According to Harvey Mackey, a true marketing guru, ‘EVERYONE IS IN SALES – IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO STAY IN BUSINESS.” It is the responsibility of all firm leaders to ensure that everyone, yes everyone, build relationships with their peers at clients, professional organizations and with their friends.
So when we heard a firm professional say, “My partner does all the selling; I deliver the work”, it was time to bring in the senior management. Simple, common themes provided to everyone in an organization can really help develop and raise your profile. So, just do it.
I get good results, what else is needed?” is a quote from a client. Her business growth was stagnant so we suggested she answer the following 3 questions:
Who are my core clients?
Rate my relationships with each on a scale from one to ten.
When will I begin contacting each and how many each month?
And we introduced her to the Invisible Marketing concept (last post) to use with “good” clients. Too bad we did not take a performance guarantee for a percent of her new business!”
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 determine if your firm will have “business unusual”, ask your colleagues if you really have a “brand.” There are 12 components to accelerating revenue growth and the first is your firm’s brand. Learn if it has any traction at all by asking each professional the following questions:
What industries/groups use your services now?
Which do you enjoy working with?
What % of your new business are from referrals and repeat clients?
Do you still use an old bio?
What are the only services you can offer to clients?
How would you describe your current stage of revenue growth?
If you were to ask, what would clients say about the value you bring to the table?
External perceptions of the firm? of you?
Describe your firm’s culture
If you have true brand identity, you and the firm will have longevity!
Preventing laterals should be a major business goal for all law firms in 2018. The survey we conducted did not receive enough responses to be publishable. BUT, other than retaining clients and new client acquisition – duh!-, preventing laterals needs to be emphasized.
In today’s highly competitive market for gaining new business with in-house counsel, your attorneys with a significant book of business are prime targets. Talk with them, make sure they are getting all of the support they say they need, Understand they are indeed receiving calls from recruiters and many are already holding exploratory meetings.
Where firms make retaining laterals their number 1 business goal for 2018, retaining clients and new client acquisition will be following.
“Why clients fire you” is the title of an article written by our own Valerie Goodman back in May, 2016. At a recent conference I was asked if I could repeat it for an unusual way to kick-off 2018. It should be one of the first questions law firm management should be asking now.
In the Closers Group experience, lack of attention to client retention is a primary reason clients fire you. When it comes to attorney marketing and business development the first step is to value and properly serve the clients you’ve worked so hard to get in the first place. It is one of the simplest ways to accelerate business, wouldn’t you agree?
In Jay Abraham’s “Getting Everything You Can From Everything You’ve Got”, he cites many reasons why clients have become dissatisfied and have left even long standing relationships. Think about clients who have left your firm. Can you attribute any one of these reasons as a possible cause? Our Client Satisfaction Survey found the following answers:
Lack of contact
Decisions made without authorization
Non-responsive
Failure to respond
Cost increases with no notification
Their internal situation changes.
Your new mantra should be CLARIFY – FOCUS – EXECUTE.
For our first 2018 U.S. and Canada LAW FIRM PRIORITIES SURVEY, please answer this 1 question. We will provide the results to our readers.[vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][rs_space height=”50px”][vc_row cover=”no” fluid=”yes” padding=”pt-70 pb-70 pt-xs-50 pb-xs-50″ bgcolor=”#eaeaea”][vc_column width=”1/6″][rs_space height=”10px”][vc_column width=”2/3″]To talk for a few minutes about how the trends for 2018 might impact your firm, or a 30 minute assessment of your firm’s positioning, please contact us (if you prefer to call…).
In our business development advisories and workshops, we provide an alternative to this Russian Proverb, “If you chase 2 rabbits, you will not catch either one.”‘
You must know:
Six critical elements of exceptional leadership;
How to create sustainable revenue growth;
What it takes to build a strategic, competitive advantage;
Define and use your identity capital;
Improve your value and client experience;
Ensure your systems capture leadership’s Growth Objectives.
For a free, 30 minute consultation, contact us below:
