Myths of Selling to Government

I Can't Wait to Learn to be Patient

June 16, 2021 Rick Wimberly Season 1 Episode 15
Myths of Selling to Government
I Can't Wait to Learn to be Patient
Show Notes Transcript

To win government contracts, you're going to need to learn patience.  But, you can't sit idly by and wait for contracting decisions to be made and the procurement process to run its course. Most of www,.govselling.com content is centered around things that can be done to either speed the government purchasing process or to continue to advance it while others are waiting.  In this episode, we focus on a single  single tip for what do do while you're learning to be patient.  It will give you insight into what's really going on while you wait, and help ensure a won government contract.

We also talk a bit about our white paper, Seven Traits of Top Performing Government Salespeople, which is available through the Government Selling Solutions website, www.govselling.com.

And, the title "I Can't Wait to Learn to be Patient" comes from a joke my granddaughter and I made up to annoy her parents.


Can’t Wait to Learn to be Patient Winning Government Contracts

I can’t wait to learn to be patient.

 

OK, I was watching something on TV with my four-year-old granddaughter the other day (don’t be surprised to hear her bouncing around up stairs). The show was something about a royal lion.  One of the characters said, “I can’t wait to learn to be patient”.  I thought that was hilarious.  Grandaughter didn’t.  But, that didn’t stop me from convincing her to use that line on her parents…um, over and over.  They didn’t think it was funny either.

 

I can’t wait to learn to be patient.  What a nice lesson that would be for those of us involved with government contracting – patience (sigh). 

 

It’s not an easy lesson to learn.  But, if you’re going to succeed in government sales, you’re going to have to learn it.  And, it can actually pay off. 

 

You see, this stuff takes a long time and, dang, it’s hard to predict how long it’s really going to take.  Government sales cycles are long…real long.  Pretty much everyone knows that, but often we see people lulled into thinking they’re going to get lucky and huge government orders are going to fall from the sky.  They say they know better, but when a year passes and government sales haven’t closed, they start looking toward the blue sky…and see nothing but a blinding light.

 

Yep, it’s frustrating. But, there are reasons behind this.

 

First, it’s the government and government moves at a snail’s pace. 

 

There are so many people involved in a decision that it’s often hard to figure out who’s really making the decision.  And, chances are…well, strike the chances are….it’s definite. There’s not one person making the decision.  It’s a group…or, probably, more accurately groups of groups. And, they each have their own interests and, well, jobs to do. 

 

One is going to be actually using the product and service.  Seems like they would have the ultimate say, right?  Well, what about the group that has to pay?  What about the one that has to make sure all of the rules are followed?  The fairness rules…the safety rules…the employee relations rules…the purchasing rules…the social cause rules…um, the political rules.  The rules rules.   No wonder you need to learn patience. 

 

But, you can’t just sit idly by and wait for all of those folks to have their say and produce a final decision.  “no, no, no, that’s not good”, as my granddaughter would say. 

 

This whole podcast series, our blog posts, our book, our coaching, our services are built around what to do, rather than sit idly by and wait.  Today, though, I’m going to give you one of the best things you can do during that long time, assuming you’ve presented a good case of value.  Here it is:  Know more about the process than anyone else…even more than the folks on the inside. And, certainly more than your competitors.  Make it your mission to know.  Make it a game.  Get really good at it. 

 

How, you might ask?  Well, there’s your answer…ask.  Ask lots of questions to lots of folks.  They’ll tell you.  Most of them will want to understand the process.  They’re not trying to trip you up.  They’re mostly trying to make sure that the follow the rules.  Part of the game, right?

 

Get your internal coach to help guide you.  Wait, you don’t have an internal coach?  Well, you’re in trouble.  Get one.  And, ask lots of questions.  Some of them, by the way, your coach won’t be able to answer.  They may not be know the real process anyway.  Your coach is probably someone who specializes in using the product or service you’re trying to sell…not someone who specializes in buying the product or service you’re trying to sell.  But, if you’ve done a good job making him or her your coach, they’ll be glad to point you in the right direction to learn the process.

 

When you understand the process, you find yourself in a position of doing a better job projecting when the contract will really close…which you’re going to need to keep your boss off your back.  But, equally important, you’ll find yourself in a position to deal with issues as the process continues.  And, there will be issues. 

 

Plus, you’re showing genuine interest.  If you’re showing this type of interest pre-sale, many folks will figure you’ll show the same type of interest after the sale.

 

Yes, there will be roadblocks to your quest to understand.  This isn’t easy, but you’re dealing with a game of mazes here.  Mazes aren’t easy…but, they sure can be fun.

 

After working in government sales and contracting for a couple of decades, we started seeing common characteristics of top performing sales folks in the government space.  Not sure we were seeing them correctly, we conducted a survey of people known to be successful in government business development – local, state and federal levels.  We then applied some heavy duty analysis, and came up with common traits. 

We found seven common indicators of top performance in government sales. We won’t go into them all at this time, but If you’re interested in the white paper on the study, go to our govselling.com website or email me at rick@govselling.com.

 

In the seven common indicators of top performance, we found several traits that tie into the need to learn to be patient.  Listening and asking the right questions are among them.  And,  and enjoyment of playing the game is another.  You see, top performers like digging into the process, and following the maze.  When they look back on a day, I suspect they think about those fact-finding accomplishments as victories.  And, if you’re considering these things as victories, you’re going to find yourself being more patient.  I know I did.  I guess that’s how I learned to be patient.  I couldn’t wait.