Prove that You#8217;re the Best

Prove that You8217re the Best We had an interesting conversation with an important potential client the other day. It was a marketing VP and they said something that a lot of marketing VPs probably say How can you prove to me that yure the best? Its a fair question for which we should probably have a canned response. But instead, I think I said something like I dont know, how could I possibly prove that to you? I dont know his experiences with past companies. I dont know the kind of ROI that he expects or has gotten elsewhere. We have client testimonials, but these days, arent those assumed to be a paid-for commodity? How can I ever judge my own companys relative performance, especially since each clients needs are different?The rest of our conversation was about the things that I do know our metrics, our results, our company philosophy, and about other interesting stuff. But what I refused to say is here is how and why were the best. Its not my job to judge other companies and people. Its the clients responsibility to gauge whether or not were the best relative to other companies.When I was in recruiting, a lot of potential clients would ask similar questions (demands), like Why would I want to work with you over ABC company?, What do you do differently than XYZ company?, or Prove to me that I should want to work with you over other recruiting firms. Its the type of question that no company should ever answer. Decisions are up to clients. When youre playing the vendor role, its up to you to talk about what you do well and demonstrate a past history supporting that success. Beyond that, the prove that youre the best question should really be turned to the client What does the best mean to you? What are looking for? What was good about working with your best vendor?I was reminded of this recent article on being a top recruiting firm. Why are we all obsessed with calling ours elves the top and best of anything? Arent we all as companies good at X, great at Y, not so good at C, and awful at D? But should we ever call ourselves the best? Would we ever want to be?I hope that as a company we can grow to be brutally honest with ourselves and our clients. Client relationships should be just that relationships. And good relationships are founded on a real understanding of who the other part is. In sales as in any good conversation, both people have to pay attention to the other and care. Were going to try to forget about being the best and focus on understanding ourselves and our clients.Ill let you know how that sale goes. Or doesnt go.