Art & Science Archive
Investment firms spend a lot of time, money and energy on their new business and client presentations. But business is mainly won or lost — and client confidence reinforced or compromised — during the Q&A after (or during) the formal presentation. To assess if you and your team are prepared for success during the Q&A, consider how many decisive “yes” answers you can provide to the following questions:
- Does the main body of your presentation already cover the obvious tough questions (about performance, for example, or a change in the portfolio management team)?
- Do you have a comprehensive list of potential questions with answers posted on your company’s Intranet?
- Are you prepared to answer questions concisely and explicitly?
- Do you have a clear strategy for dealing with any unexpected questions that you cannot answer?
- Can you get seamlessly back on track when confronted with a series of digressive questions?
- Do you designate respondents to specific types of questions in advance?
- Have you recently reviewed your own company’s marketing literature, RFP responses and website?
- Do you always read the newspapers the day of your presentation, anticipating any questions that may arise about the investment environment or specific holdings?
- Are you ready for situations where no one asks any questions?
- Have you prepared questions for your audience based on close review of their website, RFP and other background information?
A lively Q&A shows potential clients how much they would enjoy working with you and reminds existing clients that they made the right decision in hiring you. Be ready for the most important part of any presentation by moving toward more yes answers to the questions here.
For more on Q&A strategy, see these related war stories:
Let’s “Just Talk”
On The Merits of Throwing Away the Script
Asked and Answered
Call On Me…I Know!