kind of like a Small Business Advocate. We
help primarily small & medium companies:
– Grow and expand business by constructing successful sales
strategies customized to the company’s needs and capabilities
– By assisting companies with capture and proposals
– By recommending improvements to their internal sales organization
• 20 years DoD Civil Service, GS-1 to SES
• 10 years Business Development Executive
– Litton-PRC (now Northrop-Grumman)
– Computer Sciences Corporation
– SI International
– MTC Technologies

4. SENIOR
What is an Office Call?
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Q: What is a an Office Call?
• A: A formal opportunity in the client’s office
space for you to confirm (not learn) your
understanding of the client’s pain and offer a
solution.
• Hint… Replace the word “office” with “client”
• Exploit other “client calls” like: golf outings,
conferences, breakfasts, lunches, dinners,
cocktail hours, chance meetings

5. SENIOR
Why Make Calls?
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Why make client calls?
• “You can’t shoot a moose while sitting in the lodge.”
• Clients rarely come to your office to hand you a contract.
• Treat each call like an unsolicited proposal
• Congratulations, you own an IDIQ gold mine!
• Oops… Where are the miners?
• In the IDIQ/GWAC contract environment
(prime or sub role), you must proactively
find requirements and close task orders.

6. Sea of Client
SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
Relationships
SERVICES, INC.
• Know and Be Known by
– DoD, Intelligence, Civilian Agency:
• Clients
• Small Business Advocates
• Contracts Offices
– Small Business Administration
– Systems Integrators (Prime/Sub Roles)
– Product Vendors (Become a Sales Channel)
– Media (FCW, GCN, Washington Technology, etc)
– Professional associations (AFCEA, NDIA, etc)

7. SENIOR
What’s the point?
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Standard capabilities briefings can be… BORING.
• Answer the question: What’s the point?
• Highlight a unique value or capability
– Person, Place or Thing
• Describe what makes you “One of a Kind”
• Offer a solution to a client problem
• Offer a Freebie
– Trial run or demonstration
– Training
– Transition

8. SENIOR
Value of the Visit?
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Government clients Go to the top? Maybe not.
– Policy-makers versus money-spenders
– Decisions often made at lower levels
– Research and then prioritize your call plan
• All Clients have urgent issues and need good solutions
– Government needs innovation and to meet Small Business goals
– Contracting Offices need to support their internal government mission clients
– Large Businesses need Small Businesses
– Product makers need more sales channels and “feet on the street”
• Learn More
– Help the client discover something new about his/her problem/organization
– Both you and the client exchange information more effectively through person-to-
person communication, especially non-verbal communication.
• Build Trust
– People generally prefer to do business with people they trust

9. SENIOR
Preparation
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Buy Sales & Client Call training - Significant ROI
• Review briefings given by the client at previous events (AFCEA)
• Learn the client's chain of command - up and down
• Get permission to request the client call at a networking event
or from the client's boss, boss's boss, Service counterpart
• Learn who the gatekeepers are in the client's office organization
Have a 3rd party critique your website before your client does
•
• Dry run the drive to client site and security logistics
• At least 2 days prior to the visit, send attendees’ biographies,
agenda and one-page meeting summary to exec & admin
• Confirm client received the biographies, agenda and summary

10. SENIOR
More Preparation
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Plan and rehearse the client call
– How many should go to the meeting? (2, maybe 3)
– What will your non-briefing attendees do or key on?
(notes, body language, etc)
– Find out how many other people will the client invite?
– Can you determine the meeting room layout?
– Devise seating plans: Conference and coffee table
– Prepare adequate handouts
– Be prepared but be flexible

11. SENIOR
Showtime
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Take the time to meet the front office
– Exec
– Admin Assistant/Secretary
– Aide
• Note magazines/newspapers in the waiting area
• Peruse the sign in sheet - who’s been there?
• Ask the admin about your client’s “hard stop” time.
– What client issue is more important than you?
• Have simple contracting approaches prepared for
“How do I get to you?”
• Be Early - Arrive Early and Leave Early

12. Wolves in
SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC. Sheep’s Clothing
• Surprise! Competitors may be in your meeting, too.
• Who could be your competitors?
– Other contractors
– FFRDCs
– Government employees
• In house contractors sometimes:
– Monitor the front office calendar
– Serve in gatekeeper roles
– Feel threatened by “invaders” on “their” turf
• Try to find out who will be in your meeting

13. SENIOR
During the Client Call
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Assume the client has NOT read the read-ahead package
• Review the meeting agenda and allow client to modify it
• Assume all leave-behinds will be seen by your competition
– Don’t include secrets in leave-behinds
– Do send messages to your competition
• Use your 2 ears and 1 mouth in that ratio
• Awkward silence is a powerfully good thing
• Be respectful to your client and about your competition
• Propose a solution to What keeps him/her awake at night?
• Educate the client about something they don’t know
• Ask for the next steps to the sale
• Finish early

14. SENIOR
After the Call
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
• Telephone the admin assistant/secretary
• Email the front office staff
• Pen & Ink a note to the client
• Verbal “attaboy” to client’s boss
• Assess your team’s client call performance
• Follow up on action items
• Maintain relationship with periodic updates

15. SENIOR
Questions?
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION?

16. SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
SERVICES, INC.
SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICES, INC. OUR DIFFERENCE: OUR VALUE:
A consulting firm that makes it easy for • Government Client Knowledge
• People - Former Federal Executives:
businesses and government to find the • Proven Proposal Positioning
 Have deeper Agency relationships
specific independent consultants they • Superior Pipeline Insight
 Have better cultural insights
need. Come to Senior Executive Services • Staff Motivation Techniques
 Know the Agency’s likes - dislikes
for independent consultants who are
• Tools - Proprietary and Proven
former Federal SES or Defense/Intell OUR ETHICS:
 Competitive Analysis Tool
professionals!
SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICES, INC.
 Pipeline Revenue Projection Tool
OUR MISSION: • Honors all applicable government
• Experience - We know
post-employment restrictions.
Help companies  How the Government buys
• Consultants engage clients and the
• Win more opportunities  How Private Industry sells
government in a legal and ethical
• Penetrate new markets
manner.
• Generate more revenue OUR SOLUTIONS:
• Consultants treat clients, competitors
Help government Individual Opportunities -
and each other professionally and
• • Effective Market Strategies
Work Better, Faster, Cheaper respectfully.
• Client Positioning & Call Plans
• Get Easy Access to Proven Talent
• Does not discuss employment
• Capture management support
matters with government employees
• Proposal team support
OUR BENEFITS:
prior to their separation from
Companies - Corporate Support - government service.
• Grow Faster • Pipeline & revenue projections
• Bid Less, Win More • Government Advisory Board support
CONTACT US:
• Lower Sales Costs • Go-to-market strategy development
• IDIQs Converted to Cash Generators • Website -
• Business Development Processes
• Include REAL Hot Buttons in Proposals www.seniorexecutiveservices.com
• Teaming Strategy Analysis
Government - • Capture Plan Maturity Assessments • Email
• Do More with Less • Sales models and incentive plans info@seniorexecutiveservices.com