Bank Sales Corner

Prospecting Pointers: Ask About Their Vision

  

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In the February 2011 issue of INC. magazine, Ari Weinzweig makes the case that entrepreneurs need to think about the vision they have for their companies and themselves. Weinzweig is the co-founder and CEO of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, which includes 8 different companies with sales of $37 MM and 500 employees.

Like many successful entrepreneurs, he is frequently asked for business advice. He acknowledges that it’s not easy to come up with one magic tip that will lead to business success, but remarks that “There is one thing I wish I had understood more clearly from the get-go: the power of visioning.”

His definition of a vision is pretty straightforward: in essence, it’s a picture of what success looks like at some point down the road. In a business context, an owner would address questions like the following: How big is the company? What are we known for? What’s my role?

It’s not a wild fantasy; there has to be a reasonable chance of pulling it off. But it’s also not a strategic plan. The vision is the what, not the how. It’s something you need to have in place before you develop a strategy.

In the article Weinzweig lays out 8 steps that can help a business owner craft a vision. You could share a copy of it with any of your clients or prospects. (You can find it on line by going to http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/creating-a-company-vision.html.) But here’s another idea: Help them kickstart the process by asking them some questions about their vision of the future.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been encouraging bankers to do that for years. Some bankers are uncomfortable with the approach. They say (correctly, I believe) that many of their customers don’t have a long-range plan. Often times they have difficulty answering questions about their 3 to 5 year goals.

But remember the distinction between a vision and a plan. I’d bet that they could be coaxed into sharing their vision with you, if you approach it intelligently. Here’s how to do it:

1. Spend time learning first about the history of the business and its principals.
2. Delve into how the business works today.
3. Develop an understanding of their current business and financial objectives. (Note: Steps 1 to 3 could take a while, particularly if you’re dealing with a prospect.)
4.  Frame the conversation about the future like this, using your own words of course: “Imagine that we’re having this conversation in 3 or 5 or 10 years. I’m going to ask you a series of questions about your company. It’s OK to think out loud. I’m not going to grill you how you’re going to get there. You can go into as much detail as you like. OK?”
5. Use the list of questions below to get the conversation started. Listen. Take notes. Ask follow-up questions sparingly. This is about your client, not you.  Pay attention.
6. Avoid playing banker here—don’t ask for financial projections, don’t talk about industry risks, don’t immediately turn this into a term sheet, etc. Listen and learn.
7. Go for as long as the client allows. If you see some areas that would be worth pursuing in a follow-up conversation—and I think you may—say so. It might involve introducing the business owner to someone from your Trust area to discuss estate planning. It could lead to a future discussion about possible exit strategies.
8. If you haven’t already shared the INC. article, do so. Tell your customer or prospect that it might be helpful if he has any interest in spending time putting his thoughts to paper. Offer to review anything he does.
9. Go back and talk through what you’ve learned with your manager. See what thoughts you come up with together. Decide on what your next steps are.

Possible questions for visioning exercise:

• How big is your business?
• How will you measure your success?
• What are your most important products/ services?
• What makes you unique?
• Who are your customers? How do you find them?
• If your customers were asked to list three noteworthy things about your business, what would they say?
• What kind of managers do you have in place?
• What do you do everyday? How much do you work?
• How is your company perceived in the community?
• What do your suppliers say about you?
• How would your competitors describe you?

If you’d like to see an example of a tool to improve your questioning technique, go to http://www.mzbierlyconsulting.com/tips-on-asking-better-questions-how-to-use-the-inverted-triangle. The inverted triangle assists you in putting your questions in a sequence that engages a business owner.