An Excerpt from Tom Gunn's:                                                                           www.gunnsights.com
GUNNSIGHTS
Taking Aim on Selling in the High Stakes Industry of International Aerospace
Naval Institute Press

From CONSULTANTS & AGENTS

I got a call from a contact in Washington: the former ambassador of one of our prospective client nations wanted to be our representative. I knew the man, a big powerplayer, and agreed to a meeting at an out-of-town hotel—my security fetish—along with one of my associates, an expert on the customer.
            Powerplayer got right to the point: “I know what you need, what you want to accomplish and I can be of great assistance. For my part, I’ll need seven percent of the deal . . .” And he started telling me how he was going to divvy up and distribute the money—”payments” to various government officials and military officers, and I knew we were in trouble right away. He was quite relaxed, so I asked him a couple of questions, which he answered. I asked him what he knew about the competition, and he got more comfortable, and told me. I asked him about individuals and timelines, and he got really comfortable, expansive, and answered those questions and threw in a few other things as well.
            After we were in my car to return to the office, my associate asked me, incredulous, “Are you going to hire that guy?” And I said, “Are you kidding? He told me everything I need to know and is so unguarded I couldn’t trust him in any situation.”

Since you have spent so much time and energy assembling a thoroughly professional staff, why would you hire a consultant? Because there is not enough skill, experience, or wisdom in anyone to cover all of the bases you need covered. You go to a specialist. You wouldn’t have the company lawyers handle a patent infringement case, nor would you turn it over to a divorce lawyer. For example: you want to do a legislative blast—sure, you know who’s in congress and where they work, but I’ll bet you don’t have an up-to-date file on the names, email, and phone numbers of the people who run the local congressional offices, district by district. Somebody has the info, probably at a PR firm in Washington. So you hire them to handle the mechanics of your effort. And to tell you where each member stands on the issue at hand, voting record on similar matters, and so forth. And to help you with the news media. Maybe get a favorable editorial in a few key newspapers. They know the editors. You’re hiring a specialist.
          Perhaps you want to have an independent, outside study to bolster an argument your want to make to a customer. However, before you hire a consultant, be sure you have a pretty good idea what he’ll find and report. The last thing you want is to get a report with the “wrong” answer. I know of one aerospace company, involved in a large international procurement, which commissioned a study to tell the customer which of five competing fighters would be best. The winner was our McDonnell Douglas F-18. That was not the answer the sponsor was looking for. But had to pay for it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Gunn had a life-altering career change in 1975 when he went from an eight-year stint as staff lawyer with the U.S. Senate to a job in aerospace sales and marketing at McDonnell Douglas. He knew a lot about military appropriations and classified developments, but almost nothing about marketing. Over the next twenty-two years, however, Gunn and the team he assembled developed a process for strategic selling and marketing that delivered $250 billion in sales of military and commercial aircraft, missiles, space systems, and logistic support, against strong and at times cutthroat domestic and international competition. His book is both the story of that success and a handbook for anyone who wants to learn about high-powered selling, about assessing the competition and understanding the customer, and about using a defined process to shape strategic planning. Gunn details that process step by step, outlines cultural traps overseas and political realities at home, and makes his points in selected case studies.

Among other assignments,Tom Gunn was Vice President, Marketing; Senior Vice President, Business Development. President, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company; and President, McDonnell Douglas International.

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