Maintaining Momentum
Maintaining Momentum
5 essentials
1. Ensure the vision and objectives are front of mind
Treat business development and client relationships management like a project. You have to have a clear vision about what success looks like and you have to remind yourself of that every day. By keeping the long-term strategy in mind at all times it helps make the annual objectives happen and the monthly actions simply fall into place.
2. Remind team members about the vision.
Don’t just keep the vision in front of yourself, keep the vision in front of your whole team, so that everyone knows where they are going, and every knows WHY they are going in that direction. Add to this the underlining of each team member’s role and their responsibilities. Moving as a team (in the same direction) will create an unstoppable momentum – nobody wants to let down their teammates!
3. Develop a habit
You need to be continuously moving. Don’t get some momentum going and then think you can stop and business will grow on its own. You’ve invested heavily in creating momentum – don’t waste it by thinking that’s ‘job done’, you’ve actually done the easy bit! Set your self a pace that you can keep consistently, 20mins every day is better than trying to defend a couple of hours on a Friday afternoon. Determine what activities you need to do to reach your goals and commit to daily action on those activities. Remember – the tortoise beat the hare in the end!
4. Beware the feast/famine
One problem people often face when they create momentum is that they fall into the feast/famine syndrome. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘consultants conundrum’ when all that momentum creates a lot of opportunity and before we know it we are buried in selling meetings, proposal writing, pitching and delivery. Hooray! it worked we think. However, unless we keep it going we really will become a victim of our own success.
5. Create a ‘buzz’ – celebrate success
People love to be part of something exciting, energetic and successful. Create the atmosphere by internally publicising success however small e.g. “we got a meeting with the head of xxx, someone we’ve been trying to see for months” or “we’ve been invited to speak at the clients annual conference” or “we’ve been asked to pitch for a piece of work that the client always use to get our competitor to do” etc. This is where leadership becomes essential in maintaining momentum as they have the ability, network and clout to really push down on the accelerator and create the buzz that people will want to be a part of.
My car’s a tech..
My last blog will make sense of that statement. I took it to my trusted mechanic this morning, and it had a broken suspension spring. More to the point, it had a very sharp point about to pierce the front tyre, which he showed me. He wouldn’t let me take it home. Instead he ordered the part, drove me home and said the car would be ready tomorrow.
Now this level of service is not because he is short of work! It’s because he puts customers first. He makes it easy to keep going back to him because he never gives me duff advice, never exaggerates and always delivers. And this is a one man business!
I asked him if he’d worked through the ‘hurricane-force winds battering Scotland’ yesterday, to which he said he’d decided to finish ‘early’ at 5.30pm.. And by the way, my husband was at work for a full day, and came home on the bus, at the normal time.
In summary, it seems to me we can decide to be committed to hard work, excellence and putting customers first, if we really want to..
By the way, if you’re in the Edinburgh area, and want a fantastic mechanic, go to Iain McLennan, Clerk St Motors, 0131 440 4719.
My Trusted Car Advisor
“This plane’s a tech” said the airline representative, as we weary travellers sat at the gate, hopefully looking at the said plane just outside on the tarmac.
We all looked at each other enquiringly, but thankfully the young man gathered his thoughts, and put on his proper customer voice. “We apologise for the delay but this plane has a technical fault, which we’re trying to fix as quickly as possible.” His first phrase reminded me of a couple of things, and as we all switched our phones on again, I thought I should call the mechanic who looks after my cars about a technical fault of my own.
Something fell off the bottom of my car. Now, it doesn’t seem to have affected its performance at all. In fact, something that was clanking rather annoyingly has stopped. However I recognise that it probably had a purpose. Therefore I called my friend Iain, who has been my car guru for 17 years or so. As usual, he quickly identified what was likely to be the problem from my sketchy description, and said I should drop by and he’d have a look.
