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Part II. – Prepare For Things That Go Bump in the Night

Written by Allan Colman on .

The tactics presented in OWN THE ZONE are all used one way or another in our business development training sessions and workshops. For example, our training emphasizes thinking long term. When it comes to approaching a new prospect or a long term client, we encourage our clients to:

* UNDERSTAND the prospects’ and clients’ needs and internal pressures;
* BECOME a trusted adviser, and
* PROTECT the prospects’ and clients’ interests.

Become a valued business partner and friend, offer rewarding solutions that are profitable for all involved. It’s how we work with our clients and how we encourage them to approach their prospects and clients in the same way.

Things That Go Bump In the Night – II.

Written by Allan Colman on .

Continuing with this series of “prepare, prepare, prepare,” from our book, OWN THE ZONE, our client training and advising focuses on thinking long term. When it comes to approaching a new prospect or long-term client for business development opportunities, we encourage you to:

UNDERSTAND the prospects’ and clients’ needs and internal pressures;

BECOME a trusted advisor, and

PROTECT the prospects’ and clients’ interests.

These are key elements of Jay Abraham’s “Strategy of preeminence.”

Prepare For Things That Go Bump In the Night

Written by Allan Colman on .

In chapter 9 of our book, OWN THE ZONE, we often refer to Jay Abraham. He has been called “America’s number one marketing wizard” enough times that it’s the tag line used on the “About” page on his website. He’s seen as a genius at getting down to basics and, having worked with him in the past, I check in on his work from time to time.

When we work with our clients, we follow Jay’s “Strategy of Preeminence.” As a marketing and business development consultant, we aim to become a valued friend, to offer results oriented solutions that are profitable for everyone involved and we encourage our clients to approach their prospects and clients in the same way.

In the next several columns, we will discuss how to prepare for things that become challenges and how to overcome them to become -“preeminent.”

PROBLEM – "Our Firm Continues Adding Lawyers – We Need a Complete Marketing Overhaul

Written by Allan Colman on .

RESPONSE – the bigger you become, the more you need to focus. Begin with a few promising practice groups and use their successes as a model.

RESULT – One practice group may begin envying another practice group’s success. It’s a dynamic that requires some political sensitivity on the part of management, but it is a another great problem to have. Competition stimulates growth.

PROBLEM – "What Do We Do With Our Junior Lawyers?"

Written by Allan Colman on .

RESPONSE – A true pipeline for business development includes junior partners and associates. Take them to sales meetings. encourage them to get their names out there via articles and speeches. With newer lawyers, the key is to encourage business development without undue pressure. Whatever they bring in is gravy – and you are making a great investment in the future.

RESULT – We help clients create a true “sales” culture ( I know this is a dirty word, but !!!) from top to bottom. You can too.

PROBLEM – "Our Practice Group Has No Business Development Budget"

Written by Allan Colman on .

RESPONSE – Of course it does. Your members are already spending money on marketing and business development at one or more ends of the spectrum. You simply need to collect that data and find out what you’re already spending. That is your budget.

RESULT – Getting a hold on your current, actual spending will allow you to focus resources where they will clearly do the most good. This is a critical step to measure current results and refine and improve the tactics.

PROBLEM – "We Missed the Major New Litigation."

Written by Allan Colman on .

RESPONSE – Don’t dwell on any one matter or even on any whole genus of legal business. Look to the pipeline to deliver a stream of alternative possibilities, some of which may not yet be on your radar screen.

RESULT – You’ll need to start making decisions about which kind of business to go after, and which to let some other law firm chase. That’s a great problem to have.

PROBLEM – " Our Office has Great Attorneys But Our Revenue is Flat"

Written by Allan Colman on .

RESPONSE – Organize and attack. Your lawyers need to learn a basic business development truism: that clients and prospects don’t care about how great the attorneys are. They assume that to be the case or they would not be talking with you. Instead, they care about what those great attorneys can do for them.

RESULT – The effect of such an enhanced client service mentality will not only unearth new prospects, but develop new business from existing clients.

PROBLEM – "I JUST LOST MY LARGEST CLIENT"

Written by Allan Colman on .

PROBLEM – “I just lost my largest client.”

RESPONSE – Setbacks should catalyze action, not cause paralysis. The firm should monitor and evaluate all such occasions where clients fall by the wayside to ensure that the lawyers responsible jump back into the business development “fray” with a new three-month action plan.

RESULT – A crisis should spell opportunity. Losses should pump the collective adrenaline. If that kind of response becomes ingrained in the firm’s culture, odds are the bottom line will actually improve at a reasonable point in time after every loss. Go to www.closersgroup.com/services.

PROBLEM – "Our firm has no pipeline."

Written by Allan Colman on .

In the next several blogs, I’ll describe problems law firms have brought to us and solutions that worked.

PROBLEM: “Our firm has no pipeline.”

RESPONSE: Manage your speakers, greeters, authors, communicators, trainers, marketers, etc.

RESULT: Properly assigned, with concretely defined roles, the firm’s staff will become a kind of conveyor belt. All of their designated tasks will funnel toward the actual sales moment. The pipeline thereby remains engineered to support the one final moment – the closing – that justifies its existence in the first place