Business Development: CRM to Social Responsibility

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” –Maya Angelou

Have you ever had to tell the staff that your best client just fired you?  How many great clients have you lost in the last five years?

What was the cause?  Sometimes it is neglect which on its face sounds like something no firm would ever commit.  Often, it is our reliance on technology to cover the marketplace with our marketing and business development activities.  Advances in CRM capabilities have given many firms a crutch and misperception that client relationships are solid. It is easy to track client activity and for management to keep track of business development resources.

Whether your contact management system is Deltek Vision,  Act or custom fields in Access, you have to remember the devil is in the details of business development.  In other words, turning data into new business is only accomplished when yo ur actions use data to your advantage.  Remember, data is not an action word.  CRM is a great tool when professionals take the appropriate actions.

In the Business Development Professionals training and consulting activities we stress that contact management is one piece of the puzzle.  It may be the glue that brings the pieces together, but glue by itself is only a sticky mess.  We stress that firms need to be diligent in assembling as much data as possible. 

Analyzing your data is only one step.  In order to complete a $100,000 sale, you need a $100,000 relationship.  The key word in CRM is relationship.  In a digital world where we are bombarded each day with thousands of messages, data helps us keep focus on the important client issues that will move opportunities forward.  Relationships are personal, with each client requiring a different approach.  Obviously, the size of the expected contract has something to do with the requirements for strengthening the relationship.  When we drill down to building relationships will all of the key decision makers, the process gets more complicated.  Data is needed on multiple people, vendors, competitors, industry changes, government regulations, the economy  and historical data on the client.  If we are bombarded with messages, we must remember that our clients are experiencing more.

The larger the potential fee, the greater the need for building a Platinum relationship.  Your business development and marketing professionals need to be client advisors.  Every one of your competitors can provide solutions to your client’s problem.  The $60,000 question for most firms is how to become a trusted advisor.  Rainmakers and principals of most firms have selected clients where they are viewed as trusted advisors.  However, times are changing.  The management at companies has changed over the last 10 years.  Are you still the trusted advisor for all of your clients?

Clients leave firms for many reasons.  There are many reasons why your firm is successful in acquiring clients.  The reasons are not exclusively economic.  In our training programs we have attendees analyze both the influence their decision maker has in the selection as well as their personal needs.  Why is this important?  It is not always about the money.

There are many sites on social networks where industry professionals are asking questions about business development and marketing practices.  Some come from seasoned professionals, but most are from people just starting out in the industry.  What is the key piece of advice that both groups can be offered?  What is the common thread that runs through all of the questions?  The key question being asked is about strengthening client relationships.  They don’t ask about the number of times a client should be entertained or whether it is important to know personal details such as birthdays and anniversaries. 

Mayo Angelou had it right when she said, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”  You become a trusted advisor because the clients remembers how you made them feel.  Were you with them when there wasn’t a project?  Did you provide business advice when they were at a crossroad?  Did you ever ask them, “How can we help you?” 

Social responsibility is a new buzz word in our culture today.  It is an age-old practice of people helping people.  When Jesus told his Disciples the story of the Good Samaritan, it was about social responsibility. The firms that benefit and are successful being socially responsible do not do it for the photo op or an article in the company newsletter.  They see their values reflected in the good they do for others.

This could mean swinging a hammer alongside a client while building a home for Habitat for Humanity. It could be joining a client on a walk to fight breast cancer as one of his employees is fighting the disease.  You might have heard the saying, “You will find your treasure where your heart is.”

The mission and values of your company go beyond making profits, solving client problems and providing opportunities to employees.  They are also the final ingredient of a successful marketing and business development program.  Technology, the economy and culture do not change these.  Sometimes we just need to be reminded that at the core of our business, we are a group of people helping another group of people achieve their dreams.  In our industry, it just happens to be something built with brick and mortar.

Change Agents Bridge the Gap to Success

How do you become the change agent your firm needs?

The traits that make for great marketers and business developers include passion, curiosity, optimism, patience, persuasive, authentic and competent.  These are also the traits of change agents. If the change agent traits exist, why aren’t all people marketing professional services change agents?

