Change & Change.

Both are constant.
Both are possible at the same time.
Both can be opposing one another and still a reality (thx, quantum physics).

Last week I had two sales calls with their respective team leads. Both scenarios played out the same, so let’s dive into one.

The company is looking to rebrand their parent company and reconfigure their hierarchy due to a recent acquisition, in order to create a cohesive internal and external presence in the industry.

It may sound simple, but there’s too many unknowns that the team couldn’t answer. I won’t bore you with those. Let’s keep moving…

• Was I speaking with the decision maker? Sort of.

• Is there a deadline? Tossed out the idea of 6 mos.

• Are they interviewing other agencies? Yup, we’re 1 of 4. Two of the companies promised bids by June 30th.

• Big one, is there a Budget? “we don’t know and it’s likely small.”

Here’s the thing… the project at this stage isn’t real. I actually giggled on the line when the team asked for a SOW. Without the above questions answered, a SOW can’t be created – there’s too many unknowns.

So how do you still keep your hat in the ring without laboring over unknown answers and pretending to be something you’re not?

Change the expectation.

Wrapping up the call, I shared with the potential client that a full blown SOW was not possible at this stage given what we had, however (positive spin!) I wanted to be respectful of their time and my team’s. My idea was to put together phase-by-phase “buckets” of what one could expect at different price ranges (think: good, better, best). ie: GOOD Discovery, BEST strategy, BETTER design. She loved the idea and appreciated the honesty.

Rather than put together my infamous 1 page deal memo (grab it here if you’d like!), I created with the help of my team a collaborative google sheet with said “buckets” to imply that it was a starting place for our future collaboration.

We did get confirmation of receipt and that they were in the process of hiring a new creative lead who would need to review our share. #progress. But whether or not the team chooses to move forward with us, here’s why this is a win:

• We educated: without knowing the budget (change), a true SOW was not possible. Any team now that sends them a straightforward bid is doing themselves a disservice and will likely find themselves in revision hell. The potential client will also now have small reservations on how legit the other agencies are.

• We protected our space: by setting a new expectation (change, again), we didn’t waste time and resources on trying to beat another agency, but instead focused on the challenge at hand. Leading with good intentions and questioning everything is key.

To change & change!
-Ashley

P.S.: if you starting singing the Lyfe Jennings 2008 hit Never Never Land when seeing the subject line, did we just become besties? 😆