BEST Procurement Programme

How to Sell to the Public Sector Guide

September 2007

Prepared by

Ruth Major Enterprise Solutions Northamptonshire

Contents Page

1. Introduction 2. Selling to the public sector 3. Selling: what is it? 4. Customers 5. The buying process 6. Competition 7. AIDA the selling process 8. The seven steps of selling 9. The public sector : Frequently asked questions 10. The sales pitch 11. Conclusion

1. Introduction
This sales toolkit has been written to help and support you as social enterprises to sell yourself to the public sector in todays competitive market. Many of the models and tools talked about are used everyday by successful businesses and it is now your chance to put yourselves on the business map and raise the profile of social enterprises as suppliers to the public sector. Remember that social enterprises come from all sorts of diverse and creative organisations. It is important to remember and promote your social objectives as these combined with your entrepreneurial drive puts your organisation in a perfect position to delver public sector services to the local community who are the customers and users of the services you can provide. Above all make sure you work together with other social enterprises and talk to organisations that are already contracting with the public sector, hear all about how they have gone through the contracting process and are successfully delivering services on behalf of the public sector. We hope buy using this toolkit we will help and encourage social enterprises to feel confident to sell themselves and their services and see an increase in social enterprises winning public sector contracts.

2. Selling to the public sector

Before you consider selling to the public sector you should research what markets are open to you and decide if you can meet the needs of those target markets. You need to be able to: Compete with other firms Complete contracts on time and to the required standard Have a sound financial and commercial reputation Be able to familiarise yourself with government purchasing procedures (these will be available from any public sector organisation) Offer value for money

Public sector organisations the public sector covers a wide variety of organisations including: Central civil government departments and agencies NHS and local trusts Ministry of defence Northern Ireland Assembly National assembly for Wales Scottish Executive
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Local Authorities Universities and college

Products and services that public sector organisations may be interested in buying include IT, telecommunications, buildings, office interiors, catering, healthcare, consultancy and training.

3. Selling: what is it?

Everybody sells! From an employee convincing a boss to give her an increase in pay to a father getting his children to eat their vegetables to the professional sales person who wants to close a deal. You are the face of your social enterprise, therefore it is important to remember that when you are selling your organisation you are selling yourself. You need to be presentable and reflect the quality of your social enterprises products and services. How often do we go into a shop or look to buy something then look at the person selling it to us. It is essential that when selling you take into consideration the: Appearance Personality Attitude Knowledge The behaviour / body language

You must make sure that yourself and anybody else involved with the social enterprise behave appropriately towards your customer. Gone are the days where we sell products / services to customers, they now demand from us what they want and we make sure we are filling / satisfying the need.

4. Customers
Customers are the most important thing to your social enterprise without them you will not be able to run a successful business. You need to think carefully about your customers, it is essential to identify the right customer group/s from your market research. (It is important to remember that not everybody or every company is a customer, identify those potential customers these are the people for you to target)

You need to think about who your customers are; women, men, young or old people, professionals etc It is important to build a profile of your potential customers, building that picture will help you to target your sales in the right place. When looking at public sector organisations it is important to build a picture of them in a similar way. Where are your customers, with the Internet services that are available to us today our potential customers can potentially be from the other side of the world? It is important to be realistic when looking at where your customers are. Public sector organisations are being encouraged to contract to local organisations, so why not start locally once you have won successful contracts close to home then is the time to look further a field. What do your potential customers want from your products / services and why are they going to buy it from you. The customer is the person with the power! You want them to buy from you, therefore you must make sure that you are giving them exactly what they want with the high level of service that they expect, remember they can always go to your competitor and get what they need!

5. The buying process

When you are selling it is important to understand the buying decision process. Most people / organisations go through the following process: They have a problem Research options to solve the problem They evaluate the options Decide on the best option and purchase Decide on whether the decision was good/bad

In most purchasing situations there will be more than one person involved in making the buying decision. A popular model to use to help identify who is involved in the decision is The decision making unit this model looks a two situations a consumer purchase (the final user) and a business purchase (the customer). For the purpose of this pack we are looking at contracting with the public sector and therefore will concentrate on the business purchase model which usually looks at the following: Gate Keeper for example receptionists and secretaries often act as barriers to sales people. They tend to see their role as being to protect their boss from interruptions. The problem here is to get past them to see the rest of the decision making unit.

