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You Made the Shortlist: Now What?

Your hard work on the proposal paid off: The client called to inform you that your firm made the shortlist. They want a 45-minute presentation, then 15 minutes for questions and answers. So you ask the marketing staff to start putting together some slides, basically reiterating the general themes presented in the proposal.

The day before the presentation, you assemble the team to divvy up speaking parts. In the last minute press to finish slides and rough out a script, there is too little time (or commitment) to conduct a dry run. Early the next morning, the team rushes off to the client's office without having rehearsed their presentation, trusting in their experience to somehow pull it off.

Sound familiar? Hopefully not. But in my experience, this scenario is all too common. Since most firms win their fair share of shortlist interviews, there may be little incentive to give the process an overhaul. Yet we also miss our fair share of opportunities for lack of an effective interview strategy. Here are some suggestions for increasing your success:

u Learn what you can about how your proposal was graded. Ideally, you want to identify what the client liked best about your proposal—that is, why your firm was short-listed. Even better, try to find out what they considered the weaker points of your proposal. Clients often won't share these insights, but it's worth asking. This gives you a chance to reinforce the strengths of your proposal in the presentation, and more importantly, to shore up your weaknesses.

u Forget selling, focus on the client and the project instead. This is good advice at any stage of the sales process, but is especially important at this point. The client has already determined that your firm is qualified. The focus now shifts to ascertaining how comfortable they feel with your team. They're wondering: What will it be like to work with this firm? Will they be responsive? Do they really understand our needs? Touting your credentials at this stage will not elevate their comfort level, and in fact may be detrimental. My advice is to approach the interview more like a kickoff meeting than a sales presentation.

u Avoid the monologue, engage in a dialogue instead. I know, the client asked for a 45-minute "presentation." But there's a better way. You already provided them with one-way communication in your proposal. It hardly makes sense to do the same with them sitting in the room—especially when you still have questions about what specifically they want. So I advise working dialogue into your presentation. Seek permission to take this approach at the start (I've only had one client refuse in the last 15 years). Ask questions at key points in your presentation to confirm understanding or to uncover new information. That way you can be more responsive to the client's specific interests and concerns. 

This approach has several advantages. Engaging the client in conversation helps avoid misunderstandings or misplaced priorities that come with making assumptions about what the client wants to hear. It also creates a more informal atmosphere that is conducive to creating the aforementioned comfort level—both for the client and your team (see next point). Dialogue means you're talking with the client rather than at them.

u Put team members in roles they're comfortable with. Many technical professionals are not at their best when asked either to sell or make formal presentations. That's another good reason for engaging in a dialogue with the client. You don't want key members of your project team to appear stiff, nervous, or phony, which are common symptoms I've observed in interviews where the focus is on a formal presentation. For more insight on this aspect of the interview, check out the article "Strengthening the Weak Link on Your Presentation Team."

u Don't skimp on preparation time. One of the quickest ways to eliminate your firm from the competition is to show up less prepared than the other firms. Clients view that as a sign of lack of interest. I've long been puzzled by the minimal effort firms often invest in interview preparation when the odds of winning have been substantially improved (compared to when the proposal was submitted). Don't do it! And don't assume you can get by simply reviewing what was in your proposal.

Once you get to the shortlist, be prepared to dig deeper—providing more detail, new insights, perhaps even preliminary designs (several of your competitors do). Demonstrate that you're further along in your understanding and preparation than you were when the proposal was submitted. Essentially, you're confirming: "We're really interested in this job and we're ready to go to work." 

u But don't try to cover too much in your presentation. In 30 to 45 minutes, you don't have enough time to address all the aspects of the project that you might like. Even if the client should ask you to "review your project approach," for example, don't attempt to be comprehensive. Trying to cover all the bases is a poor interview strategy. It's better to focus on the few issues that you think are most critical to the client. Confirm at the start of your presentation if you've picked the issues they want to hear about. Drive home a few key points rather than skim across a broad spectrum of topics.

A related point: You shouldn't feel compelled to give everyone a speaking part. Having too many speakers can make for an awkward presentation. It's fine to bring someone along simply to address a specialized topic should it come up in the discussion (although you should certainly be judicious in choosing how many people to bring). You might also consider having the PM ask this person specific questions rather than giving him a formal speaking part.

u Anticipate the toughest questions the client might ask. You may not know what the client will ask during the Q&A portion of the interview, but you should try to prepare for it nonetheless. In particular, spend some time thinking about what questions would be particularly difficult to answer. Ask: Where are we vulnerable? What key information don't we know? What concerns us most? If you stumble in answering these questions, it could be the difference in a close decision. Write them down and rehearse your responses. A good suggestion is to ask one or two colleagues from outside the presentation team to grill the team with tough questions as part of your preparation for the interview.

u Be sure the client knows you really want the job. You may think that this is self evident after all the work you've done. But one client survey found that simply asking for the job can make a significant difference. Clients noted that most finalists failed to tell them they wanted the job, which clients interpreted as indicating less interest in the work than the firms that did ask. Of course, it goes beyond just asking the question. Does your team's enthusiasm make it evident that the project really matters to you? Don't spend all your time focusing on the content of the interview and overlook this important point. Passion is persuasive.

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