Success in any career or business for that matter is about leveraging strengths and overcoming weaknesses.  How often in our school years were we confronted with our weaknesses at the expense of our strengths?  Performance reviews touch lightly on our strengths and focus primarily on our weaknesses.  In a world like this how do we build our strengths?

This negative approach to our success has a profound impact on our success and our ability to become a change agent.  It is a formula to celebrate mediocrity.  What would happen if management spent more time leveraging our strengths and less time trying to help us strengthen our weaknesses?

A strange paradigm exists for marketers and business developers in our industry.  We work with genius level engineers, lawyers, accountants and architects who lack a foundation in our strengths.  Our highly educated partners often think they understand what we do and judge success based on the bottom line alone.  They believe improvements in our weak areas will automatically improve the bottom line.  The mindset begins the vicious cycle of average performance.

Average performance is not a space where change agents can perform. What can you do about it?

If you’re carrying the baggage of the past, teachers who said you weren’t reaching your potential, parents who thought your career should take another direction and friends who thought your place was somewhere in the middle, you need to release the baggage.   Releasing baggage is only the first step in the process.

You can't change the path of your firm until you change your own path.  You have to look at rules a little differently.  You need to understand there are three kinds of rules: Keep, bend, break.   Change agents are leaders and have the respect of their fellow workers.  They also have developed a higher tolerance for risk. You have heard the saying “you have to break some eggs to make an omelette.” Change agents don't just break eggs, they cook the meal. Working in the space of mediocrity doesn’t shout leader.  You might be looked at as the “go to” person for marketing and business development, but you won’t become a change agent until you believe you are more than that. 

Taking a new look at rules begins to build confidence.  The next step is confidence.  The leaders of any revolution didn’t campaign for the position or take classes.  Leaders stepped forward with confidence in times when others fell back. They assessed risks and were willing to commit to taking a risk. Victims of life’s circumstances are not change agents.  Change agents rise above the negative talk that surrounds them.  They rise above the “we have always done it this way” or “that will never work.”  It is a struggle at the beginning, especially when you haven’t released the baggage of the past. Releasing the baggage raises your tolerance for risk.

The path to confidence begins by bending a rule and succeeding.  Resources are always the tipping point for marketing and business development.  When I was starting out in the industry doing business development and marketing for Walker Parking Consultants, I needed to purchase something that cost $400.  The economy was not doing well and the budget was on hold.  I spoke to a senior vice president who told me I didn’t need permission for purchases under $500.  “Besides,” he said, “it is always easier to seek forgiveness than to ask permission.”  However, this change agent wasn't the person who could give me permission. The first rule was bent.  After the purchase, I went on to bring in three new clients and management never questioned me about the purchase.  If the purchase had not resulted in a win, the happy ending might not have happened.  This is why taking chances is called a risk.

When Michael Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls, I signed up on the waiting list for season tickets.  The next year, I received a call from the Bulls telling me my number had come up. The four tickets cost $1800 and I had to say yes or no before the phone call ended.  I agreed and put the charge on my credit card.  I thought we had enough money in the marketing budget and I knew the principal in charge of the office would approve it.  When I went to his office with the news, he said he would review the budget and let me know his answer on Friday.  The next four days were spent putting together scenarios for alternative ways to fund the purchase of my tickets.  On Friday I received approval.  The goodwill we generated with clients and prospects over the next seven years because we could invite them to see Michael Jordan in action was priceless.

The $400 purchase built my confidence to take the chance on the Bulls’ tickets.  It was a small step and everyone needs to start this process with a small step.   Confidence leads to the ability to influence others.  If you walk down the middle of the road, you will never influence others or see the gold that lies on either side.  Thoreau knew about change agents and referred to them as “taking the road less traveled.”  Sometimes change agents have to pave the road as well.  Confidence will bring others into the paving project.

Confidence is attractive and can be contagious.  Others might have ideas they believe are radical in terms of the business structure, but might be moved to action because they saw your success.  Change agents don’t operate in a climate of chaos, but in the realm of the impossible being broken down into the possible.

Our role as change agents does not stop at the parking lot, but extends to the offices of our clients and prospects.  It seeps into the organizations we are part of.  Change agents are not wild eyed fringe or people chasing windmills.  They see circumstances differently.   They reflect the words of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

If you are not a change agent today, isn’t it time to become one?  The decision is yours and everything that caused you to work in this industry has set the foundation.

