“Our service will…”

(liar, liar, liar)

“We have a comprehensive…”

(no you don’t, no you don’t)

If you want someone in government to buy your services, assume that they don’t believe a word you say.

Not one word.

They won’t believe your claims for improved performance, better management, increased efficiency or return on investment.

How did it get like this? Well, too many people have bought too much stuff that simply doesn’t match up to the promise. The result? People in government have begun to mistrust anyone with a profit motive. They’re inclined to think ‘what are they not telling me?’

They don’t trust you, they don’t believe you and they’re right not to.

So what do you do? Well you’ve got two options, if you’ve got a product you can let buyers try your product before they buy but they need to be able to do this in an unhindered and unrestricted manner,
and without you looking over their shoulder.

The other option is to get other people to speak on your behalf. The basic rule of thumb here is to use a reference to evidence every claim you make. Every claim. It will be even better if you can use a public
sector reference to prove your evidence.

So, don’t make claims for your products at all, get others to make claims for your products. Make sure that those claims are either made by the client or made by people who are as much like your target buyer as possible.

Now they’re having a conversation that they can trust.