Your question would also be good in a post loss debrief, which opens up a whole new category of words you can use.

Ford Harding

“Hey you know, I wanted to get your perspective on my competition… as a company it is our goal to try and be as competitive as possible in such a challenging market, could I as ask if our competitor on this project is bringing anything to the table that we might need to look into (on future jobs for you)?

I have said that knowing who the competition is a) says a lot about how the client sees the problem, and b) informs us of what aspects of our services we should be emphasizing. But I like your approach better and will try it.

By the way, based on your comment, I think you’re going to like next Monday’s post.

Ford Harding

In the ad business, sometimes it helps to offer the following in earlier rounds (RFPs or credentials presentations):

“After reading (or sitting through) multiple presentations, many agencies sound the same. All have a “special process,” right? Knowing who we’re up against can make your job easier, as we can make our differences easier to see. With this mind, who else are you looking at?”

If you have other ways to get at the same question, I’m all ears. Or eyes, in this case!

That’s definitely a good one, akin to:

“We’re doing some planning for next year and want to make sure we have the resources in place as our clients need them. Is there anything in addition to the work we are doing that you might want our help on next year?”

Ford Harding

When wanting to inquire about if there are any other work a client can give you…you might say…

“While I have you on the phone…is there anything else coming down the pike that we can help you with?”

Very unintimidating.