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Author: Allan Colman

Do You Know the Next Piece of the Business Development Puzzle?

Written by Allan Colman on .

As business development consultants, in our business development round tables we are often asked “what is the next step?” or do you know the next piece of the business development puzzle. In previous posts, the first two pieces were: 1: build future leaders; 2. teach advanced tactics and process strategy, not theory.

The third piece of the business development puzzle is “Do not resolve for your professionals to make an impact; expect them to make an impact now!” For those who say “I don’t know how to begin”, send them to our Business Development Opportunities Check List in OWN THE ZONE, on Amazon, B&N, etc. It is designed for even the marketing and business development novice to begin a specific weekly/monthly actions program.

Three primary segments are Marketing and Business Development, People, and Internal Marketing. Elementary marketing can begin with the simple marketing bromide,

* Go Where They Go
* Read What They Read
* Know Who They Know.

As for “people”, have your non-marketers considered going to their alumni association meetings, become active in children’s groups such as soccer, or attend the industry associations where their practice focus resides?

And the third segment of our Business Development Opportunities Check List is “internal marketing,” typically the most overlooked marketing asset in every firm and company. How easy are these 3 elements? When can you start the “reluctant ones” on this path for new revenue generation? Go to the “Books” section of our website and begin the journey.

2nd Piece of the Business Development Puzzle

Written by Allan Colman on .

The 2nd piece of the business development puzzle is “teach advanced tactics and process strategy, not theory. According to Chet Holmes in his Business Breakthroughs program, closing is one of the last steps to winning new business. As a marketing consultant, we find that in order to be successful in business development, there are several tactical steps that need to be taken. Understanding and using the steps to closing we include in OWN THE ZONE,are critical to winning new business.

Reminder, if you submit 5 of the 9 puzzle topics correctly, before December 1st, we will make a donation to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund in your name.

All strategies demand tactics, not broad theories. And if closing is a fine art, then the needs include marketing resources and sales (yes “sales”) maneuvers. to learn more about the Steps to Closing, go to our contact page.

A Business Development Puzzle – Win a Prize

Written by Allan Colman on .

Closers Group: A Business Development Puzzle – Win a PrizeDo you know the 9 pieces of a Business Development Puzzle? With each post, you will see one more critical tactic we emphasize for long term revenue growth and sustainability. For anyone who guesses 5 of the 9 pieces prior to December 1st, we will make a donation in your name to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund.

Building future leaders should be the mission of every law firm and professionals services firm. Professional development programs including client management, client retention, marketing, cross-marketing, etc. should be present in every firm. A recent ALM Intelligence survey pointed out the reason. In surveying partner-level laterals (within the previous 3 years), 48% said one of their primary motivations to moving to another firm was the availability of professional development training. Yes, 48%.

A hint for the next business development puzzle piece – Where does marketing theory fit in?

To send your business development puzzle answers, visit the contact page.

You Won’t See This on WikiLeaks – “Emails Don’t End in Handshakes

Written by Allan Colman on .

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, [email protected]

What DOES WORK in the Business Development Closing Zone

Written by Allan Colman on .

What does work in the business development closing zone is a followup to our last 2 columns, what does not work in business development. We have taken a collection of quotes from successful business development professionals on what does work in the “closing zone.”

1. Major effort to communicate from the very beginning of an engagement.
2. Handle complaints quickly.
3. Refer business to your clients; or introduce clients to each other; or cross sell clients.
4. Make sure you obtain contact information for whoever attends your presentations.
5. Mine your children’s activities.
6. Set periodic review meetings re: budgets, billing, timeliness of engagement process; etc.

In a following column, we will illustrate more observations on what does work in the business development closing zone.

Let Us Help You Strengthen YOUR Business Development Closing Zone

We are available for a complimentary 30 minute consultation on accelerating your business development successes.

– [email protected]

What Did Not Work in Business Development II

Written by Allan Colman on .

Continuing from our previous post on “What Did Not Work in Business Development”, we hear more comments from in-house counsel about business development tactics where many fail:

7. Go to a prospect/client presentation and not getting names of all attendees;

8. Choosing the wrong medium to communicate i.e. email vs. phone;

9. Surprising client with late breaking information;

10. Lack of business etiquette – during a meeting using iPhone or Blackberry, taking calls, or being the “potted plant”, not engaging in the meeting.

11. Sending out cold call materials;

12. Not being prepared for meeting;

13. Not following up with clients at sponsored events.

 

Business Development Tactics

In case you missed the previous post, you can find it here.

Do You Know What Does Not Work in Business Development?

Written by Allan Colman on .

In our workshops and seminars, we are often asked “Do you know what does not work in business development?’ Collecting quotes from successful marketing and business development professionals, found on Pages 112-113 in OWN THE ZONE include:

1. Offer to handle and manage what they already have the skills to do;
2. Relying on good results but not building the relationship;
3. Offensive or off-color humorous comment;
4. Buying a table but not showing up;
5. Sending too many people to a meeting;
6. At a meeting, talking to themselves and not with the prospect or client.

More to follow in our next column.

Legal Services Competition

Written by Allan Colman on .

As legal services competition intensifies, and client budgets fight to stay stable, doesn’t it make sense to look within your organization and build on what you have? The cost is low and the effort can make your law firm marketing far more effective. In our Raid Assessment work with clients, these are among the first tactics we use to strengthen business development efforts.

Preparing for the Closing Zone
(Source, OWN THE ZONE)

When you are fighting for new client engagements in the Closing Zone, it is important to recognize that you are participating in a form of sophisticated combat (i.e.see previous post). Draw on your training and strengths and you’ll be prepared to engage and win new business.

Combat Coaching?

Written by Allan Colman on .

At the Closers Group, we often talk about how “combat coaching” fits in with our CLOSING ZONE approach to business development. We focus on the importance of having your strategies and tactics practiced and ready so that, when you meet face to face with your prospects, you’ll be ready to close the sale. Jay Abraham, one of the top marketing gurus in the country, offers a similar, extremely effective program that he calls

Competitive Combat Coaching.

It is considered to be a more aggressive and productive way of looking at growing your successes and builds even more in his book, “Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got.” Tune in next post for the tools you are not using effectively.

How Do You Meet Marketing Challenges?

Written by Allan Colman on .

We are often asked “how do you meet marketing challenges?” Or a client asks about the likelihood of success for various sales (yes sales) approaches. The simplest answer is WORK WORK WORK. But rather than offer a definitive answer, Frank and I often draw on Jay Abraham’s (Getting Everything You Can From Everything You Know responses to hypotheticals:

* Will everything work out as well as we expect it to? Hardly.
* Will some of the things we hope for not to happen or turn out worse than we expect them to? Undoubtedly.
* Will there be some things that turn out better than expected? Probably.
* Are there more opportunities that will be uncovered as things progress? Again, probably.

The final question that is often posed offers a bit more flexibility. Will you do everything in your power to make the result of this business development opportunity an outstanding success? If your answer is YES, the response is absolutely.

Law firm marketing is no different than any other service or task. Put the effort in. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. And then work, work, work until you see the results.