Finding the right bedside manner to discuss fees can be tricky.
“We are pretty frank,” says Palousis. “But sometimes the conversation isn’t mature enough to talk turkey.”
His strategy is to ensure he has tested interest levels, found out whether there is a budget available for the service – otherwise what’s the point?
Dr Simon Longstaff, head of the St James Ethics Centre is in the curious position of running a non-profit organisation than runs a diverse range of services from free phone consultations through to workshops for cashed-up corporate clients; his team of up to 20 is a mixture of staff and volunteers.
Longstaff has also been working with the Federal Government establishing the Good Business Register to help SMEs plug into ethical supply chains. The St James Ethics Centre has a policy not to turn anyone away because of an inability to pay. Similarly, if a company is offering thousands of dollars to do a project, the Centre will not take on the work if it feels it cannot make a positive contribution to the client’s business – despite the lure of the fees and what that money could do for the Centre.
This approach to new business is not purely about an opportunity to sell, but is instead framed as an opportunity to provide genuine benefit with the business’ products/services.
“If you are in a relationship that is not just about a transaction, there is something that potentially you can build a little deeper,” says Longstaff.
For Longstaff, a business that is very clear about its core values and principles and can apply them across the spectrum of relationships has the best chance of success.
“Otherwise you fall back into the arms of unthinking customer practice and say ‘I do it because that is the way everyone else does it’. In those circumstances you really do fail. You can’t see the risks involved.”
Fees at the St James Ethics Centre work on a scale based on experience – Longstaff’s time is the most expensive. However the Centre’s policy of not turning people away means that staff cannot present fees and say ‘take it or leave it’.
Says Longstaff: “Some people say, ‘we want Simon and we are a big company and we are prepared to pay for him’, other people will claim that we are a bit expensive.” In those situations, Longstaff asks them why they believe they should be paying less than would normally be the case. “They might have an argument, some good reasons and we ask them to tell us what they are,” he says.
When it comes to new clients, it is worth remembering that patience can really pay off. It’s taken more than four years and 15 trips to the United States for the Hobart-based company CBG Systems to land a $4.5 million contract with the US Navy for its fire protection products to be used in high-speed US Navy boats but this month, CBG Systems hit pay dirt.
“It’s been a very expensive three years but it has paid off,” says CBG Systems’ managing director Noel Richardson. The first US Navy contract is to supply fire protection for nine navy boats and there is the potential for this order to quadruple.
Richardson’s seasoned advice for getting a deal over the line centres around establishing networks that relate to the customer and having a depth of knowledge to be able to sell your product into the industry. “You’ve got to have faith in the product,” he says. “We knew we had a product that could do the job.”
CBG System’s success backs up Longstaff’s premise that if you want to be in any kind of marketplace, you need to be able to make sure that your offer to the market is something that is likely to be meeting the interests and dictations of that marketplace. “There is a process to getting known and establishing a reputation,” he says. “That’s worth investing in.”
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