Are Good Business Developers Lucky?

                  "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. "
                                                                      Thomas Jefferson


What has luck got to do with it?  Business development is a combination of many skills, but not many want to associate luck with the other skills.  Luck is something that happens to someone who is not prepared.  Business development, if it is anything, is about preparation.  When I was leading business development and feasibility studies for Walker Parking Consultants, the president once asked an associate whether I was that good or just lucky.  Leading the company in sales for 11 of 12 years takes more than luck.  That is one reason I was appointed Chairman of the Corporate Marketing Committee and the leader of sales training within the organization. However, I can't say that luck was never involved. 

What is your opinion of business development within your organization? Business development is an end of the day proposition where you either win the work or you lose. What happens in between is often not recognized by management.  Results should not be the only area measured when judging business development success.  This is why business development is the most uncertain of business disciplines.  Do you believe luck must be involved?

Is it a mystery in your firm or to your principals?  Do they think the rainmaker is just lucky?

At worse, business development is basically viewed as an adjunct of the everyday business activity.  If it was integral, luck would have no room to operate.  The location within the business structure is another wild card in the professional services industry.  Sometimes it is part of marketing, an outside consultant can lead the effort or a department of it’s own is created. In our industry, I believe marketing and business development are flip sides of the same coin.  How does your firm win business?  Flip the coin.

A simple definition of business development would look like a balancing act of skill, persistence, boldness and luck. So what does that mean and how can you  and your firm do it well or raise the desired outcomes to another level?

To be successful in business development you need to: 

1.  Learn the BD dance. This does not suggest telling people what they want to hear, rather, it is the graceful use of guidance, suggestion and targeted communication that brings all              elements    (your internal company, external partners, contractors and market players) from point A to point Z at the same time.

2.   Have a deep understanding of all business functions, and able to work outside the norms.

3.   Be able to leverage all firm strengths and have them stand behind you in support.

4.   Recognize organizational weaknesses to avoid, and capabilities to build upon.

5.   Operate outside the normal boundaries of typical functions such as sales, marketing, operations, etc.  

Like Liam Neeson in the movie, Taken, marketing services professionals have a very specific set of skills; skills they have acquired over diverse careers.  Everyone comes to business development from different perspectives.  Principals and project managers often have it thrust upon them because they are good at managing projects and people. Some firms promote marketers into the role of business development because it seems to be the natural progression. Some firms select business development specialists who have already acquired sales skills.  They do this so they are not tempted to take a good business development person away from that function in order to increase billable hours. Has your firm ever fallen into this trap?

Business Development allows an organization to not only grow but also improve business activity by modifying something it already does well.

Training is essential for this to happen. However, there are all kinds of trainng programs being offered in the industry. Our Beyond Boot Camp: Business Development Training for industry professionals goes beyond simply old school and embraces these five critical components:

Build a Deep Understanding of Trained Skills

Sales, Marketing, Project Management, Leadership and Finance are all areas where processes, tools and techniques can be learned, and where training is available. By creating a deep understanding of these areas, you will develop a well-rounded approach to business development.

 Here are some tips that you can incorporate into your efforts.

Marketing – Define your company, goals, market challenges, competitors, threats, social media exposure, branding and opportunities.

Conduct extensive market intelligence before creating a positioning strategy for your firm.

Do not only collect & regurgitate existing data. Make a contact list of industry professionals and develop real relationships with them. If needed, hire a consulting group to conduct industry and technical research specific to your requests. Understand all industry best practices and regulatory/public policy drivers. Don’t generate a generic ,theoretical plan.

Marketing Advice (The other side of the coin):

 Define your market and make sure you target the right segment within the market that relates to core competencies/services/capabilities.

·    Always identify who the end user is and know everything about them,even if you are not selling directly to them.

·     Conduct target company and industry research so you can tailor your message to them and get them to open up to you.

·     Have a complete understanding of who you are as an organization, all relevant competitors in the market and potential customers…be able to articulate it and train others on it.

·     Create a very professional company overview presentation that can be given to each potential business partner. Of course the intro and finish should be customized for each meeting.

