Will Bachman 00:02
Hey, you’re familiar with and you apply the 8020 rule all the time. But do you use the 7030 squared rule? Hey, welcome to Unleashed the show that explores how to thrive as an independent professional. I’m your host Will Bachman. The 7030 squared rule says that when you are in a initial client context discussion with a client, a client should do 70% of the talking and you should do 30% of the time you spend talking 70% of the time should be you asking questions, and only 30% of your 30% should be used speaking declarative sentences. The goal of the context discussion is to prepare us to submit a thoughtful proposal to the client. Once we’re in the room or on the phone, we no longer need to establish credibility, or at least that’s not the most important thing when we’re trying to find out information. So we can put together a smart proposal. We don’t need to spend time sharing case studies of how we did just the same thing at Acme Corporation. Because if we ask questions, and we listen, we’ll find out that the situation is actually not just like what we experienced at Acme. The fact is, clients don’t really care about our background. They don’t really want to hear about the impact we had and other places or the references we can provide. What the clients care about, what do they want to talk about? What do they worry about? clients care about their problem? In the great book by David fields, the irresistible consultants guide to winning clients chapters 18, and 19. David provides a roadmap of the context discussion, and I strongly recommend studying those two chapters. I keep a summary of those chapters taped to the wall above my computer monitor, so I can refer to it during calls with clients. The thumbnail summary is you want to answer questions about six areas in your context discussion. So you can prepare a smart proposal, those six areas are number one context, what’s going on, and why does the client want to do this now? Number two, what are the desired outcomes? Number three, what are the indicators of success? Number four, what are perceived perceived risks and concerns? Number five, what’s the value here? And number six parameters now includes things like start date, location, logistics, and of course, the budget. So 7030 squared rule, love to hear your thoughts on it. You can email me at unleashed@umbrex.com and you can ask me a question. Sign up for the weekly Unleashed, email and download transcripts of past episodes at ask unleashed.com Unleashed is a production of Umbrex, which is the world’s first global community connecting top tier independent professionals with one another. Thanks for listening