He is brilliant! He is always calm, always helpful, has fixed absolutely everything I’ve thrown at him, and is always cheaper than I had expected. He has a large and loyal client base and is never short of work. We have a long-term, profitable relationship. What can we all learn, I wonder?
As for second thing: ‘the plane’s a tech’, that’s one of my pet hates- using obscure jargon.. More on that soon.
Just a sales call…
I was following up on a business development campaign this morning, and spoke to a partner in a law firm. He said that he was a bit wary of ‘sales stuff’. Is that interesting? Every business needs to sell, but selling has become a dirty word. A bit like the labels bankers and politicians have received recently. Bankers, politicians and salespeople are pretty much essential, but regrettably, but as usual, the poisonous few have tarred everyone else with the same brush.
Personally, as an experienced buyer and seller now, I have no time for dishonesty, unreliability or manipulative techniques. As a buyer I’ve been delighted, surprised, pleased, confused and horrified. If someone lies to me, there is a long road back into my trust, if it’s possible at all.
As a business developer, the same principles apply, and I think the time has come for a bit of a moral crusade about doing business ethically, honestly and with your clients first and foremost in your mind. Of course selling discussions in business are ‘conversations with a purpose’ to use a phrase I once heard, as are interviews, board meetings, annual reviews etc. But there is no need for them to be based on anything other than mutual respect, openness and honesty. Great selling is being clear about what you can (and can’t!) offer, but then putting all your energy into understanding your client’s world so that if there is a fit, you can agree on a way forward. This doesn’t need any manipulation, closing techniques or other pushy tactic. Most professionals would be deeply uncomfortable with such an approach anyway. Join me in making selling a legitimate and pleasant thing to do again!
Volatility – a Catalyst for Change
The ‘R’ word in terms of the economic cycle tends to have one or two meanings, exactly which of those meanings would be accurate at present, only time will tell.
If the financial markets are used as the primary indicator as to the health of the economy, what are they saying? One minute the papers are reporting meltdown only to follow a few days later with overtones of relief, particularly for the pension funds.
Uncertainty leads to volatility and this has certainly been evident in the last few weeks, the wild swing in sentiment across the global market is one for the record book. Firms and companies in the UK and corporations across the pond are being cautious; evidence suggests some are building up reserves of cash to buffer any potential slowdown. In such turbulent economic times growth is often acquired or achieved through merger.
In this evolving increasingly competitive market place, achieving top line growth through acquisition or merger is no garantee of long term sucess or survival. A post crisis landscape may well turn out to be a hostile place for those firms trying to grow top line income by ‘doing what they have always done’. The winners are those firms that have adapted service lines and have become truly client focused.
Firms look for order in the chaos; after all that is a human response. The firms with vision create their own order. These proactive firms pool resources, focusing efforts on measuring and managing activity not just the results. They invest in developing the requisite skills and through congruent leadership nurture the mind-set that is needed to move forward. These firms are ahead of the curve. To use a nautical term they are shipshape. There is a saying in the markets – a rising tide lifts all craft, but only the seaworthy get to sail away.
Please buy – I’m desperate..
I heard someone appearing in the Edinburgh Fringe being interviewed today. She was talking about ‘flyering’ which, if you’ve ever been in Edinburgh in Festival season, you’ll know gets through several forests of trees during August. Many of these flyers may go into a pocket or bag for a brief stay, but inevitably end up in a bin.
The performer talked about hating selling, and when she was asked why someone should go to her show, she wanted to say “because it’s good, and the venue costs a fortune and I’m desperate.” Of course, she didn’t say that – or hopefully not before a couple of hours in the rain. She presumably had a quick and engaging description of her show (I’m being optimistic here), but the reality is, most people will make decisions on what show to attend based on reviews, friends’ recommendations and their own interests. One comedian admitted that he’s fine at chatting to people one-on-one to promote his show, but he hates trying to force flyers into peoples’ hands.
The business moral in all of this? For flyers read brochures. For flyering, read scatter-gun marketing and business development. It’s better to build one-to-one relationships with the people who might reasonably buy your service. It would also help to be able to tell them what they would get from working with you.