 Become a Conceptual seller:

Sell a story that executives will want to invest in.

Be prepared to tell a story of how you company provides solutions with a specific example.  Tell the client  where the market is and where it is heading, where opportunity exists, what unique position you see as opportunity,  and what the their business will  look like when you are engaged to produce solutions.  Leave no question unanswered and use your own experiences to prove you have confidence in what you are presenting is a great idea.

Establish, develop and document an extensive contact network.
You should become the go-to person and industry expert in your organization where it pertains to the business area you are trying to develop. By establishing a formal extensive network in the industry you are focusing on, you will not only be your company’s expert, you will become an industry expert, gaining you credibility and ultimately setting you up for success when pitching your new business plan to executives.

Keep an open mind ensuring your ability to decipher and use information to develop a unique strategy.
Remember that you don’t have anything to sell at this point; your role is to investigate.

Imaginative Sales Advice:

·   Alawys deliver what you commit to, and if you’re not sure you can, don’t try to offer it!
·   Get out there in front of people – go into your industry to get yourself, and your services, heard. The more buzz you create, the better the chances people will buy into your value proposition.
·    Get your foot in the door through associations, they are a great place to develop your network.
·    Have something compelling to offer, build relationships. You should assign a single point of contact/accountability for each company to align all moving parts.
·    Business development is not about selling a product or service, it is about presenting concepts and creating unique solutions in collaboration with your potential partner.
·    Develop a meaningful business introduction and put it into presentation format. Your initial meeting is usually a cross presentation, including company overview, strategic goals and potential opportunity concepts.
·      Make sure there is a real demand that currently exists. Ask yourself: Are you solving a problem that justifies your solution? Can you define and communicate the value proposition?·     Understand your industry and all the relationships that exist in it. Know where your company fits into the industry today and the position you are trying to achieve in a specific time frame.
·     Build ideas through partnerships. It is about taking something that you already do and leveraging it into something bigger.

Master Soft Skills

Soft skills are about personality, influence, creativity and long-term relationship building.

Your path to success includes:

·    Be ready to help and don’t be afraid to give free advice, make introductions, and provide resources if possible. This shows that you are more engaged than just trying to sell an idea You have their interests in mind when you do it, and you build relationships that way.

·    Spend time weaving in and out of organizations, leveraging relationships to bring everything and everyone together.  A conductor brings electricity from one point to another.  Act as a conductor of energy between relationships.

·    Personality is important. Stay positive even when the feedback isn't. Keep yourself focused on finding solutions and building relationships for the long-term.

·      Be charismatic, respectful, quick to follow up, outgoing and enthusiastic.

·     Create a list of stakeholders for each opportunity. This should include details about them that you want to remember, as well as their personality types. Identify both decision makers and influencers in this process. By determining what motivates each individual, you can define the best approach to gain buy-in. Focus on listening and being aware: Ask questions first, then tell people about what you do. By having good listening skills you can mold your message in a context that translates to each individual.

Make Bold Plans and Hope For Luck

The reality of business development is that most of your efforts lead to knowledge gained, not success. That is why you should always pursue multiple opportunities at once. By using what you learn, being creative, and consistently pushing your message, you will see success over time.

 Suggestions for  keeping  luck on your side:

·         Most opportunities never produce fruit, so do not give up.

·     Continuously build your funnel or opportunity pipeline. Opportunities are strategic.

·    Don’t be afraid to say no and communicate that message early. You will be respected for it.

·    Be Humble

·    Focus your efforts. As you build your opportunity funnel don’t spread yourself too thin, if you identify a huge opportunity early. Focus relentlessly on the that opportunity until you have managed to fully investigate it.  Avoid focusing on too many opportunities at the same time if a great opportunity is glaring you in the face.

·    Follow up with clients on a consistent basis. Once a week, once a month; it does not always have to be a call. It can be a lunch, a meeting, or an email. The client’s personality will usually determine which means of communication is more comfortable for him or her.

·    Bring team members along to meetings. Expose others on your team to what you are working on by bringing them along.

·    Follow up within 24 hours on each communication.

·    Debrief every loss and every win with a documented lessons learned meeting.

We are back to that end of the day thing where winning and losing are no longer the only criteria for determining the success of your business development efforts. Tenacity and acceptance of failure are the final ingredients you will need to succeed in this arena. Anyone can learn the other elements and they don't have to be lucky.

Why Your Firm Must Have a Client Experience Strategy

Reviewing the mission and vision statements in the industry will show an overwhelming number of references to client satisfaction, completing projects on time and under budget, and outstanding client service.  However, client service is more than a sentence in your mission statement.  Client service is not a bumper sticker.

In addition, the reference to completing projects on time and under budget says more about your bottom line than it does client service.  For example, what happens to the client who discovers their dream building must have dramatic changes?  Or, what happens when you discover that the client’s dream project needs dramatic changes?  Client service is not about the status quo which is usually how clients interpret most mission and vision statements.

Developing a specific approach to a client service strategy requires an intentional commitment from management and buy in from all staff.  It is not unlike the industry’s quest for improved quality in the late 1980’s and 90’s. 

When quality became the point of differentiation between firms, many jumped on the bandwagon with Crosby’s ,Quality is Free, bestselling book. This was the foundation for the Total Quality Management process that was adopted by hundreds of industry firms.  The key to a successful process based upon a zero defects mentality was not only management’s buy in, but also a commitment not to punish failure.  Design defects can occur at many places in the process.  When someone who is working on a tight deadline sees a problem that will cause the project to miss a milestone, the person must have the power to blow the whistle.  The key outcome was improved communication between departments and management.

This was the classic top down and bottom up formula for success.

Developing the Client Experience Strategy requires the same mindset.  I have always been a firm believer in the idea that a good project becomes great when the client’s experience is outstanding.  The hiccups that happen with every project and often seem overwhelming at the time fade in the client’s memory if their experience is outstanding.

The outstanding client experience does not happen by accident.  Although the project is front and center, the outstanding client experience is about how the people assigned to the project interact with the client.  Even the person back at the office who never sees the client in the field has a part to play.

This brings us back to the beginning of the ingredients for a successful client experience strategy.  Without the unwavering support of senior management, the process will never work.  The problem with the outstanding client experience is that most people think they know what it is and what it will take to implement. They don’t.  If they did we wouldn’t have to endure the types of experiences we do today:

Experiences that sometimes lead to court.

Knowing what you don’t know is the best way to explain the situation for upper management in this area.  Management needs to ask themselves what they know about their client’s experience.    The results of this exercise might be surprising.

Whatever your firm says about the passion for outstanding client experience, you won’t achieve it, if it is just words in a mission statement.  Don’t believe them when they say they know everything about outstanding client service.  Many firms are held back because they don’t know what needs to be done.

Maybe we can take a page out of the retail playbook and look at the companies creating great experiences for their customers.  Recently a survey by the National Retail Foundation and American Express came up with a list of the top 10 companies.

So which companies did they say really put customers first? The findings, in order:

 1. Zappos.com

2. Amazon.com
3. LL Bean
4. Overstock.com
5. Land's End
6. JCPenney
7. Kohl's
8. QVC
9. Nordstrom
10. Newegg

Do these firms have anything in common with our industry?  The common thread is people.  Their customers are people and our clients are people.

While we tend to segment the client experience into a single category, it is really three.  The actual experience is what we tend to measure, but there is also the emotional experience and the subconscious experience.

While most firms survey clients to determine the experience of their most recent project, how often do the questions delve into the emotional and subconscious areas?   Therefore, at minimum the questions on a client survey need to be updated.

What are the components of a Client Experience Strategy?  We have presented the first which is within the leadership of the firm and requires their intentional commitment.  Employee engagement is next.  Since managers won’t be the ones who deliver the client experience, the engagement of employees is critical.  Improved client experiences don’t happen by decree.  Management can’t simply tell employees that the client experience will improve.  Employees watch actions before they listen to words.

A Client Experience Committee should be formed that includes employees from all departments.  This is a way to capture the input of people within the organization who have the knowledge and information of what the current client experience consists of and how it could be improved.  Just like the Quality Committees that involved all levels of employees, this committee will boost morale when word gets out that management is sincerely interested in their ideas.  The rubber hits the road when their ideas are taken seriously.

