More new business development clues from 55Words, “eat lunch with the new kids.” Begin building relationships with the newer members of your firm, making them feel welcome and comfortable asking you for advice.
Other important clues include:
Never eat lunch at your desk, if you can avoid it.
Know at least one good joke.
If you offer to help, don’t quit until the job is done.
And, the best way to get on your feet is to get off your ass!
Use this 3 post series to provide clarity, focus and execution for your new business developers.
The top 5 myths of business development require you to understand what successful business development is not!
Myth #1. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING ARE INTERCHANGEABLE TERMs
Marketing is about being found, not chosen. How you get found is through publicity – media outreach, networking, collateral materials, conducting and attending workshops — that targets the eyes, ears and interests of your potential clients.
But first you have to locate the target. That is business development. Even more specific is “business generation,” which requires ( dare I write it ) sales training and closing skills.
British Airways got a real boost from this marketing and business development ad, “Emails Don’t End in Handshakes.” It today’s highly competitive market for professional services, one-way electronic communications do not win new clients nor retain current clients. That is why in our marketing and business development keynotes and seminars, we emphasize the absolute need to build trust through personal relationships.
Just as we teach specific tactics to create partnering relationships, we must realize that there are specific behaviors on our part that can further our relationship with them or destroy it altogether.
As “emails do not end in handshakes” emphasizes, in business development, it is critical to go where your clients go. If your clients, prospects and suspects will be attending an industry or ACC conference, be there to reinforce the relationship. Ask them to be on panels with you or co-author an article. Learn more about the charitable organizations that are important to them. If a prospect is speaking at an upcoming event, attend it even if the subject matter is not in your particular specialty area.
Business development does not occur simply by offering an engagement letter. Closing skills begin with the first contact and involve following up, building the relationship, understanding their business, business brainstorming and offering ideas before ultimately asking for the business. In other words, being face-to-face, even if only occasionally, is how you win and keep clients. Indeed, to grow business, emails do not and will not end in handshakes.
For a complimentary 15 question Rapid Marketing Assessment of your firm or practice area, acolman@closersgroup.com
In our last post we began a discussion of Bruce Tuckman’s 4 phase path for teamwork – “forming, storming, norming and performing” and how it applies to accelerating new business development. When “storming”, people start to push against the law firm marketing and business development programs that are identified in the “forming” stage. This is often the stage where many teams fail and firm management may give up. Storming frequently begins where there is conflict between team members’ natural working styles. But if these working styles cause unforeseen problems, the individuals may become frustrated and loose the proximity to the “accelerator zone.”
Other storming situations may occur if team members challenge your authority or jockey for position as their roles are clarified. Some may question the goals and resist taking on tasks.
Next column will cover “norming” and how this stage impacts law firm marketing and business development.