Conversations: Perfecting the Lost Art

 Selling professional services  has been defined as a combination of art and science, with communications being the key element. How many times have you planned the perfect client meeting only to leave the meeting without the sale or client commitment to move forward?  Communication might be getting in your way. 

One of our biggest problems is not taking into account the communication “noise”.  You might not have the undivided attention of your client. I am not talking about telephone interruptions or knocks on the door.  I am talking about what is going on in the client’s mind while you are trying to have a conversation.  In my “Overcoming Communications Barriers” seminar, I have a slide showing a client at his desk with cartoon balloons above his head showing what is on his mind. He is thinking about dinner with his wife, his son’s soccer game, the MLB baseball results, his car needing an oil change, etc.  And, you thought you were the most important thing he would be thinking about today.

When I first got into this business a sales trainer told me the key to selling is getting the client more interested in buying than you are in selling.  This means make your conversation less about your company and more about the client.  Don’t confuse this with leaving out the key reasons why the client needs your services. Since there isn’t a magic phrase that will make a client want to buy from us, we need to look at how a conversation can take us to the place where the client must buy from us.  If you start with a problem he is dealing with at the beginning of the conversation, it is easy to get the client to set aside other things on his mind and focus on you.  This is the art of selling.

Understanding how to lead a conversation will put you on the path to gaining information that is critical for your success in selling the client your services.  Asking the right questions is the first step.  Everyone working in business development or marketing in the professional services industry and all other industries for that matter knows you need to ask open ended questions. Yes and no answers are not the way to build a conversation.  Here is an example (How to find a client problem):
“Did you know there are five critical areas of expertise needed to design (fill in the blank with the client’s project)?  Conversations are built on body language. Wait and see the client’s reaction to your question.  Use the client’s answer and non-verbal cues to build the case for your firm.  The conversation might continue with the client saying, “Your expertise is great, but my problem is (blank).  Now the client is helping you build the conversation. You just learned a pain point you didn’t know before the meeting. When you answer, you will have the client’s full attention.

Your answer is simply, “Have you ever visited X.  The client for this project had the same problem you just mentioned and was initially concerned about using our firm.  We were selected not only because our team had experience with the large design issues, but because we had innovators who took care of the small issues that can slow down a major project.  We built trust by assuring the client that when you have a problem that no one has ever dealt with, you want us on the team to create a solution. The project has received many awards since its completion”

Your statement will generate a number of questions.  It might reveal a competitor who is wired into the project.  It might reveal the client’s problem is not what he just stated, but something different.  The answer will allow you to continue the conversation.  You might follow up with, “I understand how the problem you mentioned could impact the project, but is the project a current priority? Has it been funded? When do you plan to start? Do you have other people on your team working on the problem now or will you leave the solution to the design team?”  All of these questions continue the conversation and allow you to gather more information.  

Overcoming Communication Barriers to Increase Sales

 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, before we get into  completing 2022 goal plans , 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.  Has someone ever read one of your emails and didn't recognize your intent?  Without tone or emotion, an email can be a cold form of 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 Hangout, Skype, Microsoft Lync or Go To Meeting 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 of 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. 

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.

The Secret to Retaining Loyal Clients

The client chase just got more interesting.  In a world of changing priorities, changes in government regulations and musical chairs’ change at the top, our search for client loyalty appears to be shifting once again. Are loyal clients an endangered species?  A training program I developed two years ago, “The Paradigm Shift is Selling Professional Services”, was a harbinger for these changes.

Now this reality is sinking in for most firms.  This is no longer a surprise attack. It can’t all be tied to improving economic conditions or social media.  It happens at most firms due to lack of comprehensive planning.  Firms with a “we have always done it this way” approach to business development and marketing are finding a shrinking client base and more difficulty in acquiring new business.   In other words, they are taking the “I want to be forgettable” approach to client acquisition.  Top of mind means you are unforgettable in the clients’ thinking. How do you get there?

What do business development professionals need today to navigate the swamp that is the marketplace? What role does the firm play in creating a navigation process that leads to success?

First, is your social media and web content acting like a magnet to attract clients?  Firing a shotgun out of a window is a difficult way to hunt tigers. There is a lot of sound and fury, but no results. Every hunter will tell you that it is always better to have the prey come towards you rather than trying to track it down in its territory.  The prey can play too many tricks when it stays within its comfort zone.  There is always a sweet spot when it comes to client acquisition. Understanding the sweet spot of every client is a good start. It is only a start.

It is one thing to get a prospective client out of its comfort zone but another altogether to get your firm out of its comfort zone when the hunt is on.  There are too many variables and behavior patterns that can cause us to chase the wrong client at the right time and the right client at the wrong time.  It can be about money, prestige, favors and so on. “Our most loyal client just fired us,” was the tagline for an airline ad a few years ago. The ad went on to show the CEO sending his top executives out on the road to show clients they cared about them. Has your firm ever been in this position?

Expanding your comfort zone during the hunt requires the following:

1. Absolute focus on why this opportunity makes sense for the firm both short term and long term.

2. Although fee is a consideration, the decision can’t be just about fee. Chasing a client solely for revenue doesn’t build enduring relationships, remarkable work or outstanding companies.

3. What will the experience be like, if the client hires you for this project? Is there team chemistry? What is the client’s performance history on other projects or with other firms?  Do you share the client’s vision or do you even know what the client’s vision is?

4. Can your team have fun and laugh with this client?

5. Risk and reward considerations. What resources will be needed? Do you have these in-house now or will you need to expand your services?

If management keeps saying, “show me the money,” your firm is not coming out of its comfort zone.

Client loyalty is a two-way street. It is like respect, it has to be earned. You can’t expect a client to be loyal, if you haven’t shown loyalty yourself.  If you haven’t gone the extra mile in servicing the client. With that being said, you can’t expect a quid pro quo just because you have serviced the client. 

When I headed up the national business development for an engineering/architecture firm, the CEO  at a corporate quality meeting responded to a question about recognizing employees for superior quality this way, “ Their recognition is their paycheck.” Firms and project teams that believe providing good service is enough to ensure client loyalty are treading on thin ice in today’s market reality.  Loyalty then is in the eyes of the beholder. 

Every industry is under attack from healthcare to corporate facilities to higher education and everywhere in between.  Client competitors seeking to expand their operations and start ups looking to create new opportunities which might make your client’s products obsolete, all put pressure on our clients and their loyalty to our teams. Throw in government regulations that impact the bottom line and client loyalty is tested even more. You need to look inside the industry dynamics your clients are facing and help them develop strategies for strengthening their positions.  A trusted advisor is not easily kicked out of the boardroom.

Always remember, if you don’t have a seat at the table, you are probably on the menu.  Every firm should take their business development and marketing staff through the proven steps toward improving client loyalty.  And, then don’t put baggage in their way as they move your existing clients into the client advocate categories.  Every CEO would agree that the world would be a better place if all their clients were client advocates. There is no magic wand or secret formula for securing client loyalty.  It is a mind set and attitude that pervades the organization from the top down.

Thrive When a Client Fires You

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 in 2019.  You don’t have that conversation?  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.   

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 2019 Marketing Plan.