Measurement

Like any other process in your business, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.  Therefore once the employees have been engaged and a strategy is developed, the results need to be measured.  A key area of the measurement is to link year end reviews and bonuses to the outcomes.

Client Feedback

Client feedback for the process is essential for a couple of reasons.  First, you want to know whether it is working.  Feedback can determine whether changes are needed and show which employees need to be engaged.  The one thing you don’t want to have happen is for the feedback to sit on a shelf and not be acted upon.  The system alone will not solve any problems.  Clients need to know they are being heard.  Employees need to know they are being understood.  You need to know there is a return on your investment.

Finally, how do you get started?  That is as easy as beginning a conversation.  An independent facilitator might be helpful in starting the process.

Do Clients Deserve Thank You Notes?

Thank you notes have always been a communications tool in the professional services industry. Many people routinely have done this throughout their careers, but not many firms have made it part of their culture.  In our digital age, this form of client communication has become an endangered species. However, it is still an opportunity to make a great impression, especially when you realize how rarely your clients receive a handwritten note.  A well written thank you is so rare in the Twitter and social media era that the sender stand heads and tails above his competition. Rarer still is a handwritten note from a principal, partner or owner. When the sender is a busy professional, handwritten notes are so remarkable that they easily earn respect and admiration.

The boomers in firms understand how to write a thank you note, but the other generations working with you might not.  Therefore, I will spend some time illustrating how to write one.

First, we must consider consistency and making this tool part of the corporate culture. A few years ago, I consulted with an engineering firm that used this tool for the one large trade show they attended each year.  The president required all staff attending to write thank you notes to everyone they had contact with during the show.  He even asked for copies of all notes that had been written.  However, this was the only time of the year that staff was compelled to write thank you letters. Obviously, there are other times when thank you notes are in order. Consistency is the key to making this part of the corporate culture.

Like any good thing, overuse can wear out its usefulness.  Therefore, be consistent but not overbearing or your notes will not have the intended  impact.

"Overcoming Communication Barriers to Improve Service" is a training program I developed for professionals in the parking industry a few years ago.  Since then, several other firms have asked me to present it to their firms as well.  One area of relevance for this message is the topic of "Noise."

How many tweets, emails, advertising messages, phone calls and other communications do your clients receive each day.  How does your marketing message filter through the noise?  When you are consistent with all of your messaging, you stay on top of the client's mind.  When you take the time to prepare handwritten notes, you evaporate the noise.

The first rule in writing a handwritten thank you note is correct spelling.  Remember, this is not Twitter or a text. Don’t abbreviate words or leave out punctuation marks. Take your time.  Write the message on a blank piece of paper first.  This way you are sure the words make sense and you won’t be thinking about the next sentence while you misspell a word in the first sentence.  Grammatical mistakes and misspelled words will not build confidence but instead cause clients to have negative feelings.  Please don’t use that as an excuse not to write.

The second rule is to print professional correspondence cards with your firm name and logo. A large “Thank You” or “Thinking of You” can be printed on the cover. 

Why is a “thank you” even necessary? In our busy culture, the thank you seems to have garnered second class status.  Managers often forget to thank staff for the work they do. Many firms host holiday events to thank clients for retaining them in the prior year but have no plan for thanking them during the rest of the year. The holiday event becomes an expected tradition. Perhaps some firms believe the good work they do is the only "thank you" a client is looking for.  That might be a good line in a staff pep talk, but it doesn’t go to the heart of client retention.  Every firm is looking for lifetime clients.  Your good work might be a thank you for receiving the current project but it doesn’t guarantee your firm the next project. The bottom line: our clients are people who like to be recognized.

You might have a relative like my grandmother.  On birthdays, she would always tell everyone she didn’t want a party and gifts were not necessary.  Yet, when the party happened and gifts were given, her eyes lit up and a few tears could be seen trickling down her cheeks.

That is the biggest bonus of a handwritten thank you note.  Clients don’t expect it.  Clients would never ask for it.  Yet, when they receive one, they hold the sender in awe because they have done something few others do. 

