Thousands of business owners find themselves asking that question every day. They’ve lost out on a big sale, an important contract or massive project and they want to know why. Why didn’t they land it? Why was a competitor chosen instead?

There are a multitude of reasons why they didn’t get chosen.

• Their proposal was very professional. But someone else’s proposal gave 3 recent, checkable examples of exceptionally high quality work.
• Their presentation was really good. But the CEO’s best friend personally recommended another provider.
• Their meeting with the prospective client went well. But their marketing caused the prospect to assume the fee would be lower, so the prospect hired someone cheaper.

It’s natural for our initial reaction, when we miss out on something, to be externally focused. We tend to look for reasons why another person wasn’t smart enough to see how good we are and hire us or buy from us. That’s certainly how I used to think.

But not any more.

Get picked or chosen

Experience has taught me, that it’s a great deal more profitable to look for ways to improve. To focus on how we can do better the next time and massively increase our odds of success. 

We start by replaying every situation where another provider was picked. We then unpack it and look for all possible opportunities to improve.

For example.

• Could your opening be stronger?
• Do you check for clarity (often enough) before moving on?
• Does your proposal, presentation, or sales pitch have maximum impact?
• And is it memorable?
• Are there enough trust building assets included — enough reasons for a prospect to trust you?
• Are you leveraging your contacts?
• Do your testimonials inspire confidence and desire?
• Could you improve with expert training?
• Is your content, proposal, follow-up, etc., professionally written or DIY?

Those are a few of the most obvious places to start looking for ways to improve.

Be an engaged observer

And finally, decide to become an engaged observer. Pay attention to the most effective individuals you encounter, including those who sell their products or services to you or your business. Look for things they do that you can test in your own presentations. Also, look for things they avoid that you can test removing from your presentations. Oh, and when you’re is a situation where someone else is being ‘pitched’ to, observe what you can. 

It’s highly probable that you’re just one or two adjustments away from a significant improvement in your conversion rate. So give it a try.

Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com

Why didn’t I get the contract? was written by Jim Connolly and originally published on Jim’s Marketing Blog