Profile building should surely be about you - right? I'm mean, how could it be about anyone else?
Here's what client-centricity has to say about profile building:
Even though profile building technically is all about you – if you apply a client-centric approach to your efforts – you will actually add value to your clients and contacts and differentiate yourself at the same time. So your profile building efforts can be a win-win for everyone (rather than a 'me-me-me').
There are six principles of client-centric profile building. If you skip or skimp on any of these, you will simply be wasting your time:
- Profile building is all about making it easy for your target audience find you. The bigger and the more clear your profile, the more calls and referrals you will get for the kind of work you want.
- You cannot build your profile without being where your target market is. This is easier when you have a clearly defined target market and you know where participants in it gather.
- Profile building requires a consistent and impactful presence over time in these places. Consistent means more than a ‘drive by appearance’ now and then. And impactful means memorable and memorable is an outcome when you consistently associate your name with specific views and expertise about subjects your target market cares about.
- Associating your name with specific views and expertise that your target market cares about is accomplished through content marketing (or thought leadership) , either in person or virtually.
- It takes time to build profile. If you are starting from scratch, give yourself at least a three-year window to establish your name and expertise in your target market.
- Your investment of time and money to build your profile now will pay off in the future, if you stick with it.
Note: The principles of building profile are the same whether you’re seeking to build profile within your firm or externally in your niche market.
If you're going to invest time and resources into building your profile and associating your name with specific views and expertise - wouldn't you also benefit from applying an approach that adds value and differentiates you at the same time? That's what I call efficiency. Thank you client-centricity!
As always, I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell .jpg)
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
When developing relationships, why are professionals so hesitant to use the probing and discovery skills they have learned? What makes asking clients questions so taboo in their minds?
In the answer lies the difference between a rainmaker and a producer. Here's the crux of it:
Professionals only ask questions they know answers to - this is actually part of their training. But you CANNOT possibly know someone else’s perspective or opinion or viewpoint or even preferences - unless you probe to find out.
I realize this requires the use of a different part of your brain - and that it often takes courage. I liken it to "jumping off the cliff and finding your wings on the way down". But this is what Active Listening is about and it is the cornerstone of building relationships.
The better you are at learning of another's perspectives, opinions and preferences, the easier it is for you to add value. And when you add value - you differentiate yourself.
Even the most recent General Counsel Client Panel hosted by the Legal Marketing Association Toronto Chapter confirmed this. It couldn't have been said more clearly: "When you ask questions, you show a hunger and a humility to learn".
So - what are you waiting for?
Here are the kinds of things your clients wish you would ask them about:
- their communication preferences/style (including: medium, frequency and purpose)
- the role they would like to play in the matter they are hiring you for
- their business
- their team
- how they feel about your service
Try these - you will stand out. Trust me.
As always, I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Selling into or building relationships in markets other than your own? Being client-centric can be a challenge if you’re not aware of or familiar with local customs and preferences for doing business in that market. This can even be a challenge when we’re trying to build relationships in opposite ends of our own countries - but it certainly gets magnified when we venture into different countries and continents.
As the world gets smaller and firms look to grow their businesses in markets on foreign soil, I felt it prudent to cover the concept of client-centricity in global markets in this blog. Enjoy this first in a series of posts on Being Client Centric in a Global Marketplace, brought to you by Dr. Ted Vokes and Gerjon Kalaci of Alexa Translations Inc.
Building business relationships and devising sales strategies for markets with which you are familiar can be challenging in their own right. Doing this in markets foreign to you can add a significant layer of complexity and uncertainty without the appropriate background and understanding of the respective culture.
If your sales goals involve foreign soil, it is no longer a bonus but a necessity of the marketplace to add cultural competence to your repertoire of strengths.
Cultural competence allows you to answer questions like these with confidence so that you don’t miss an opportunity to add value and differentiate yourself:
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How do I approach prospective clients in this culture?
