This ad from British Airways emphasizes that building and sustaining relationships are absolutely critical for ultimately building new business. So:
“When I was in law school, Marketing meant going to the grocery store!” From a great Chicago lawyer.
And from Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank fame, “Create a sense of demand, rather than waiting to hear demand.”
Creating value and communicating it to clients and prospects is essential to jumpstarting your revenue. These form the next three of 12 essential practices to accelerate new revenue.
VALUE: Are you building value in your customers’ eyes?
COMMUNICATION: Have you built a customer satisfaction ladder?
TEAM: Have you created a commitment-based culture?
Notice how client-oriented these three essential revenue-accelerator practices are. Let us work with you to make them work for you.
To grow revenue, there are 12 essential practices to maximize. The Key to transforming sustainable revenue to productive revenue lies within the firm’s leaders who should be addressing these 12 critical impact areas. We use them to guide clients into growing more revenue, more clients and opening more doors.
The first three essential practices are:
BRAND — Does your brand identity equal longevity?
LEADERSHIP — Will your current efforts create sustainable revenue growth?
STRATEGY — Do you have an enduring competitive advantage, focusing on 90-day “critical improvement areas?”
WE ARE BACK! With “SINGLE-TASK MARKETING” and business-development services not typically available to small- and mid-sized firmsEach “single task” includes profitable tactics to close more new business rapidly.
Our team made a conscious decision to back away from new work in order to understand where our clients’ needs are moving. These needs have shifted dramatically, due primarily to budget constraints. Intern, these have limited marketing and business development departments from adding the skills and experience necessary for specialized tasks needed to grow new revenue.
For a 30-minute complimentary phone consultation on which of these “single tasks” might help your firm grow new revenue, contact Allan directly.
The message we all too often give to clients is that “you are not really communicating” with your staff or clients. Most often the messages are heard but not understood. Or, as General Motors CEO Mary Bara states, the challenge is “head nodders.” Those are people who say yes by nodding their heads and then doing just what they were doing before. So how do you really get things done?
By explaining the “Why” in order to get the “What” accomplished. And then following up with holding folks accountable for implementation, not just letting them drift off into their past format.
Becoming an effective presenter and communicator does take practice. You need to show how to solve problems, help your staff and partners achieve their goals, contribute to their well being and sometimes even entertain.
Develop an inventory of communication approaches for various settings and concerns. Consider what follow up is needed, and by whom, to implement the matters under discussion. Use collateral and social media where appropriate, whether for internal communication in the firm or with clients.
Clients – ahh – an entirely different set of communication parameters are needed. More on that next post.
Does your firm have an enduring competitive advantage? Number 3 in our 12 essential steps for accelerating revenue growth is all about strategy and how to gain clarity, focus and execution. You need to know:
More in next post.
ZOMBIES, STAMPEEDING HORSES, & the KING OF PRUSSIA
Business Development Leadership – Part I.
By Allan Colman
Marketing the Law Firm, March, 2016
If you were hoping I would define leadership for you, I can’t. What we will cover includes zombies, stampeding horses and a former King of Prussia and how they fit in with the 6 primary elements of exceptional leadership.
In our book, the Crazy Impact of Leadership, Rick Justus points out that the most often overlooked leadership task is leaving a legacy for the organization – an impact for the future. And he calls it “crazy” because most leadership programs and texts forget this key contribution of a real leader. In fact, Steve Jobs described his goal, when Apple began, as building “insane new products.”
Now why can’t I define leadership for you? I keep going to the well looking for a definition from the experts and here’s what I’ve found.
It sounded great until the blog page ended with a large advertisement:
“POTTY TRAIN YOUR DOG IN 6 DAYS.” – I won’t give you the author’s name.
“MAKE IT A STRONG HAPPY TEAM”
Another called for “Freedom Based Leadership”. Reading the definition makes it sound like herding cats.
Is it any wonder I can’t define leadership? But I can relate to you the components of exceptional leadership and how to leave your own Crazy Impact. Through my work as a chief executive, speaker and advisor to managing partners, agency administrators, etc., here are the 6 skills that are each crucially linked in order to make an impact. They are:
AND
The analogy most fitting is that of an orchestra leader. “To be successful they must turn their backs on the audience.” (James Crook) Think about attending a symphony orchestra performance, the experience of bringing a diverse group of instruments together. Such a performance can serve as a reminder of how amazing things can result when various elements work together for one outcome.
But there is something bigger than you can take from the experience – an understanding of the importance of a strong leader. Consider this, while an orchestra’s conductor does not play an instrument, she or he is arguably the most important member of the symphony. After all, the conductor is responsible for ensuring that each player knows his or her part and for delivering a polished presentation to the audience.
Some professionals feel out of tune in their efforts to make decisions and have them implemented. It is crucial to remember, however, that leadership is an highly focused activity that must be internally orchestrated.
You must decide which advice to take, determine which of the available tools and strategies will work, assign implementation tasks, hold people accountable, weigh the risks, and consider the impact on a future legacy. These are the exceptional leadership tasks future posts will cover in detail.
But not to leave you guessing, Tom Ziglar refers to employees as “Zombies.” We will put them all in context next time.
Allan Colman, Managing Partner of the Closers Group, is a speaker, author, business strategist and leadership advisor. Reach him at www.closersgroup.com//acolman@closersgroup.com
Firm leadership and revenue growth is the second of 12 essential practices to make your business unusual. Ask your colleagues the following:
The answers and solutions will come directly from what you hear!