Influencers These are people who can influence the buying decision. They may be people in the organisation who the decision maker trusts, or they could be external influencers such as other businesses, friends or family. Users These are people who will actually use your product or service, so they have an important role in advising the decision maker. Deciders The person/s that makes the actual buying decision. They can be the hardest to influence as they tend to hold a senior position in the organisation and are often protected by their gate keepers. They may not be the buyer but they have the real power in the buying decision. Buyers These are the people whose job it is t o purchase goods or services for their organisation. They may influence the buying decision and also may be involved in negotiating price, delivery terms and after-sales service with you. It is important to identify who plays what role so that you can supply them with information about your products or services. Often the most difficult part in this process is getting past the gatekeeper to actually speak to people who can influence the buying decision. Here is an example of the buying process for a local council purchasing a recycling service Business Purchase Gatekeepers Influencers Users Deciders Buyers

Receptionist in that department Colleagues of the recycling officer The customer putting out the recycling The head of the recycling department Finance Department

Remember Selling the way your customer wants to buy not the way you would like to sell!

6. Competition
All organisations whether a social enterprise or a private business has competition from other organisations, they may be offering the same as you or something similar that your customer can use instead. It is so important in todays world which is very competitive to know and understand our competition as well or if not better than we know ourselves. When looking at your competition there are a number of questions you can ask which will help you to identify if they are direct or indirect competition to you, these are: Who are they? Size, reputation, location, current customer base

What do they offer? what added benefits are they selling about their service What marketing are they doing? Advertising, promotion, tools they are using etc

It is important to identify the benefits your potential customers will get from your product or service, and compare them to the benefits that they will get from your competitors. This is all about identifying your unique selling point. It is also important to remember to find a way to differentiate your product or services from those of your competitors. This will be your unique selling point and will give your potential customers a reason to buy from you rather than buying from your competitors. To so this you must identify: what your competitors are selling How it compares with what you are selling in terms of quality, price and value How you can make your product or services different

Once you have identified your unique selling point, it can be used together with the benefits of your product or service and the value you provide to your customers, as the basis for your marketing activity which of course has a major impact on your sales activities.

7. AIDA the selling process

The AIDA is one of the original sales techniques introduced around the late 1950s and is still today one of the best models to describe the basic process by which people become motivated to by, perfect model which shows the way that successful selling happens and sales are made. What does it mean? Attention how do we attract a potential customers attention? Getting the other persons attention sets the tone, first impressions count so smile even on the phone because people can hear it in your voice so be happy Getting attention is more difficult than it used to be, because people are less accessible, have less free time and lots of competing distractions, so think about when its best to call. If you are calling on the phone or meeting face to face you have about five seconds to attract attention, by which time the other person has formed their first impression of you. Despite the time pressure, relax and enjoy it. Expect mostly to be told no thanks but remember that every no takes you closer to the next okay.

Interest to learn or hear more about it You now have maybe 15 seconds in which to create some interest. The person you are approaching should have a potential need for your product or service. You must approach the other person at a suitable time

You must empathise with and understand the other peoples situation and issues, and be able to express yourself in their terms. Desire If the product or service then appears to closely match our needs or aspirations you must build rapport and trust, and a preparedness in the prospects mind to do business with you personally you must understand your competitors capabilities and your prospects other options You must obviously understand your product, and particularly all relevance and implications for your prospect You must be able to present, explain and convey solutions with credibility and enthusiasm

The key is being able to demonstrate how you, your own organisation and your product will suitable, reliably and sustain ably match the prospects needs identified and agreed. Action If we are prompted or stimulated to overcome our natural caution we may become motivated or susceptible in taking ACTION simply the conversion of potential into actuality, to achieve or move closer to whatever is the aim

This model is important to both selling your services to the customer (public sector) as well as the consumer (person buying and using your product/service)

8. The seven steps of selling

The seven steps of the sale is the most common structure used for explaining the selling process. Step One: Planning and preparation (generally the larger the prospect organisation, the more research you should do before any sales situation) You need to know your own product/service extremely well Identify the main unique organisational benefit that your product/service can offer your potential customer Discover what current supply arrangements exist
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Understand what other competitors are able and likely to offer Identify as many of the potential organisations decision-makers and influencers as you can Try to get a feel for the organisational politics Prepare you opening statements and practice your sales presentation Prepare a checklist of questions or headings that will help you to gather all the information you need from the meeting Think carefully about what you want to get from the meeting and organise your planning to achieve it

Step Two: Introduction Smile be professional and make sure you are fully prepared for the meeting Introduce yourself including background about your organisation Set the scene explain the purpose of your visit Ask how much time you have to present your sales pitch , and ask if it is ok to take notes (business information can be very confidential so it is polite to ask) Ask if you can start by asking them some questions, they may want you to give them an over view of your business first

Step Three: Questioning Questions must be able to identify how to develop the interview Asking good empathic questions will help you to build relationships, trust and a positive rapport Use your list of questions you prepared in your planning Make sure you use open questions, what, who, where, when, why and how Listen carefully always maintaining good eye contact, always show that you understand When youve asked a question, SHUT UP do not interrupt Do not jump onto an opportunity and start explaining how you can solve the problem until you have all the information that you need. Always say thank you when they have answered your questions

Step Four: Presentation The sales presentation should be all about how your potential customer can benefit from your products/services

