Rules of Engagement Tip from Pat Ferdinandi of SBDi Consulting

If you love animals, I recommend that you attend one Pet-Themed Trade Show. No where else will you see aisles of dog collars, poodle hair dye, cat toilets, and cages. These shows are as big as many technology trade shows…but a lot more fun.

For my other business (ScarletsFeathers.com), I had a booth twice a year at one of these shows. I learned a great deal about people. Attendees span between wonderers, competitors, freebie lookers, and serious buyers.

Wonderers are those that look for new things that they can buy for themselves. They buy one or two of a specific item. They want deals better than shopping at a retail store.

Competitors watch you like a hawk. They watch what you have in common with their product. They check your pricing, your quality, and sometimes...steal ideas.

Freebie Lookers are charity or small businesses looking to get anything they can make money on at your expense.

Serious Buyers come in different sub-categories. Ones that fit your market and others that do not fit. The key is the thought process they go through:

They make up their minds quickly (within seconds) if they want to talk to you (dog-focused stores didn't care about parrot stuff).

If you have what they might want to buy, they come and look you over to determine your character.

If you pass the character test, they check out the product in more detail.

If your product matches the quality/price model they can work from, they will talk to you about options.

Who cares, you may be asking. Before you stop reading, let me correlate this to YOUR customer...the business people.

Wonderers are those that are looking for "help." Business people that don't have a project but need help with their PC (home or office), blackberry, YouTube upload, etc. That may not be your specialty. You are a database analyst that met this person in a meeting for something else. It doesn't matter to the business person. We all look and sound alike...we're geeks.

Wonderers are a great opportunity for you to "help." If you can help them, do so. If you can't, introduce them to someone that can help in the technology area. Wonderers spread the word. They talk about those that have helped them. They talk to anyone that will listen about those that have provided customer service. Having someone spread a positive word about you gets around to the right people in the business executive branch as well as the technology group.

Competitors are other consultants or employees. They look for your resume to see what they can copy. They look at who you are talking to and see if they can leverage the relationship to their benefits. These individuals are "users." They take credit for what you have accomplished.

You must view competitors as potential leads toward customers. You do not know who they know or who they are talking to...or about whom. You should help them...to a point (make sure you are not a doormat). You never know who is watching. If you are helpful to them, and they have better connections and get promoted, chances are...you will be too. That will happen if you are viewed as a "helper" and not as a threat. Remember, you are always center stage.

Freebie Lookers (aka competitor business people) will play one IT person off the next. They are looking for the cheapest deal. They will outsource a position at the drop of the hat...unless you provide value to them. Remember Jeff Gitomer's famous quote: All things not quite so equal, people still want to do business with their friends. This means building a helpful relationship with this type of business person before they need to look for someone to do something for them. [see OMG..The Network is Down!]. Costs may still need to be cut, but you have the opportunity to help them cut elsewhere if you are of value to them.

Serious business people need you now. They are looking to work with you (by choice or necessity). If they have the option to choose (hire a consultant), the resume must mention the specific things they need...in business terms. Acronyms don't help them choose...what you will do for them does!

Take a look at your resume. Start with your title. Does it explain what you will do for them? Project Manager doesn't mean much. Developer does if they think they need something coded. If you want to keep your title for technology reviewers, add a tag line (one sentence) that describes what you do for the business community. Remember, you only have seconds for them to decide if they want to meet you. Give them a quick compelling reason why they want to go to Step Two.

First impressions are important. Even if you've been working for the company for years, make sure you dress your best for the environment (best suit, best business casual, no tore jeans if jeans are allowed). Greet the business person with a smile and a handshake. You want to appear friendly and eager to provide value to the business person. This is your character test.

If you are known within the organization, what is your reputation? If the business reviews your past efforts in detail, did you provide value to the business? Were you easy to work with? Do they want to do business with you or do they have to work with you?

You know that you have a good quality relationship with this serious business person that is "buying" your services when they call you to "brainstorm" an idea, if they call you for help, or they greet you with a smile and handshake when they meet you because they heard about your reputation.

Ask yourself, what type of business customers do I have? How do I treat them? How do they view me? What is my reputation? Don't like your answers...time to reread older articles and build a plan of change.

Treat all type of business people as customers.

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator