Series Overview

This training series will improve the effectiveness of your account teams in their development of estimates, proposals and SOWs. They will also improve their ability to manage day-to-day client negotiations. 

Simply put, this series will have your teams generating more revenue from your current client roster within days.

You will take away a set of steps and tools that can be proactively applied to give you an edge in these critical client interactions. In fact, as you also gain new insight into the tactics being used against agencies, you’ll work through how to get out ahead and actually lead the fee proposal and negotiation process.

To ensure your team best implements the training, they will be put to work with a series of hands on-exercises and brief homework assignments. Bring along a fee proposal, staffing plan and scope of work — and measure it against the lessons in this program.

Throughout this program, we’ll cover key steps that include:

1. Understand the Client Decision-Maker Profile
Gain more insight into the kind of people you’re working with (and negotiating against), and why you must adapt your approach or suffer the financial consequences. In fact, we’ll reveal how client and procurement executives are trained for this part of their role.

2. Learn the Scripted Tactics
Clients and procurement often follow a structured approach to their negotiations. Learn their approach to more proactively prepare a strategy to counter it - and even increase your fees.

3. Shift the Focus: Client Business Objectives
With the goal of pre-empting client-side tactics, we’ll review critical principles in RFPs, fee proposals, and staffing plans documents – specifically as it relates to securing a higher fee. In fact, you will learn how to more effectively correlate your estimates and proposals to meaningful client outcomes, thereby increasing your leverage.

4. Better Position Your Agency + Your Offering
Right out of the gate, learn how to better position the agency, services and individual estimate/proposal line items to strengthen your negotiation position. 

5. Commanding Higher Fees
Review the most effective ways in which agencies are now improving their fees. The goal is to move you beyond an unprofitable reliance on cost-plus fees, commissions, retainers or hourly rates. In fact, when you set aside the more dated approaches, an entirely new set of profit-driven possibilities surface. Several new fee models will be explored.

6. Turn Scope Creep into Revenue
Learn specific steps you can take to get ahead of the problem of scope creep – and consistently get paid for all the work you do. In fact, we'll show you how to turn scope creep into a new revenue opportunity for the agency.

7. Agency Negotiation Strategies
Ultimately, by better understanding the client's strategy – and your new approach – you’ll feel more confident and see the result in higher fees and margins. Here, outline an approach you can use to prepare your own negotiation strategy. 

This training will give you a set of steps and tools that can be proactively applied to give you an edge in these critical day-to-day client interactions. In fact, you also gain new insight into the tactics being used against agencies, you'll work through how to get out ahead and actually lead the fee proposal and negotiations process.

Who Should Attend?

This training program is designed for all those who have any interactions with clients as it relates to fee proposals, staffing plans and agreements. The training content is geared to focus more on your senior team members, however your more junior executives will also elevate their ability to negotiate with their client counterparts.

All Sessions