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What priorities and values must be respected by my approach and rationale?
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Are there necessary protocols to observe prior to discussing business, or should we just get down to it?
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What venue is appropriate for conducting business? If it is out of office, where should it be and who should pay?
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When do I implement my sales strategy? Should I turn the conversation to business, or wait to be invited to discuss my product or service?
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To whom do I direct my attention when making my “pitch”? What form should it take?
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How do I interpret the reaction of my audience?
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What are the signs that things are going well or when there is real interest?
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How do I know when I am being told “no”?
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How do I recognize when a deal is “dead”?
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How assertive should I be?
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What are the appropriate follow up measures?
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Is it appropriate to upsell?
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What are the “deal killers” that I should avoid at all costs?
The answers to these questions and more, always depend on the culture within which you are seeking to conduct business. And, these cultural variances can differ not only from country to country, but also from region to region, within the same country.
Can you afford not to know the answers to questions like these?
In the next post in this series, we offer key considerations for doing business in BRIC (Brazil/Russia/India/China) countries.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
The concept that "Client is King" is not new in business circles. But it is a farily 'new' revelation in the legal services industry.
There's certainly a shift happening. The voice of the legal services client is growing in frequency and volume and firm's who wish to stay in business are starting to listen. Here's a sampling of current conversations I've come across about how the legal industry is scrambling to respond to the client voice (not to mention other sweeping changes affecting business today). If you know of others - please join the conversation by providing links to them in the comments section. Enjoy!
Blogs/Groups/People on the transformation in the legal industry
The End of Lawyers? (Richard Susskind) First published in November 2008, at a time of grave economic uncertainty, The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services predicts significant new pressures on the legal marketplace and, in turn, great change in the world of legal services.
Legal Transformation (Your 2020 Vision of The Future) The Study is designed to: challenge current legal service models; answer key strategic questions; and enable corporate and law firm counsel to effect a 20/20 strategic vision with foresight, not hindsight.
The Belly of the Beast The Blog of Steven J. Harper, author, educator and observer of the human condition – who pays special attention to the universal forces that reshaped most professions, including the law, over the past three decades. Not all change is for the better.
Law21 Dispataches from a legal profession on the brink, by Jordan Furlong, lawyer, speaker, and consultant based in Ottawa, Canada.
LinkedIn Group: What will be the 21st Century Law Business Model
How buyers of legal services want to be treated
Don't blow the dream date (The Careerist)
What Clients Expect From a Lawyer (Canadian Lawyer online)
Five Things You Should Know About Corporate Counsel (Canadian Lawyer online)
Law Firms Need to Reinvent Relationships With Clients (National Law Journal)
Who's to blame for the fact that lawyers don't have 'business' sense?
Firms Send Newbies Back To (Business) School While it may only be for a few weeks — or even just a weekend — some firms are starting to give first-year associates a crash course in business to better prepare them for the job and help allay client concerns about the high cost of legal services compared to the value young attorneys provide.
My two-cents: Nothing beats common sense, a genuine interest and curiousity and a willingness to learn 'off the clock'.
Alternative law firms
Technology offers 50 ways to leave your lawyer CONVENTIONAL law firms charge vast hourly fees and then hand the work to underlings while the partners play golf at clubs their clients are too poor to join. At least, that is how it seems to many clients, whose irritation at being overcharged turned to fury during the recession. Some clients are switching to unconventional law firms, which claim to offer equally good lawyering for much less money.
What if law schools opened their own law firms? Law schools have been pummeled with criticism for not producing practice-ready attorneys, so two law professors have come up with a novel fix: Law schools should operate their own law firms.
Law Schools Get Practical Looking to attract employers' attention, some law schools are throwing out decades of tradition by replacing textbook courses with classes that teach more practical skills. "Law firms are saying, 'You're sending us people who are not in a position to do anything useful for clients.' This is a first effort to try and fix that," says Larry Kramer, the law dean at Stanford.
Getting Real Reconsidering legal education is important. The first year of law school teaches students to think like lawyers; the second year covers important substantive areas. To deal with the universally maligned third year, Stanford is considering a clinical course requirement that involves 40-hour plus weeks of actual case work ...
And, what prevents lawyers/law firms from embracing change?
Richard Susskind on social media, legal marketing and "irrational rejectionism" Adrian Dayton (attorney, speaker, business development consultant and author of the book, Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition; ARK 2009) had the chance to interview Richard Susskind, author of the bestseller, The End of Lawyers (Oxford Press 2008). He asked him about his perceptions of social media, marketing for law firms and the future of the legal industry.
Nothwithstanding the importance of this overall dialogue... I throw the following concept into the mix: Do any of these endeavours to bring 'real world' experience to lawyers miss the client-centric boat? I think so.
Teaching lawyers real skills they will need to interact in the real world with real clients should be for the benefit of the client - which in turn will be for the benefit of the lawyer and the firm. (happy client, happy lawyer/firm). Seems that these discussions are still all about the firm and it's benefit. Oh, we have so much farther to go to truly be client-centric... or is this even possible given where the legal industry began?
Call me idealistic - but I still think it's possible. Enjoy the long Labour Day weekend (if you celebrate it) and I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell .jpg)
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Ever heard the expression "Don't Assume: It Makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'. Well, it couldn't be more true in client-centric selling.
If you've followed me along this journey called client-centric thinking, then you'll know that it's about putting the client's agenda first (and then aligning it with yours).
One of the biggest mistakes you could make when putting the client's agenda first, is to assume that you know what that agenda is.
Ask yourself this question each and every time you are going to act on information you have:
Do I know this, or am I assuming this?
If you know it, it's because the client/contact either told you or you confirmed it with them. Otherwise, it's an assumption.
Assumptions can take many forms:
Big assumptions like when you assume a client has agreed to something when they haven't; and smaller ones (you think are innocent) like preferences for communication styles and frequency.
Either way - when you act on assumptions - it's a crap shoot. Sometimes you get it right and you win and sometimes you get it wrong and you lose. The question you have to ask yourself is this:
Can I afford to get this wrong and lose?
Don't take the risk. If all it takes is a quick confirmation conversation, here's the upside when you do it:
1. Confirms the information (so you can act/respond accordingly).
2. Demonstrates that you care and that you're interested.
I am amazed at how often we tend to underestimate the value of checking assumptions as a way to demonstrate interest. Clients want to know you get them and - quite frankly - that you care. Confirming details and preferences matter to them. And it saves you from acting on assumptions.
That's a win-win in my books. I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell .jpg)
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
This is the second post of two on the topic of Active Listening. And it's a continuation of the What vs How theme we've been discussing for several weeks now.
You have access to all kinds of information when engaging in a conversation or in correspondence with a client or prospective client – this is covered in detail in this month's Free Tip Sheet: Turning Information Into Intelligence. Check it out.
And the key to accessing this information is your ability to get the other person talking and then to, well, listen and respond!
Here are some examples of how to get people talking so you can apply active listening to scenarios you may actually find yourself in right now.
Learning about a contact at a networking event
Your objective is to find people who have the kind of needs you and your firm can help them with and who fit your ideal client profile. Not everyone you meet will fit. So it’s important to be efficient in distinguishing who is and who is not a good fit. And active listening is your most powerful tool to discern this quickly.
You just need to use one or two open-ended questions to get the other person talking so that you can learn:
a) if they are in your target market,
b) might be connected to your target market or
c) have no direct business connection to/for you.
One way to do this is to ask an open-ended question like: "What brings you here today?" Then listen for the response to determine if you’d like to continue talking to this person or not. If you do, leverage something in the answer to inform the next open-ended question. If you don't, there's no need to get stuck in a conversation you don't want to have, simply move on.
Interacting with clients
When interacting with your clients in the normal course of performing your job, try a few of these questions to learn more about them and/or their agendas.
If you are speaking with a client after a long weekend or holiday, ask about it: For example, "How did you spend the long weekend?" Then listen for the response and leverage something in the answer to inform the next question.
If you ask “Did you have a good weekend?” you’re more likely to get a one word answer which doesn’t lend itself to learning anything about the person.
If your objective is to better understand something about your client’s role or their organization, ask one of these types of questions:
“What do you need to do next with this information?” or
“Who else needs to be in the loop on this?” or
“What’s your next step internally?”.
And, a great open-ended question to close a conversation is “What else do you need?”
Never ask “How can I help? Or "What can I do to help?” because it puts all the work on your client to come up with the answer.
All of these suggestions work regardless of communication medium. Try using these in email, voicemail or in a live conversation.
And - let me know how they work for you.
I wish you good business success.
Catherine Mitchell
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
You have access to all kinds of information when engaging in a conversation or in correspondence with a client or prospective client – this is covered in detail in this month's Free Tip Sheet: Turning Information Into Intelligence. Check it out.
And the key to accessing this information is your ability to get the other person talking and then to, well, listen and respond!
Active Listening is another way to differentiate yourself and it falls squarely within HOW part of the What vs How conversation we've been having in this Blog for some time now.
Active listening is a structured way of listening and responding to others, by:
- focusing attention on the speaker
- suspending one's own frame of reference and judgment
- avoiding other internal mental activities (like self-talk). If you don’t know what I mean by self-talk, it’s the voice that just asked you ‘what does she mean by self-talk?)
- and then responding based on what you hear
This might appear challenging to do, and for some of you it will be. Introverted personalities tend to have a better aptitude for active listening than extroverted personalities. But for all, it’s well worth developing this skill.
The ability to listen actively can improve client/contact relationships through reducing conflicts, strengthening cooperation, and fostering understanding.
How to apply active listening
Before you can apply active listening, you need to get the other person talking.
Using closed-ended questions won’t get the other person talking - but they're often the easiest to ask. Closed-ended questions require a single word response like, yes or no. Try to avoid using these at all costs.
Instead, use open-ended questions that require a more informed response. Because these require more thought, prepare a few starter open-ended questions ahead of time; questions you know will get the contact talking so you can learn more about them.
Next week's Blog post will focus on how to get people talking so you can apply active listening to real scenarios you may find yourself in now.
Until then, I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Have you ever been in a situation where the contact you have a relationship with wants to hire you, but he/she is not in a position to do so directly? I've been in this situation myself many times.
When you come across it - be thankful. It provides a great opportunity for you to practice client-centric thinking and doing (and of course, distinguish yourself in the process).
Here's how: Remember that client-centric thinking is about leading with client's agenda, and then aligining it with yours. So, if your client's agenda is to bring you in, but they need to manoever through the labyrinth of their organization to do so, then that becomes your strategy (not the selling of your services).
Read that again, it's a subtle difference. Your strategy becomes helping your contact advance his/her agenda (bringing you in/giving you work) rather than pitching your services. I call it the 'Jerry McGuire' or 'help me help you' approach. Your objective is to help them achieve theirs. Period.
Of course, inherent in this approach (as with all other approaches I write and teach about) is agreement. When you know your contact wants to give you a shot, you have agreement.
There really is no better place you can be, except well, getting the mandate.
Tactics related to this strategy have more to do with your people skills than with your technical professional skills. And they have everything to do with active listening and responding accordingly.
So, how good are your people skills? What about active listening? Check out next week's Blog entry on Active Listening.
And ... just remember the rule of Client-Centric Thinking and you'll be fine: When you lead with your client's agenda, you will be able to hear it and respond to it.
