Author Archives: Peter Bourke

Client Value Propositions…the least used, and most critical sales strategy today

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Every organization I’ve had the privilege of working with over the past 20 years can tell me some version the value proposition that they provide to their clients and prospects (I’ll use these terms, ‘client’ and ‘prospect’ interchangeably throughout this document). Which is helpful…but not enough. The primary “gap” in their version is the orientation […]

What’s Changed in Professional Services Sales? (Part 1)

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Who says “selling” hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years? For consulting, outsourcing and other professional services organization, nothing could be further from the truth. This is particularly true when you consider the impact of the come-and-gone ERP rage of the mid 90’s, the dot.com craze of the late 90’s, the market “free fall” […]

What’s Changed in Professional Services Sales? (Part 2)

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In our first installment of this thought leadership series, we overviewed the changing selling environment within the professional services market and the key challenges faced by firms within a business development framework that included the following elements: Account Selection – How the organization determines which clients they will focus their efforts on; how they will […]

Lessons Learned from Accenture’s Client Pursuit Challenges

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In the mid-1990’s, when I was responsible for worldwide business development at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), we were determined to find the key impediments to the firm’s long term growth and success. We concluded that our willingness to treat all clients and opportunities equally – in essence, our inability to prioritize client pursuits – was […]