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All sales presentations whether they are off the cuff or planned must be well structured, clear and concise Sales presentations must always meet the expectations of the listener The must include relevant evidence of success, references from similar sectors and applications, facts and figures Business decision makers buy when they become satisfied that they decision will either make them money or save them money or time Use props and samples to demonstrate if appropriate Who ever you are presenting too make sure you are relaxed and friendly letting your personality and enthusiasm shine through

Step Five: Overcoming objections If any objections arise, you should refer back to the person who raised it and direct the answer to them It my be important to probe deeper to get to the real issue by asking why to the questions asked Lots of objections are usually a request for more information Try to avoid altogether the use of the word but You can reflect back the objection buy rephrasing it back as a question It is important to air all of the objections and give a solution to all Avoid head to head arguments Make notes about any objections as evidence

Step Six: Closing The best close is something like are you happy that weve covered everything and would you like to go ahead? The manner in which a sale is concluded depends on the style of the decision maker

Step Seven: Follow Up After sales follow up depends on the type of product /service All paperwork must be completed and copies provided to the customer The sales person must be the person who makes the follow up contact with the customer including any resolutions of problems Customers rightly hold sales people responsible for what happens after the sale is made Follow up is an important indicator of integrity. The organisation will buy from the sales person not the organisation
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9.

The public sector Frequently asked questions

Does my company have to be a certain size before the public sector will buy from me? If your company can meet the requirements of the contract and offer value for money, the size of your company, in terms of the number employed and turnover should be irrelevant. You will have to demonstrate that your company has the capacity to meet the requirements of the contract and has a sound financial standing. What do I need to do to sell my services to the public sector? The first step in tendering for a government contract is to make sure you understand the needs of the buyer and that you can meet those needs. If you can do this you will need to submit an application to the organisation. When submitting your application you should include: A description of your products or services using non-technical language A complete list of your products If possible, a client list, highlighting any large companies, public bodies and overseas governments you have already dealt with An outline of any business you have already done with UK Government departments in the past Any trade brochures you may have

Who do I contact to market my services to the public sector? Higher level contracts have to be advertised and details of who to contact will be given in the advertisement. Lower level contracts may not be advertised so it may be wise to contact the public sector organisations that you have decided to target direct. You should find out what contracts your target organisations are currently looking to fill and let them know what your Social Enterprise could offer them. If they do not have any contracts that you could currently apply to tender for, you should ask them whether they have an approved supplier list or use a database of suppliers and whether your company could be added to it. Being on one of these lists may give your company a better change at being noticed by an organisation when future contracts arise but these is no guarantee. Why would public sector organisations choose a small business as a supplier? Public sector organisations are becoming more aware of the many advantages that small businesses have over large ones. Small businesses are often more adaptable, innovative and flexible. They can also potentially offer better value for money and a more responsive level of service. Furthermore many public sector organisations also find it is easier to gain access to decision makers within small businesses.

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Why is contracting with the public sector such a long, laborious and costly process? This is not always the case but the public sector has to ensure value for money for the tax payer. Therefore the process can be lengthy while important checks are made on a companys financial standing and capabilities. Public sector organisations can be asked to account for their actions in parliament. The cost of a tendering exercise can have a big impact on smaller businesses in terms of time and resources. Procurement officials have therefore been advised to consider the needs of small businesses to ensure that they do not place onerous requirements on suppliers.

10. The sales pitch

What is a sales pitch? It is a quick snap shot of your company, including what you do and have to offer your potential customers. It is important to keep it to the point and in the language that your customer will understand, you need to remember that you only have a couple of minutes to present your pitch so make sure that everything that you need your customer to know about is included. What should it include? The best way to make sure your sales pitch appeals to your potential customer is to use the AIDA model which has been explained in detail earlier in this pack. Make sure you have an opening and closing statement and you give your customer that call to action include the next step for them if they are interested i.e. email or phone. How should it be delivered? A sales pitch should be delivered face to face to get the full impact of what you have to say across to your customer. (Remember that they will take into account the way you present yourself here so make sure you appearance and behaviour represents what you are trying to sell and that at all times you give a professional image) In certain circumstances you may be put on a preferred suppliers database where your sales pitch will be available for potential customers to read, make sure that this gives the customer everything they need to know as they will be unable to ask you any questions which they are able to do when listening to your sales pitch face to face.

11. Conclusions
We hope you have found this sales toolkit both interesting and useful and if it hasnt yet helped you in winning contracts you have used it as a tool to help prepare your social enterprise for bidding for contracts within the public sector.
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The toolkit has offered you knowledge in selling, looking at popular models used within the business world, hopefully helped you to look at your customers and competitors building up a picture of what you have to offer, your unique selling point. Most of all we hope that we have given you a little insight into the public sector and ideas about what they are looking for from their potential service providers. All that remains to say is good luck with your social enterprise and its road to success with in the public sector market.

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