From the Trenches: The soft sell

OPINION: Have you ever lost a deal and wondered why? You knew that the company competing against you for the contract didn’t have the same skills but they still won the business. Why did this happen?

"I’m kicking myself," you say. "That $250,000 software licensing rollout would have taken care of my sales target for this quarter."

Well, our cover story this issue might give you some idea as to why you may have lost out that time around.

Sharpening up your presentation and communication skills could have meant success instead of failure and there could have been any number of reasons why the client didn’t think your company was the right one.

Maybe you were dealing with a Chinese client and forgot to brush up on your Mandarin. Or you didn’t brush your teeth properly that morning and a piece of cornflake you were eating a few hours earlier lodged itself between your incisors in full view of the prospect’s CFO.

Your prospect could have been fashion conscious and probably thought your tie was just awful or noticed that your suit was one of those $99 ‘microfibre’ cheapies you purchased from your local Kelly Country warehouse.

Let’s face it, first impressions count. You can have all the technical skills necessary to do a job, but if you’re missing a few subtle things that are going to make this company feel all warm and fuzzy, you just might miss out, despite having more than enough resources to execute a rollout properly.

Pretty sad isn’t it? Presentation is probably more important these days in an industry that has finally hit maturity. Back in the IT industry’s ‘glory days of high-margin box shifting’, if the computer nerds installing the gear were wearing ripped jeans it probably didn’t really matter.

After all, business was quite possibly easier to win and certain companies needed you more than you needed them.

More recently, margins have dropped, competition has potentially increased and apart from the way you present yourself, what comes out of your mouth in a client meeting might just make a difference. Why? Because there had been 10 other companies knocking on your client’s door earlier in the week that in most cases could do the job in the same time frame.

Your ‘hard’ skills are now not enough. Read about improving you ‘soft’ skills in this issue’s cover story and determine whether you can be bothered going out and buying an Armani.

Got any stories to tell? Do you think you have lost business because you lacked soft skills? Click here to email me your thought on the issue.