If you do what you’ve always done….
I have just finished reading an article in a business magazine about how anyone can be, indeed needs to be, more entrepreneurial in a (any) business. That is, to be pushing boundaries, questioning the status quo and coming up with new ideas to improve processes, adapt to a changing marketplace. This started me thinking. Many businesses – and certainly many professional services firms – are culturally risk-averse, and in the context of the current economic challenges it’s been easier to stick to the knitting and do what they do best. It hasn’t been the time to try new things. Fair enough, I think; this has been a period of consolidation, managing costs and ensuring survival. But, and this is the challenge, as the saying goes: if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. If you want the business to grow, where is the growth going to come from? What if you’re too busy at the moment servicing existing clients to think about the future? At what point do you need to start pushing those boundaries and challenging what your firm does and how it does it?
Since we live in an uncertain world where even the next 2 years is difficult to predict never mind the next 5 years, being entrepreneurial and innovative, open to change, adaptable and flexible is going the be increasingly important. It is still important to think strategically and have that vision in mind as you agree and implement your business and marketing plans. But it is absolutely true that some things will happen that you cannot even imagine now. Arguably, changing and adapting is a pre-requisite now to even survive.
The problem is, if you leave it too late, you may have already gone beyond the tipping point. In 3 or 6 or 12 months’ time, when those projects you’re currently engaged on have stopped, where will your next work come from? In a year’s time, what if your competitors have already stolen a march on you and developed a new service because they understood that sector more comprehensively? What if a ‘crown jewel’ client has started giving some work with another firm because you missed the signals that they were not entirely happy?
The real challenge is to take some time out and consider how to:
- Create living, flexible plans for growing the business that has real priorities and focuses your resources to achieve your objectives
- Spend time with key clients to find out how you’re doing, what value you can add and where the opportunities might lie and how your firm might need to change in response
- Keep an eye on and engaged with your marketplaces so that you can adapt as necessarily as quickly as needed
- Change the processes and management of your firm to encourage that flexibility, challenge, engagement, and encourage it from any member of staff
- Manage the environment so that staff welcome change rather than shy away from it, help them to be in control and contribute
It’s not all about you
My 7 year old son recently commented, when he found out that we didn’t have time to go to one of his favourite parks that day: “it’s not all about you”. Indeed, I thought, it’s not often about me when it comes to my children.
The same, I pondered, can be true of our attitudes to clients – that is, it’s not all about us, the firm, but it is all about the client. If when talking to them you sound as though you just want to flog them the latest service whether or not it’s relevant (because you need some additional revenue and it’s much quicker to get that from an existing client than win new business) or are defensive about some not so good feedback, it comes across as being about you. Conversely, if meetings and reviews with clients have the clients’ interests at heart, then dealing with any criticism constructively (it’s much better to know so you can do something about it) and uncovering cross-selling opportunities can all be dealt with positively and will leave the client feeling as though you value the relationship and their business and have listened to them.
A related discussion earlier this week on Linked In was generated by someone whose firm were scared of conducting a client review programme and they wanted feedback from those who had tried it and seen results. Again, as long as you go in with the mindset that it’s all about them, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain by engaging with clients and finding out what’s on their mind.
Business development is too important to be left to the BD department
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been in marketing and business development all my working life and I’m passionate about the importance of BD and the positive contribution it can make to an organisation and its clients. But, I’ve always believed that everyone has a role to play in marketing and BD (and I mean everyone) and that if we are good at our jobs and the firm is successful and has a client-centred focus, it won’t be only because the BD team have been involved. It will be because:
- Everyone understands how their role contributes to delivering value for, or creating, clients and is motivated to get involved
- Marketing and business development is at the heart of the firm, not a function carried out in one team
- More of the people who deliver the work also proactively build great relationships, with clients and prospects
- The firm understands the process of BD and the skills required and encourages and demonstrates best practice
The role of marketing and BD has changed over the years (as has how it’s perceived and understood) and hopefully, in the main, it is now viewed as more than the communications department! The most successful businesses are those where the marketing and BD team work collaboratively with others in the firm, including at management/board level, and facilitate best practice skills and process being implemented through leadership, support, coaching and undertaking activities directly linked to business objectives. And the most successful firms are also those where BD is undertaken by people who understand that it is too important to be left to one team to fly the flag.
How to be successful at sales
One of the discussions I regularly have with people is how uncomfortable they feel ‘selling’. For those in sales roles it comes naturally, but others find business development has become part of their job even though that it not their intended line of work.
It goes against the grain for many of us to be out there actively promoting ourselves or business, and no-one, absolutely no-one I meet wants to be seen as a ‘typical salesman’ since the connotations of being one are not good. (Do used car salesmen think the same or do they think of themselves completely differently?!).
There is another way: you don’t have to cold call or appear salesy to be a good at developing business. In fact, the most effective sales people are those who are great at building relationships. They are also really good at asking lots of open questions of clients or potential clients so that they really, really understand their business and world and what motivates them.
With that information they can then decide both what solution will help those clients and what will help them make the decision to buy. And, importantly, they understand that people want to buy not when they’ve been persuaded to do so but when the time is right for them. If you want to know more about how you can build the motivation to buy see 8 Years to Yes.
How a more comprehensive approach to business development can help your profit
“There was an article recently in a Sunday paper by the economist John Kay. One of the things he has observed is a paradox, that “the most profitable companies are not the most dedicated to profit.” What seems to happen in business is that if your goal is to make money/profit, you won’t be as successful as if your end game is to be really good at what you do.
In my experience, creating shareholder value often seems to be the all-important objective where profit is the end game. If profit is an objective in itself, the focus tends to be on how to increase revenue and/or cut costs and is usually short-term. However, this doesn’t necessarily ensure long-term success, improve customer experience or loyalty. On the other hand, if what companies do instead is to aim to excel in their particular area or focus on how their product or service will help their customers, then the end result – revenue and profit – is the measure of that company’s success.
This topic came up again in conversation the other day when working with a professional service firm on their implementation of a business development programme. What they – and many firms – measure is outputs (typically income or profit). If, we discussed, they concentrated instead on measuring inputs (how much and what marketing and business development activity they are undertaking) and how they create value for their clients and deliver an excellent service, income and profits would definitely follow. And, by ensuring consistent input, and therefore consistent output, they could avoid the peaks and troughs often seen in businesses.”
5 ways of keeping close to your clients/prospects by understanding them
I met with a potential client this week who mentioned a couple of things in our conversation which piqued my interest and I spent some of the next morning researching the topics. I then sent her a weblink to an article and a report as food for thought for a strategy meeting the company was having. It meant that I’m now more informed on a very relevant topic which could have a dramatic effect on their marketplace and whilst the area is not directly related to the services I could provide, I’ve given her some information and insight which has helped to build my credibility and her trust.
So the first way of keeping close is to:
• Research a topic or issue that’s relevant to their world now or is on the horizon and send them information or thoughts from that research. If you come across another article in a couple of months which you think they will be interested in, send it to them.
Here are some other ways of showing you care by how much you know:
• Agree a time when you can meet your client to get an update from them. Don’t charge for it and don’t sell anything – it’s purely to listen and understand more.
• Read their trade press and seek out any reports which make comments or forecasts. Use what you’ve picked up to ask them questions which helps to build your credibility with them.
• If you have several customers or potentials in a particular sector, or you just want to know more about that industry, ask one of them to give you an hour’s briefing.
• Share knowledge by talking to others in your organisation who have links with that client or prospect or industry and make sure you pick up on any opportunities where you could add value or issues that might affect that client.