Relationships

If you want to grow revenue, do you need to improve your sales capabilities?  Not necessarily.  In fact, of the nearly two-dozen professional services firms I’ve had the privilege of getting to know over the past few years, only one of them had a sales problem.  For the rest, the real challenge was that their … Read more

Most of us didn’t become consultants, lawyers, coaches, marketers, or accountants, only to become sales people. We went into the field because we enjoy the work, the problems we get to solve, and the relationships we form with clients.  And yet at most firms, business development is squarely the responsibility of senior level practitioners.  There’s … Read more

In my work coaching professionals around business development, I’ve found that there are usually three reasons people turn to a coach: 1. Skills When you make partner, your job fundamentally changes: you’re expected to bring in business, not just work on it. But most firms do a poor job preparing associates or managers to become … Read more

The days when clients would engage you to conduct an assessment as part of a ‘paid selling opportunity’ are long over. Instead, clients want you to spend your own time to understand their problem and propose how to solve it. Further, preparing a competitive RFP response requires senior practitioners to spend hours gathering information, responding … Read more

Earlier this week, my seven year old niece taught me how to play Tenzi, a simple dice game. In Tenzi, each player gets ten six-sided dice and has to get all of them to show the same number by rolling as fast as you can. It might be the simplest game I’ve ever played. So … Read more

Warning: There might be some spoilers ahead…but it’s for a Pixar movie, and they all follow the same basic story rules. The key message in Finding Dory, Pixar’s sequel to the 2003 hit Finding Nemo, is a contrast between two approaches to life. On the one hand, careful cautious clownfish Marlon wants to rationally analyze every situation, … Read more

One of the most common pieces of advice given to professionals who want to develop business is to network: attend industry events, get involved in professional associations, and become a member of non-profit or community boards. Yet I frequently hear from professionals that despite the time they spend meeting new people and cultivating relationships, it … Read more

One of the hardest parts about marketing and business development in professional services is actually finding the time to do the ground work required to execute a marketing plan.  It’s too easy for immediate client needs or firm management to get in the way.  Unfortunately, marketing activities build on each other, so neglecting them will … Read more