I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you'll recognize that I write about the distinction between what you do and how you do it regularly. That's because it's in the how you do what you do that you can truly differentiate yourself. It's your strongest defence in a crowded, mature marketplace.
Here are two additional ways to add value to your business buyer clients and differentiate yourself in the process.
When your buyer is in a management role
If your buyer is responsible for others in their organization, then they have all sorts of 'human capital' issues to manage at any given time - like hiring, training and motivating their staff - on top of the functional responsibilities they have. Have you ever considered how you might help them with the management side of their role? Here are some examples that are sure to differentiate you:
- Simply be an ear for them when they need to vent about the people on their team. Offer perspective and insight if you have their permission to offer it.
- Listen for opportunitites to help them with team training initiatives and then offer to help them with that by speaking/presenting to their team or by providing checklists and tipsheets.
- When you're also in a management role, you have something in common so talk about your challenges and successes and share best practices. It's a great way to build/solidify a relationship.
When your buyer is in a sales role
If your buyer is in a sales role, they have all the same pressures you experience while trying to build your practice. Have you ever considered how you might build a relationship based on that commonality? Here are some examples:
- They have targets to meet, they need to build their network and profile and establish relationships - all the things you do as well. It provides you with a great opportunity to empathize with them and share your strategies and best practices.
- It's also a great learning ground for you - especially if your business buyer is a great sales role model. Be genuinely interested in how they do what they do and you can learn not only more about them but also about best practices in selling.
Do these strategies seem simple? They are. In fact, sales strategies should be simple, or what I prefer to call 'natural'. Just remember to be genuinely interested in your buyer's agenda and the rest is easy.
I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Selling to or servicing a business buyer? Ahhh, then your job is chock full of opportunities to add value and differentiate yourself in the process by helping them with their agenda (recall last week's blog post "Who's Agenda Is It Anyway?")
Your client/prospective client is making a purchase decision on behalf of his/her organization, as part of their job.This is very different from buying for one’s own consumption. Some of the more obvious differences include:
- Buyer(s) not spending their own money
- Often multiple buyers or influencers
- Multi-step buying process
- Longer sales cycles
- Relationship driven
- Focused target market
Some of the not-so-obvious differences when buying for one’s job include:
- Each purchase must solve a real business problem
- A poor purchase can be a career-ending event
- Business buyers use more rational thought when making purchasing decisions and are motivated by saving money, increasing productivity, reducing risk, or raising profitability which all lead to looking good and enhancing their profile internally
- There is a personal agenda behind every business purchase
In my travels, I've come across the following personal agendas:
- Wanting to set a precedent for doing something new
- Covering one's own proverbial behind
- Staying under the radar
- Making a statement (with a loud-speaker)
- Trying to get noticed or acknowledged
- Upsetting the apple cart
In addition, there are a whole slew of additional factors at play, all related to your buyer's role in their organization:
- How long they've been with the organization and how long they've been in their role
- Who they report to
- Who they get along with (and don't get along with) in their organization
- How satisfied they are in their role/organization
- Whether they are in a leadership position, or must lead from a non-authoritative position (see the April 26 Blog post: What vs How: Selling to Buyers in a Non-Authoritative Position)
Understanding Business Buyers - The choice is up to you.
Before you is an opportunity to add value to your business buyers and differentiate yourself in the process. You can do this by making it your business to understand your buyer's business and to learn what's at stake for him/her in hiring you.
If you are not tuned into the factors that come into play when your contact is buying for his/her job, or worse, you ignore them, you are missing what is arguably the most important part of your relationship. Remember, the What vs How conversation? You are being judged not just by what you do, but also by how you do it.
Business buyers offer many opportunities for you to wow them with your how - but are you paying attention?
I wish you good business success!
Catherine Mitchell
ps. A great article from the Rainmaker Blog has come to my attention since posting this Blog entry: Do you know what your clients really need? Check it out here. I think it summarizes nicely the concept of understanding your buyer's agenda.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System