Or you could try standing on a bollard in Edinburgh High Street, shout a lot and have heavy-weight flyers which at least make an impact when they hit people…
Is this a post-crisis new dawn for fee-earners?
Recent research conducted jointly by the FT and MPF examines how the relationship between law firms and their clients is changing in the post-crisis world and makes interesting reading for leaders of professional practices. Whilst it relates to law firm management the message is equality applicable to other fee-earning practices.
The full report is available for free at ftcorporate.ft.com/resources
The survey is based on more than 400 respondents from both sides of the client/firm relationship, and examines how the external environment is affecting the client-adviser relationship. Some of the key findings provide much food for thought for leaders of fee-earning practices. Here are some I found of particular note.
The first relates to the critical nature of relationships. Challenging economic times are focusing corporates to develop deeper, broader conversations with firms. The report highlights the importance of building key relationships at C-levels and yet it uncovers the low level of importance firm leaders place on this.
“While some have worked hard to build these relationships, others have struggled given fee earners’ well-known dislike of non-chargeable activities.”
Secondly, clients and law firms also differ in their opinion of what makes a successful client/adviser relationship. Law firms hold the view that; “…a successful relationship depends on frequent communication, trust and consistency of delivery”. Whilst clients agree these are important, they cite the ability to solve problems quickly as being most critical. However, this is something FEW law firms in the survey regarded as a top priority.
Finally, the survey affirms that an in-depth understanding of the clients business is vital to an effective relationship and yet whilst law firms acknowledge this, only a minority is increasing the investment in this area. It states, “Clients say that they are generally dissatisfied with the effectiveness of law firms at catering to their knowledge requirements. The frequency of knowledge provision, and the means of distribution come in for most criticism.”
What I find most interesting from all these key findings is the disparity between fee-earner perception of what the client requires and what the client really wants. If this is a consequence of fee-earners well known dislike of non-chargeable activities, should this mean accepting the status quo? For some, the answer may well be yes, but that may also be a huge mistake. For the more enlightened, it highlights a critical need for leadership in the key area of client management and a call for the development of practical skills to build confidence that will grow a deeper and broader understanding of the client.
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When does a fee-earner become a business developer?
There will come a time in a successful professional’s career when they advance and become the finder and developer of new business for the firm. At that point they are both the “product” for which others will pay good money and the stoker of the business engine. Getting the balance right between these responsibilities is important if the peaks and troughs of activity are to be avoided.
It is like spinning plates. But how many are aware of which plate they need to spin and when. Busyness can be a seductive force that beguiles the unsuspecting into believing the future will be as good as the present, and so is a poor indicator of future success. Why? Because it diverts resources and energies away from critical business development activity.
“I sometimes think I have created a monster!” the company director mused. As she tried to understand why she was so busy doing low rate work while premium rate work was in decline or being lost to her competitors.
If you want to tame that monster then its a matter of knowing which plates to spin and when.
Growth by neglect
Have you ever been so busy that something has to give? In my case, it’s my garden that takes the hit. I try to purposefully create a garden designed with low maintenance in mind so that at these busy times the garden still looks reasonable. Despite the mulching and the brick borders to the lawn, and slow growing grass, weeds still predominate. These unwelcome ‘plants’ arrive on the wind, unplanned, unwanted and sap the goodness from the soil and give my “nice” plants a tough time in the flower beds.
Many businesses unfortunately take a similar approach to the development of their client base. Come one, come all, on the winds of commercial expediency. However, if a proactive approach to the creation of a well designed client base is not taken, the business, if it grows, would grow by default. By taking all-comers on as clients, in what may be called the open arms approach, a client base can evolve, not so much a cultivation, but more as a canker.
Taking a proactive approach to business development to develop a client portfolio shaped to meet business aspirations, then what was once intangible becomes measured, monitored and most importantly managed.
Doesn’t solve my weed problem!