How Your Firm Can Thrive in the Season of Covid

 This is the time of year we start thinking about next year’s marketing, which leads us to a discussion 

 of how many clients will leave us or still be standing in 2021. In the season of Covid, shut downs, and working from home, client retention becomes a delicate balance. It begins with a new understanding of the client universe. How has Covid affected the industries you sell services to?  Are you doing that research or having that conversation with your existing clients?  You never lose clients? 

 

Benjamin Franklin told us that “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.”  It is obvious he didn’t work in our industry.  We can add loss of clients to life’s certainties.   Despite the best laid plans, architects, engineers and other professional services firms always lose clients. Covid has just created new fundamentals.

Client loss doesn’t have to be a disaster.  In many cases you can do something before it happens. Clients don’t leave us simply because we performed below expectations or the project went south.  There are four reasons why clients leave a firm:

1. You performed excellent work but the client doesn’t have another project.  We call this client evaporation.

2.  You performed acceptable work but the client thought you stopped caring about them and fired you.  We call this client dissatisfaction.

3. You performed acceptable work, but a competitor came in and won the client’s business. We call this competitive disadvantage.

4. Your made mistakes, the project went over budget and promises weren’t kept, and the client fired you.  We call this client outrage.

It should be noted that only one of the reasons had to do with poor work or project delivery. There is nothing you can do about client evaporation except to stay in touch with that company for the time when it does have another project.  The amount of resources spent on that will depend upon what your marketing research tells you about the company.  However, there is nothing you can do to save the client who is at the stage of outrage.  There is no time for grieving.

Obviously, there are things that should have been done before it got to that point.  Some of those things were out of your control.  The contractor might have slipped on a tight schedule or tried to make up some lost profit by sending in a pile of change orders.  Your project team might have changed and the new people needed time to get up to speed.  Team and client chemistry might have been out of balance. You might have made promises early on that were shaky at best and you never went back to the client to explain the reality of the project. Or, worse, your project manager might have made promises you didn’t know about that weren’t kept. Broken trust is the result of allowing any of these things to get between you and your client.  You were in control of more than you thought.  Communication is the critical success factor. Do you understand disaster communications?

An airline ran a commercial a few years ago that opened with a CEO in a conference room with his sales team.  He tells the gathered employees,” The first client we sold when I started this firm fired us today. I have plane tickets for everyone here and we are going to personally visit every key client to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

If you want to prevent reason 2, then you should do what the CEO in the commercial did.  Call it psychology 101, personal dynamics, or how to win friends, but the key to exceeding client expectations is letting them know how much you care.  Sometimes that is easier said than done.  This is especially true for the client that will evaporate next year.  Does management have a list?  The list of key clients along with staff assigned to maintain and build the relationship.  Does staff know what is expected and is there accountability?  Is it included in your marketing plan and part of performance reviews? Anything less than this means a valued client has a chance to fall through the cracks and into the hands of a competitor.

Starting with the premise that clients like you, how can competitors take clients from you?  It probably looks a lot like the way you take clients from your competitors.  We like to pull clients out of the cracks of our competitors. First, the client has to be open to change.  Are any of your existing clients open to change?  Perhaps the client is obligated to issue RFPs for all work.  Change, therefore, is part of the institution.  Yet, you have been their service provider on multiple projects.  Maybe it was because they trusted you to help write the RFP.  Although an RFP gives the impression of shopping around, we all know firms are often “wired” into projects.  You train your staff on quality projects, meeting delivery schedules, timely submittal of meeting minutes and other communications, including answering questions.  How much time do you spend on client service outside of the required project deliverables?

The amount of time spent on client service training is directly proportional to the number of clients lost to competitors in spite of your good work. You have heard of the leaky bucket analysis for business development.

When it comes to servicing your client, it is good to remember this jungle saying:

Every morning when the sun comes up the lion knows he has to start running otherwise he will starve to death. 

Every morning when the sun comes up the gazelle knows she has to start running otherwise she will get eaten by the lion. 

