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Turn Mistakes Into Marketing Opportunities

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Client Retention, Marketing for Law Firms.

One of the most important lessons to be learned in professional services business is that when there’s a problem, it needs to be fixed right away. The process involves identifying a mistake, fixing it quickly, and making sure that your clients know what you’ve done to take action.

While no one wants to make mistakes, when one occurs, you have the opportunity to:

1. Identify how you responded to the situation:
2. Look at the relationships that you do have with clients and see how those relationships are
progressing;
3. Determine whether or not you are providing them the support and resources they need;
4. Examine what can be done to assist as their businesses continue to grow.

Having a prompt response to a mistake — and having a rapid fix — allows you to demonstrate how important client retention is to you.

Read more at www.ownthezonebook.com.

Practice Group Leaders – "Know Thy Client"

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Asking for Business, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Law Firms, Marketing for Law Firms, Practice Group Leaders.

When working with Practice Group Leaders, we have a group of questions they need to ask their colleagues. From the answers, we help them build a more successful business growth program.

1. Do they know who the final decision maker is?
2. Do they know what other competitive firms/companies their clients and prospects are using?
3. What is the last time the client/prospect hired a new firm?
4. Do you know how they prefer to communicate, by phone, email or report?
5. What has been done recently to build the relationship?

More questions in the next column or go to page 90 in OWN THE ZONE for the complete list.

Client Retention – 3 Reasons Why Clients Leave

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Business Development, Law Firms.

Understanding why clients leave is critical to knowing how to retain clients. According to Jay Abraham in his book “Getting Everything You Can from Everything You’ve Got”, there are 3 primary reasons even long term clients leave:

1. Lack of contact leads to their forgetting you;
2. Their situation changes;
3. They become dissatisfied.

As discussed in an earlier column on why clients leave, COMMUNICATION is the key.

GREAT MARKETING BOOKS

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Asking for Business, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Law Firms, Managing Partners, Marketing for Law Firms.

In one of the LinkedIn groups, there has been a lively discussion of recommendations for “great marketing books” for new marketeers. But while they all address marketing, there is nothing moving the reader out into actual business development. This provides me with a very self-serving opportunity to offer OWN THE ZONE – Dominate the Competition, published by Made For Success Publishing and found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, Itunes, etc.

“The real impact of the book is about transforming your business culture, erasing the artificial boundary between sales and professional service, and understanding the bottom-line benefits of speaking directly and honestly to client needs.” Larry Smith, Sr. VP LEVICK.

If you are on allancolman.com, download a free chapter. And for the first 10 people who send in the contact form, I’ll foward the book to you at no cost.

You can also reach me at acolman@closers group.com.

Welcome to the new Closers Group website

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Asking for Business, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Marketing for Law Firms.

We’ve learned from others the importance of simplifying and clarifying what clients come to us for and how we can help new business development. Whether you enter www.allancolman.com or www.closersgroup.com, you will find us ready to assist you in accelerating business, presenting keynotes on Leadership, Winning New Business, Client Retention, etc.

Deepest thanks to DeeDee Heathman from Made For Success. As the publisher of my books and future book, CRAZY IMPACT, she brought a unique view into building our new website.

We get measurable results for our clients.

THE THIRD STEP IN LEAD GENERATION

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Business Development.

In the last 2 columns, we reviewed our RAPID ASSESSMENT, and STRATEGIC ROAD MAP. This final step is:

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TRAINING

WHETHER yours is a smaller firm or you have multiple offices, one of the key elements of a successful marketing strategy is the ability to ensure that all of your professionals are on the same page. Even though the Closers Group Rapid Assessment and Strategic Action Implementation programs are straightforward, there is often room for improvement by individuals.

THAT’S where our business development strategy and training phase begins.

WE ARE READY to customize a program for you. Contact us for a free initial consultation.

LEAD GENERATION — THE FIRST OF THREE STEPS

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Business Development.

LAST column discussed what a business development approach should be. It includes 3 basic steps. The first one is:

RAPID ASSESSMENT

IF IT SOUNDS straightforward, it is. It serves as the first step toward lead generation, providing a platform from which clients grow. And most importantly, it provides a tool to measure progress and successes.

IDENTIFICATION of effective and underutilized assets builds on interviews with a firm’s management, professionals and associates. We assess the current business development strategies. Brainstorming with firm management on client development and marketing opportunities ensues.

A TIMELINE is built in order to track implementation of the actions, results, and individual assignments.

NEXT column will cover the second step, STRATEGIC BUSINESS ROADMAP.

HERE’S A DIRECT SALES PITCH

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Asking for Business, Business Development.

One of the first questions that any firm should ask when they consider working with a business development consultant is about the consultant’s approach: what do they do differently that will help you to see real results from your lead generation efforts?

At the Closers Group, we help clients achieve results using a three-phase approach 1) analysis with Rapid Assessment; 2) Strategic Business Road Map; 3) business development strategy and training that builds on the first two.

Once we know what is working for a firm and have identified where there is room for growth, we work with firm management and marketing professionals to establish and prioritize target prospects, create a timeline action program, recommend refinements for collateral and pitch materials, and provide direction for closing new business.

Each of our next columns will address the 3 steps to Growing New Business.

THE TOP 5 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MYTHS – #5

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Business Development.

MYTH # 5 — ONCE YOU’VE RETAINED THE CLIENT, BUSINESS GENERATION CEASES.

NOTHING could be further from the truth. When I survey business’s clients, two of the top complaints I receive are lack of communication and feeling “out of the loop” in important decisions. When was the last time you asked an important client about his or her present needs? Most likely they’ve changed since your last conversation.

CLIENT needs are a moving target. The time you spend listening to those needs — and attending to complaints — could be the difference between keeping a client and losing them to another, more attentive firm.

MORE AND MORE, firms are recognizing the importance and value of getting feedback from their clients. We recommend to our clients that they even get feedback from business executives who have not selected them. Used properly, this valuable information can help a firm refine and proactively improve its client service.