Don’t leave the client meeting without following this tip!

Your at your first client meeting and hopefully you’ve used my SPAMS  methodology for exploring their situation.  Next you want to agree their timescales, budgets and your involvement.

This is really important; do not leave the meeting without this understanding.

First off, what are their timescales, when will something nasty happen to them if they get too far behind with the targets. Later, in your proposal, you will use this as a catalyst to prevent procrastination.

Next the budget, this should not be only related to your time, but also dependent on the value of your solution. How much is it worth to them to meet or exceed their production targets? As a rule, your consulting assignment should give to the client, financial benefits of at least 100 times your costs.

Now discuss your involvement, do they want a light touch where you simply guide their own resources. If so, you need to ascertain what resources they are prepared to put in. Or, do they want you to take away the problem and solve it at arm’s length.

Finally, you should seek their permission to submit a proposal. If you have thoroughly discussed this last area, then their permission is virtually assured. You are now armed with almost everything that you need to know.

Tags: Proposal, Spams, timescales