If only the President had loosened relations with Cuba sooner, many of you would be buying Cuban Cigars for holiday gifts for your top clients. Perhaps we should celebrate FESTIVUS, the new holiday established by Kramer in the Seinfeld show and make this the key celebration?
In any event, a very happy Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, and Chinese New Year to you all.
The last two steps in this series may be the most difficult for you to take.
7. DO you follow up after receiving an adverse decision on retaining your firm? We cover tactics to use in this situation including “MAXIMIZING REJECTION” in our book, “OWN the ZONE – Dominate the Competition. (find it in this website or www.allancolman.com) In other words, make lemonade from lemons.
8. ARE you asking them to take a risk by promoting you, approving your proposal or funding your request? And if so, what pragmatics will you bring to the table to help them overcome their fear of risk?
Where, who and what were the first 3 questions in our previous blog. The next 3 Essential questions to ask about growing business are:
4. HOW do they prefer to communicate? Observe and ask; again you are looking for opportunities using their preferred communications style, and closing in on them.
5. WHY not use performance reviews and incentive discussions to demonstrate your support for the organization. Come prepared to these events and use your proposals, past and present, to embed the “go-to” image and reputation.
6. DO you know who your decision makers listen to? What are their concerns with their own path of advancement? And do they really listen? Are you also building relationships with the higher-up decision makers? Mary Barra, the new CEO at General Motors, certainly did.
Here are the first 3 of the questions you must ask yourself and your team if you expect to have an impact on growing business. They are not the usual questions you may have heard before.
1. WHERE do you currently fit into the organization’s structure and how decisions are currently being made?
2. WHO are the people to build relationships with? You can’t be all things to all people, including those who are competing with you.
3. WHAT communication media and methods are available to you to sell your message? Internally, look for opportunities to get face-to-face. Externally, know where they go, what they read, where they play, what community or non-profit groups they are involved with, and see them there!
Our next column will tackle questions 4-6.
Go to our services page for more detail at www.closersgroup.com/services.
All too often we find firms where their lawyers are ready-to-go but the firm’s support structure inhibits growth. Our new BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT RAPID ASSESSMENT provides an overview for a firm, practice area or office of:
• What is currently effective?
• What is not utilized?
• How to enhance impact?
Within two weeks of your completing 15 confidential questions, our Group will provide a strategic analysis focusing on maximizing your firm’s current Marketing and Business Development:
• Structure;
• Assets;
• Underperforming assets;
• Underutilized opportunities;
• Business Growth enhancements.
A confidential written Assessment will be returned to you within two weeks and includes a conference call or in-person meeting. Following that discussion, we will provide a timeline with specific tactics to build new business, grow prospects and begin establishing a long-term pipeline.
For a minimal fee, your firm, practice area or office will have a STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ACTION PLAN for 2015.
acolman@closersgroup.com.or
fmims@closersgroup.com
www.closersgroup.com
Rather than individual marketing plans, why not consider asking the professionals at your firm to make a BUSINESS GENERATION COMMITMENT. When done quarterly, the five-line commitments discussed in our previous 2 columns (or 10 if you include an additional five lines for a review of what was accomplished during the previous quarter) would:
* Shift the focus from marketing the firm to growing new business.
* Provide management with a simple tool to review, support and advise each professional with
regard to his or her actions or non-actions.
Business development goals should be smart goals, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-
-based. A BUSINESS GENERATION COMMITMENT system is very smart. Need help getting started?