“With all of the changes professionals face working to generate new business, from both clients, prospects and suspects, shouldn’t they now be called
DEALMAKERS? With clients reducing the number of “go-to” firms, tougher fee negotiations, firm budget demands, and the requirements for more communication, aren’t “deals” being made, not “rain?”
Does Your Firm Have an “Enduring Competitive Advantage”?
This often overlooked strategy needs to be recognized by all professionals. It requires energy, resources and time. But it is the key to long term, productive revenue development.
* Whenever and wherever you are with a client or customer, the brand discussion must be the same.
* Does your group assess client satisfaction on a regular basis?
* Are your professionals being trained to utilize a common approach to the core of your services and the differentiation with competitors?
* Do you require a simple strategic plan for each approach?
* Is there a review of the stage of growth with each relationship?
The answers to these and related questions will make a major contribution to your long term revenue growth.
Is Your Team Treating All Leads Alike?
Simple question — are they marketing to the wrong prospects without discriminating between types and potentials of leads?
Why Do Senior Partners Resist an Exit Strategy?
From Thomson Reuters Legal Solutions Blog, August 20, 2015
When asked what major problems they face, we often hear Managing Partners say “senior attorneys. They want to hold on to their clients and not share origination or management credits.” The potential loss of revenue is significant. Failure to deal with this is a common million dollar blind spot for the typical law firm.
Often, these near-retirement lawyers are producing less and taking more.
What has been your experience?
“Enduring Competitive Advantage” – What Does It Take?
What are the criteria you use to build a lasting or “enduring competitive advantage”? How closely do you track competitors and the market place? Do you pre-test strategies?
Strategy requires clarity, focus and execution. Tools to build that enduring competitive advantage can include a strategic plan, follow up system, mastering lead generating, building a business model, etc.
What else does it take?
What Do Firm Leaders Need to Build Sustainable Revenue Growth?
Add to the list:
1. Learn what triggered clients cancelling relationships.
2. Are they pushing internal marketing?
3. Track what competitors are doing to win new business.
Add your thoughts —
When determining whether or not your brand has lasting power, “longevity”:
1. Do you look at the percentage of repeat and referred clients?
2. Does your firm’s culture match what clients might say about the value you bring to the table?
What other questions need evaluation when looking to the future?
SENIOR PARTNER EXIT STRATEGY – Will They Cooperate?
Most law firms find it uncomfortable to tackle the task of planning and documenting an exit strategy for senior partners. The basic action is simple – determine what that partner should:
• Do more of;
• Do less of;
• Start doing;
• Stop doing?
And with each question, who should they be doing it with in order to insure client continuation?
Assuming the senior partner is cooperating and has been part of the firm’s culture of building future leaders, look toward continuing an “enduring competitive advantage.”
Is there a next level of growth that can be included in the client continuation plan? Are there changes or trade-offs needed to transition the client and their engagements? If there a risk the client might cancel the relationship, what immediate actions should be undertaken?
In the past, one of our clients was working hard to receive a judicial appointment from that state’s governor. In a brainstorming session to determine the best way to plan for his departure, I felt there was a great risk to the partner’s clients hearing about this effort through word of mouth.
A contact strategy was quickly established. Both the senior partner and the primary attorney working on each engagement were present on the calls or meetings held. A surprising side benefit resulted when numerous clients not only wanted to stay with the firm, but volunteered to contact the governor and push the nomination.
This certainly demonstrates the importance of constantly reinforcing client relationships. It equally applies to the other firm attorneys working with each client and their own need to build counterpart relationships. Their primary contacts are that client’s future gatekeepers. They too should be building that enduring competitive advantage.
As assertive and engaging as the transitioning efforts are, we find one critical area is often neglected – referral sources. Experienced lawyers often develop a range of referral sources who have led them to new relationships and new clients. In turn, the attorney has served as a referral source for them. Make sure these are identified and nurtured in the client continuation plan.
To make this all work, our recommendation is a simple OPSP, One Page Strategic Plan for each client including: focus; key objective; initiative timing, key progress indicators; and scheduled reporting to firm management. One protagonist must be charged with making this happen. A member of the firm’s executive committee should be best equipped to insure the success of client continuation.
Dr. Colman Named a Top 10 Speaker
Dr. Allan Colman has been named a Top 10 Speaker by ISN Works. His featured keynote is “GOT LEADERSHIP – Transform Your Leaders and Transform Your Business Growth.” Dr. Colman uses humor, case studies and powerful insights designed to transform your teams and open up many new business opportunities.
He utilizes 6 skills which are crucially linked to exceptional leadership, accelerating revenue growth and increasing effectiveness. The key to transforming sustainable revenue growth to productive revenue is centered in a firm’s leaders who are willing to address critical impact areas.
Colman may be reached at www.allancolman.com and ISN at 800-987-7771.
About Made For Success Publishing
(http://www.madeforsuccesspublishing.com) works with motivated authors worldwide to produce successful book-launch campaigns. By combining proven book-marketing strategies with enhanced retail promotion, Made for Success Publishing works with self-published authors on the launch of physical books, ebooks and audio books.
About the Author:
(http://www.allancolman.com)
Dr. Allan Colman, CEO of The Closers Group, is a consultant, speaker and author. He is an expert in business growth and leadership and a foremost authority on exceptional leadership. His three recent books, Crazy Impact, Own the Zone, and Lead Like A Boss are all published by Made for Success Publishing and are utilized in his seminars and workshops.
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HOME > BLOG > PRACTICE MANAGEMENT > REVENUE GROWTH AND FIRM LEADERSHIP – WHAT’S MISSING?
REVENUE GROWTH AND FIRM LEADERSHIP – WHAT’S MISSING?
August 6, 2015
How often have you heard from senior lawyers, “I’ve got lots of low hanging fruit”? Statistics over the past 8 years indicate this sounds like they are talking a good-game but are not getting out face-to-face in order to pick that crop. If, in fact, these claims are actually pursued, only 3% of the prospects are ready to buy, and the rest are either no longer interested, have retained someone else, or have moved on to other problems. That’s right, just 3% are ready to engage you, according to a study by Business Breakthroughs.
Further, every firm has a number of tools that they are not using or using ineffectively, to grow revenue. The more you look at your own firm and its business development strategies, the more you are going to find:
Underperforming assets;
Overlooked opportunities;
Hidden assets;
Under valued relationships.
And to further reinforce this challenge, 89.3% of ceo’s confirmed the need for their outside firms to build better relationships (Study by brandfog.com).
What are needed are clarity, focus and execution, starting with firm leadership. Firms need to start using tools which place more emphasis on “critical impact areas.” These will lead to clear 90 Day Strategic Implementation Maps which identify action details, timing, resources needed and leadership assignments. These lead to:
More revenue;
More clients;
More open doors.
Building a sustainable revenue path is the key to rapidly growing ROI. Those who can have the most influence in turning this into productive revenue are the firm’s leaders. Just as “marketing” has evolved into “business development,” business development must now evolve into “business generation and creation!”
Refining the roles and requirements of firm leadership need to focus on the complete picture:
1. Underutilized assets;
2. Development of suppressed skills sets of each professional;
3. Hidden opportunities, both current and future;
4. Under valued relationships;
5. Timely associations with clients and contacts.
Revealing and implementing these five avenues to your firm’s leadership are keys to achievement, growth and success. The major problem we see on an ongoing basis is the absence of holding people accountable for results. Once Strategic Implementation Maps are approved by firm management, the most potential for success is if firm leaders help others overcome obstacles and challenges.
In summary, what are needed to accelerate revenue growth in your firm are clarity, focus and execution. Take a hard look at what can be refined in order to identify those “critical improvement areas.” Place your leaders in charge of implementing each and watch the revenue grow.
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Allan Colman
CEO, Closers Group
Allan Colman, CEO of the Closers Group, is a business development executive keynote speaker and marketing advisor/coach. He has spent more than 2 decades helping law firms and professional services firms generate more revenue. His clients call him Mentor and TORMENTOR!