Moral of the story: It doesn’t matter who you are, by the time the sun comes up you better be running.

The industry moral to this story is that without clients your firm will starve and your competitors are running not to be eaten by you.  Yet, you and your competitors play a dual role.  When your staff understands the daily importance of client service, your firm will do more eating than being eaten.  As we teach in our training programs, you also need to reassess the 80/20 rule when it comes to existing clients.  Since it costs at least 5 times as much to obtain a new client than keep an existing client, it makes economic sense to spend more on client retention.  How to do that is a question we can help you find the answer to.

In the meantime, get ready to fill your leaky bucket and develop a client-centric 2021 Marketing Plan that will include Covid contingencies.

Covid 19 Paradigm Shift

Business development professionals spend their careers developing long term relationships with clients working in many industries. Using proven success strategies, identifying pain points and determining what separates you from the competition all worked before the Covid 19 paradigm shift.



Although many industries have not let vendors access their facilities, the bigger problem is what happened to the decision makers during the shutdown.  For years during out training classes,we taught professionals about the importance of identifying the four categories of people responsible for hiring.  This was always the magic behind a business developer’s ability to win business. Now we must travel through uncharted waters.

The first question you must ask is how have you been taking care of your clients during the pandemic? In many instances you might have tried but emails and voice messages were not returned. However, for the one in a hundred that did respond, you have positioned your firm above the competition.

Now that most of the country is opening up, it is time to begin the next round of client contacts. After three months of very limited activity, there is pent up demand for your services.  The firms that unravel the new dynamics of client acquisition will be the beneficiaries of winning new business.

It would be a cliche to say just go back to the basics.  Open up Sales Force or whatever system you use and start making calls is the old approach to going back to the basics.  If your business has always dealt with the executive suite, this approach might bear fruit.  Research is needed before you begin making the calls.  You need to know how this company has restructured since the shutdown. Has management shifted the roles of its executives.  Who is now responsible for purchasing the services you are selling.  The president might have been the person you developed a long term relationship with, but now an executive vice president you never met with is making the hiring decisions. In this case, you don’t just need to get a name.  Your friend, the president, needs to make a formal introduction.

Remember the one in a hundred who responded to your offer of help during the pandemic?  These friends can be your biggest asset in moving forward.  It is a given that these firms will likely hire you for new work, but they also become the key to obtaining work outside of their firm.  They know other executives in their industry.  They have golfed with them, shared anniversaries and enjoyed family activities together.  The pandemic changed a lot of business behaviors, but it didn’t change the interpersonal relationships of people.  To benefit from the paradigm shift, you need to know who these people are. Your friend can help you with that.  The person you offered to help in their time of distress and need, is the person who will help you uncover new business.  But, you need to know who might be in that circle of friends.  We are back to more research.

You don’t want to go to this now platinum contact and ask, “Do you know anyone who needs our services, products, etc.”. The approach must be geared to a specific company you know will be looking for your services.  You know your friend was in a foursome at a golf outing last year or some other thing that connects them.  Now you can ask for a platinum referral. The best way to initiate this is during a meeting.  When your friend answers your question by saying he will call this person, your response is simply can you call him now.  It is one thing for someone to call to offer a referral, but it is even more powerful while making the call to say that you are in the room with him now discussing new ideas.

There are a lot of changes coming for business development professionals looking to build business for their firms.  In the end, the winners will be those professionals who can identify the changes in their client companies and industries while continuing to search for ways to help them.

How to Become a Great Public Speaker

Only the fear of death is ranked higher than the fear of public speaking on the list of what people fear the most. It is no different for professionals in our industry. I have developed a Communications Skills program for industry professionals and written about use of jargon and communication pitfalls to avoid in previous articles. However, as we come to the start of another year, I thought it would be helpful to continue the dialogue on communications skills.

