Win a high ticket financial services client

This is the 1st chapter of your very own B2B acquisition bible. Let’s get to it. 

Chapter I: 'Just get your toe in the door'

You’re a new kid (adult) on the block. You focus on B2B tech consulting or SaaS, servicing FinTech's or Banks. It’s been hard, but I have some advice:

Forget the foot. And the door. Just a toe.

Let’s talk a bit more..

You have some experience in these industries from a past life from a day job, and you’ve left your 9-5 in the last 3 years to start your own tech consultancy or agency. You are deeply knowledgeable about the tech. You can consult and sell it. 

You’ve done projects for clients in industries just outside of your career niche or desired high ticket audience (B2B Fintech/Banks)

You want this big ticket client. You're just lost. You just don't know where to start. 

How do you start a conversation with a business that you've never met? We need to change our language. We need to think of a person.

You need to find a person, a contact, a segue to your first SME B2B FinTech or Bank client.

This is VERY hard with no previous experience AND connections. But you have a lot of one (and maybe a little of the other). 

It's hard because where does one start, with 1 billion possible avenues to take? Imagine an iPhone with no maps. 

This doesn’t bode well..

The issue with finding a B2B client in this space is just how much the corpos still rely on good ol’ fashioned buddies to pitch. A favour. A discount. A brown envelope (ok maybe not this).

STILL. Finding and engaging the right person at the right time in the right way is absolutely key to landing your first Fintech or Bank client.

There is a huge caveat here. Even if you do fulfil all of the above criteria, you STILL may not get immediate business. You get 1 of 2 things:

• The deal, yay. This is good.

• No deal, but you’re on the radar. Also good. 

Let’s look at things from a CCO POV (likely approver of the deals). 

• Absolutely manic busy

• They want profit driving, affordable or high quality. Likely all three. 

• Doesn’t know you exist

• Has friends or good industry contacts who can pitch in on tech research and refer dev shops in spite of you

OK. Solution time.

There are 3 ways to go about this. You can choose 1 way or a hybrid mix: 

#1: Cold outreach via LinkedIn / Cold Email services

• Pros: more direct results, hit volume hard, instant feedback loop, great w/expertise 

• Cons: may burn credibility or future relationship potential if not done right, could veer in the wrong direction for too long, waste $$ without expertise 

#2: Engage consultancies that work with B2B targets

• Pros: Strong referral increases chance of working with client directly, potentially 2 clients & more work, industry expertise up-skill, partnership potential

• Cons: Slower. May take longer to see feedback to iterate approach and results, very hard from a standing start

#3: Ring up your old flames. Not your ex.

• Pros: Strong referral increases chance of working with client directly, high chance of it being a decision maker, or contact themselves being decision maker

• Cons: You don’t know how to do this 

I will now show you how to do this. Grab a pen. Open LinkedIn. Then... 

List ppl from previous companies you’ve worked at:

• Colleagues you had a rapport with, that were in the same team, or in product and/or sales

• Their line managers

• Anyone with 'partnerships' in their job title

& also list:

• Old bosses. All of them

• Clients you’ve got good rapport with

• Anyone who has referred you a B2B financial services clients 

Got it? Good.

• Now note the last time you engaged them

• List your current rapport level and lead industry alignment potential with each one (low, medium, high)

• Identify ones engaged over 3 months ago

• Dm them asking to catch up

• Share your story, ask for feedback / latest industry trends..

and if comfortable, ask for..

• Intro to a decision maker within the company

• Intro to a decision maker in a similar company they may know on their network

• I'd start with the approach #3. It's quick & taps into high potential leads. At worst it gathers feedback.

Here’s a template you can use to tap into your network for referrals.

I now talk about what’s next in Chapter II below..

Oh, I also just posted this on Twitter/X, if you want to connect on there:

Chapter II: Get your goddamn foot in the door!

We just spoke about how to make initial contact with your dream prospect. Fast forward.

You’ve got an introduction. A 30 min call. Sweat drips down your cheek at the prospect of it.

'Now what!?'... don't worry, I gotchu.

I will use a 1st date as an analogy

When a financial service biz wants to partner with a vendor for new technology, consultation or services, they may not do it officially straight away. They’ll test the waters - dip. toe. etc. 

This is the first date. Or maybe a phone call before the date. It's not final, but it will set the tone and boost or sink chances for future pitches.

The client will do this by having a 30 min call masquerading as an ‘introductory’ or ‘scene setting call’ with tech providers/agencies. But do not be deceived.

This is the start of the pitch. Your first date is on the line - remember what they said on WhatsApp. 

Prep accordingly. You can prepare better by thinking about how they reached out. If you had a blind date set-up, you'd ask your cupid friend to give you the deetz. 

Here's 2 ways you can do it with a FinTech / Bank:

#1: Sometimes they’ll reach out via an intermediary - like a consultancy.

They may consult with a key contact at the consultancy first to get their thoughts on an initial list of tech SaaS, agencies and consultancies to engage. 

If you have good rapport with the consultant, ask them for a bit of background about the client. Ask about their current needs, technology pains, and desired outcomes. 

#2: Sometimes the client will go directly to you - especially if you were recommended by a trusted friend or peer. Try speaking to your friend to get the same info. 

If the above fails, talk about:

• Brief story of your agency / business

• You/team experience and skills

• Similar projects you’ve worked on, that solved similar needs with similar clients

The last point is VERY, VERY important.

Make sure to dig deep in the archives of your agency work to find something that makes the prospect think:

‘well, they’ve done it before. They could be a good tech partner for us. I want dinner with this person’

(ok not the last bit)

Tailor your words to what you know of their needs. If you know they are looking for treasury, cash or payments tech consultation & solutions - fit your words to this narrative. 

Your Financial Service Playbook

You know they want competitive advantage, so talk about your ability to provide tech that..

• Forecast's future cash positions

• Generates interest yield from cash

• Provides an elite Omnichannel UX

if they want to increase their security..

• Transaction Monitoring & Screening solutions

if they want to reduce costs / increase efficiency..

• Automate manual steps (inputting information into payment fields, account opening etc)

And so on.

If the client doesn’t brief you with much details before, try speaking to the intermediary consultancy that connected you. If there was none, prepare a standard set of speaking points using the above.

It's showtime. We're on the call.

• Start with a story - why you created your agency

• Touch on team skills / experience 

• Show immediate value / case studies of technology and outcomes delivered for similar clients

Remember - you're on a date. Hold your cards close. We won’t go in for the hard sell here, so don’t talk about cost or finer details unless prompted. Play hard to get. 

..and that's exactly what I'm gonna do now. 

Chapter III coming in the next few days.

See ya soon!