Nowadays, with the emphasis in sales on responsiveness to the individual customer and his or her needs, most small entrepreneurs have fine-tuned their sales techniques. They are now quite proficient at setting up an initial meeting with a client, fine-tuning their sales pitch (or even the product) to meet the individualized expectations of that client, and staying in contact with the client after the sale has been made. In Central Europe, however, some of the most important clients, with a great deal of funding at their disposal, are not individual customers or even firms, but large state bureaucracies such as government ministries or non-governmental organizations, such as the Council of Europe or the Open Society Fund. Should we use different marketing techniques for our product or service with these large, complicated, slow-moving institutions?
The answer to this question is both yes and no. Yes, in the sense that professional contacts with these organizations still involve marketing a product to an individual. How you and your product play with that individual will have an effect on how interested he or she is in your product. However, two important aspects of bureaucratic decision-making make negotiating a contract or promoting a product to these institutions quite different from contractual and sales transactions with individuals or private firms. First of all, decisions in bureaucracies tend to be based on long-term plans developed in a central office rather than on an idea initiated by a low-level employee in the field. You may feel that you’ve really sold your product to a contact that you’ve made at this bureaucracy. He may even have promised to take your pitch to his superiors to see if they are interested. However, if your product or service doesn’t fit within the overall institutional program developed in the central office, it won’t get more than that initial hearing. The second aspect of bureaucratic decision-making is derived from the first. Bureaucrats are answerable to their superiors not in terms of how efficient or profitable their decisions are, but in terms of how well those decisions correspond to that plan from the central office. This is the main reason why bureaucrats are so fond of saying "No" to that great idea you have. If they can’t figure out how your proposal fits in with what the central office thinks they should be doing, they won’t be interested in spending too much of their or your valuable time discussing your wonderful product or service.
So, what is the best way to sell your idea, product or service to these mammoth institutions seemingly awash in funding? The answer is simple: find out what the bureaucracy’s central office has defined as its institutional top priorities, and modify your idea, product or service to fit those priorities. This is not so difficult to do. Most local or public relations offices of these ministries or agencies have publicity brochures promoting their projects in order to keep taxpayers or funding agencies happy. Pick these up and study them carefully. Note if there are any prerequisites to project participation, such as the one implied in this phrase: "assisting local small businesses in developing their entrepreneurial skills." Before you can have access to any of that funding, you must qualify as local. Don’t try to fudge the facts here, or everyone’s time will be wasted.
Once you’ve found a project or agency priority that you think you might be able to fit into, make a fact-finding appointment with the institutional contact person or administrator. Be very careful not to appear to be selling something. These people have plenty of experience dealing with people interested in spending their money, and prefer to work with individuals who don’t appear to need any funding whatsoever. Introduce yourself as an individual interested in the activities of the agency or ministry and in putting yourself on their mailing list. Let the agency or ministry representative do most of the talking. Listen sympathetically to their bureaucratic woes. Most public representatives of large ministries or agencies are convinced that their central office supervisors are completely ignorant of what is actually going on locally, and frequently feel that nobody listens to them. The rare sympathetic ear that you provide will make them much more willing to consider your proposal when it’s presented formally. Finally, never imply in your conversation that you are unimpressed with how his or her organization makes decisions. Such comments, coming from an outsider, will make the representative defensive, even if he or she secretly agrees with you. And a defensive sales contact is not a willing customer!
Towards the end of your conversation, mention casually that you have heard a little about the funding project administrated out of their office and that you’d like to know more about it. Listen carefully to how the representative describes the project. That description will give you an indication of who he or she thinks is eligible for project funding, regardless of how the project is written up. Take whatever application materials you are given, if there are any, and study them carefully. Everything on the application form is of equal importance. If you are asked to write up a formal proposal, write it in such a way that it corresponds to the issues raised by the representative in your conversation
Finally, wait patiently for a final decision concerning your funding request. Looking too eager makes it appear that you are not able to support yourself without agency or ministry funding. They then may wonder if there are problems with your product or service, since no one else appears to be buying it! If your proposal or application is rejected, consider the reasons given by the funding institution very carefully. Ask yourself if you can modify your proposal in any way so that it will receive greater consideration in the future.
In short, obtaining funding or financing of your product or service from bureaucratic institutions requires that you shift your promotional focus from the individual client to the entire funding bureaucracy. The contacts you make at state and non-governmental bureaucracies are important in that institution’s decision-making process, but only to the extent that your proposal fits in with the directives set by their institution’s central offices. Taking the entire institution that you wish to contract out to into consideration when promoting your product, and not just the individual contact in the institution, is the surest way to obtain funding.