Why are face-to-face communications skills important? Remember, there is no emotion, body language, tone or facial expression in a written communication. Social networking is really about the written word and many in the industry have come to rely on this for their primary communication links. Even communication on the telephone lacks many of the tools you use in face-to-face meetings. Firms that use Skype, Go To Meeting or any streaming tools bridge many of the communication barriers but are in no way equal to a face-to-face encounter. The fear factor is higher when we are asked to present to a group or even an individual. Whether you are just starting out in the business development arena or a seasoned professional who could benefit from improved client communications, this article is for you.

Today, I want to review the three skills that are essential for building trusting relationships with clients.

The first skill is your voice. I had an economics professor in college who made a boring class absolutely intolerable because of the tone of his voice. He had a monotone cadence and would cough or clear his throat after every other sentence. The pitch of some voices brings the same reaction as scratching on a chalk board. If this is you, you need to practice voice control. You could find a voice coach or simply contact your local Toastmaster club for assistance. Improve your voice and you will see immediate results in client reaction to your presentations.

Are you an introvert, shy or quiet person? None of these qualifies you to be a poor speaker. You just need to expand your comfort zone. Speaking with a client requires a clear and strong voice. This is not to be confused with shouting. Listen to great speakers and learn how they project their words. A simple search of YouTube will get you on the right track.

Confidence is the second skill you must master. Why would your client give you a million dollar deal, if she doesn’t believe what you are telling her? Are you afraid to look the client in the eyes when you are making your presentation?

The client is more likely to give you careful attention when you make it a point to make eye contact first. However, you don’t want to get into a staring contest. Look down to take a note or remove something from your briefcase. This makes it easier for the client to pay attention to you because she has had a chance to check you out without having to do so while listening to you. Are you excited about what your firm has to offer, or does your facial expression remind the client of someone who has just gotten out of bed?

Confidence in what you are presenting will make the client more interested in selecting your firm than you are in selling it. Understanding the nuances of the client’s business, the industry, and market is the beginning of your homework. How he thinks and reacts to pressure points is probably the hardest area to quantify. However, when you have done all the required homework, your confidence will soar. Remember what legendary basketball coach Bob Knight has to say about preparation, “The key is not the "will to win" . . . everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.”

Remember, you client likes you or you wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to stand in front of him or her to make the presentation. The same is true when you have been asked to make a presentation in front of a group.

Finally, you don’t want your body language to betray you or sabotage your message. Experts tell us body language accounts for between 55% and 65% of our communication. Just what is body language? It is carriage, facial expressions, and gestures. All go into establishing your presence and making a connection with the audience. Gestures can be made with your hands, arms, shoulder, torso, legs, feet or a combination of these but hand gestures are probably the most common. What does the client think of your message when you present it with your arms crossed against your chest? If you are confident, why are you slouching and not standing tall? Many speakers worry about their hands and keep them in their pockets. However, appropriate use of your hands can result in a marked increase in the understanding and retention of your message. Correctly used, hand gestures can help you say more in less time, show what you mean without having to resort to visuals, signal your conviction and confidence and add texture and dimension to your material and ideas.

This might seem simplistic but don’t forget to smile. In fact, you should practice pleasant expressions in front of a mirror. Try it until you see one you like and then hold it for 15 seconds and repeat it. Remind yourself of this expression as you go about your daily business until it becomes a memory.  

The conditions that surround you during a client presentation or speech in front of a large group can be uncertain and frightening. But, this memory will keep your expression pleasant and positive.

Whether you are presenting to one person or a hundred, you still have to deal with nerves. Everyone gets nervous before a major presentation. My simple advice: Take a breath!

I went with my wife to a Lamaze class when we were expecting our first child. I still remember the breathing exercises that were intended to calm the mother during childbirth. Similar breathing exercises are used by public speakers because they release fear, lower stress levels and enhance their speaking voice.

Incorporating these tips into your client presentations or speeches in front of groups will help you be more effective and enable your message to be understood clearly. The bottom line to clear client communications is the bottom line of your business.