What's "Broke" in Your Dealings with Sourcing Consultants

For the next two weeks with this weblog, I plan to discuss sourcing advisors - the folks who drive in 2/3rds of new business for major FAO service providers and who protect the interests of prospective FAO buyers by guiding them through the sourcing procurement life cycle. 

THIS WEEK FOCUSES ON ADVICE FOR FAO SUPPLIERS: (next week will be for prospective buyers)

KUDOS TO YOU...YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB! There is much productive dialog going on worldwide between sourcing consulting firms and FAO service providers. You ultimately are boosting your chances at working optimally with consultants and their represented clients to win new business. You know and value the role that sourcing consultants play in the advisory process AND you are giving your best efforts to “influence the influencers."

BUT...YOU COULD DO BETTER!  (WE ALWAYS COULD DO BETTER!)

Here are a few things that are NOT working so well, in general, with your advisory firm dealings, from what the consultant/legal community has shared with me most recently:

• General, impersonal market white papers, webcasts, email blasts, mailings and other mass direct marketing efforts: The consultants are barraged, as are we, with stuff to read PLUS they are just too darned busy to bother most of the time.
• Marketing materials around service areas where existing clients/capabilities do not as of yet exist: They value honesty, not your trying to be something you're not, yet.
• Not enough - or too much - communication; and communication when it's not necessary:  Similar to point one, but rather than not communicating in the right way, this point says you may be connecting too much, or not often enough.
• Trying to meet with individual consultants to provide information: Most firms have a general process. It's key to have a champion in each firm, so use that person to find out the best way to disseminate information at their organization.
• Ignoring a consultant's "rules of engagement" and trying to establish or maintain contact once a commercial process has been initiated.
• Attempting "end runs" to client executive management to avoid the competitive selection process or seek favorable positions.
• Inability to communication pro actively and do so on a consistent basis: Find out what works best for each firm...ask and, most importantly, listen!
• Being unable to articulate your value proposition and what differentiates you from the competition: This is one of the most critical pieces to your influence marketing efforts - you have GOT to do this right...it's an increasingly competitive landscape out there, one that grows bigger every year.

I'll tell you next time what is working well with your sourcing advisory firm dealings and provide suggestions as to how you could improve. I also shall tell you who I think are the most salient advisors in this space.