Although I have concentrated on the “Thank You” note, personal notes can be written for a variety of reasons.  Here are a few examples:

• Congratulations over a promotion, company milestone, anniversary, birthday, marriage, or other important event.
• Notice of the person being mentioned in the newspaper or trade magazine.
• A stated desire to stay in touch after meeting someone at a networking event.
• A brief reminder of your tremendous experience working with him.
• Appreciation for the introduction he/she made for you
• A compliment about a child (sports, graduation, national honor society, etc.)
• A bereavement note to a client who lost a loved one.

Want to really differentiate yourself from the competition today? Write a meaningful, handwritten thank you note. It is easy to begin.  Push your keyboard away, turn off  the tablet and IPhone,  and write one or two sentences—by hand.  The reaction of your client will be priceless.

Leaky Buckets and Marketing Rules Still in Play

I believe in the leaky bucket theory and 80/20 marketing rules in selling professional services.

If we lived in an ideal world, all of our clients would be loyal and stay with us forever.  In addition, these clients would have new projects for us every year.  Unfortunately, the market doesn’t work this way.

Clients leave us for a host of reasons.  Sometimes it is our fault in the delivery of services or client’s perception that we should have done more.  Competition is another reason.  However, most clients don’t have a project for us every year.   This dynamic is the basis for the leaky bucket theory. 

We must be constantly pouring new clients and projects into the bucket in order to grow the business or at least maintain equilibrium with the clients that flow out through the holes.  When we understand this dynamic, we can take a careful look at the 80/20 marketing rule.  The bottom line is that we need to find 20% of our business each year in new clients.  Since the cost of obtaining a new client is upwards of 6 times the cost of keeping an existing client, we devote 80% of our marketing resources to obtaining new clients.  Although the percentages will not be the same for every firm, it is safe to say that there are no firms using a 100/0 marketing rule.

Even in the age of social media and technology these rules are still in play.  If you disagree, please let me know.  That gets me to the point of marketing process.  We all want to work smarter not harder.  Every firm needs to make effective client touches in order to be successful in obtaining new business and seeing a return on their marketing investment.

A few weeks ago the SMPS LinkedIn group had an interesting discussion centered on the question of how many client touches are enough.  One of the members questioned the need for client touches.  He implied they were something like window dressing that wasn’t needed if the client gave you his personal phone number or you asked the right questions.  There is a big difference

between maintaining continuity with an existing client and building a relationship with a new client.

A county executive once asked me why I needed to know which local architects were in line for an important project.  I represented Walker Parking Consultants at the time and was doing research on which architect we should team with.  He said, “ You guys are the best in the country.  Teaming with any local architect is like rolling the dice.”  I replied, “If we don’t team, we won’t have any dice to roll.”

On one level touches are a lot like rolling the dice.  I think the member who downplayed touches only saw them on this level.  In practice touches are marketing tools like dice that allow us to stay in the game.

Outside of the context of a strategic marketing plan a single touch doesn’t seem like an effective way to fill the leaky bucket.  Combined with a comprehensive marketing plan, client research and a process, each touch brings you closer to top of mind with the client. 

The magic number is simply whatever it takes to win the client’s business.  It might be three or it might be 23.   As you extend the number of touches there comes a point of diminishing returns.  First, firms don’t have unlimited resources so decisions have to be made as to the value of pursuing a particular client.  When in doubt, go back to the marketing plan.  Don’t forget the residual value touches have on other clients you are chasing.  Most client touches impact multiple potential and existing clients.

Second, there has to be a method to the madness of client touches.  They aren’t included because they sounded good at the time the annual marketing plan was being developed.  For example, did you know all of the potential new clients and projects that were going forward prior to completing the annual marketing plan?  Probably not.  Yet, the plan is flexible enough to accommodate new entries.  How many marketing plans changed when the “dot com” bubble burst or the real estate bubble burst?  Are you prepared for the next bubble to burst?

In other words, if the mission is to keep the bucket filled, you shouldn’t spend resources chasing projects that aren’t going to happen.

This is why traditional marketing theories and rules are still in play today.  Social media is the great connector of people.  However, it is still what you do with the connection that counts.  More importantly, as far as new business is concerned, it is what you do FOR the connection that makes all the difference in keeping buckets filled, maximizing marketing resources and improving your return on investment.