News

How client listening can give you a competitive edge in 2019

11 December 2018

Client listening strategiesNaturally, all firms are keen to retain and develop their current client relationships. Retention makes sound commercial sense and can significantly reduce the cost of sale of new work streams.

To retain their clients though, firms need to continually find ways to add value to them.  This is largely dependent on how well the firm understands what their clients want and how client contacts feel about the…

Pitching – what’s hot and what’s not

10 October 2018

Latest pitching approachesAs part of good corporate governance and with an eye driving greater cost-efficiency and value from their advisers, the requirement for competitive pitching skills is always present for professional firms.

In recent years firms have become more professional and robust in their approach to pitches.  So much so that we’re often asked how teams can stand out against highly competitive quality firms.

From our research, and day to day work helping teams…

Cross-selling approaches which are working in today’s client relationships

20 August 2018

Cross-selling approachesMost professional services firms recognise their existing client base is a key source for increased revenue. Cross-selling additional support to a client is often an easier opportunity to convert and comes with a lower cost of sale.

We do, however, come across professionals who say they are uncertain about how best to cross-sell and, in particular, introduce colleagues into their client relationships. So in this article we’ve shared some of the…

How to create new work opportunities for the second half of 2018

27 June 2018

We are now over the half-way point in 2018 and, for many professionals, it’s a good time to take stock of their business development (BD) efforts to date – as well as make plans for the remainder of the year. And with the summer break coming up (and hopefully some quieter moments), we’ve collated some tips to help you review and plan your BD approach in the months ahead.

In particular we’ve focused…

Spotting and converting new business opportunities with your client

21 May 2018

Spotting opportunities in businessA key skill of a client-focused professional is the ability to spot opportunities to further support a client – or target client – and then gain the decision-maker’s commitment to work with them.

In this article we focus on some of the skills for spotting new work opportunities in your client base. We have also shared techniques to help you convert those opportunities into business, without the need for you…

How to ‘professionally’ keep in touch with clients and contacts

27 March 2018

Ideas to keep in touch with clientsMany professionals we work with recognise the need to keep in touch with clients and contacts, even when they are not currently working with them.  The challenge for some is how to do this in a way that comes across as positive and not ‘salesy’. In some cases it puts professionals off reaching out to their contact altogether.

 

The risk of not keeping in touch

But by failing…

Gaining your contact’s commitment to move forward

28 February 2018

Gaining a contact's commitmentIn a typical working week professionals conduct several discussions, some of which hold the potential for new work opportunities to be identified and won.  Such conversations include those with clients, potential clients, colleagues, intermediaries/referrers, past clients and other people in a professional’s network.

Spotting the potential new work opportunity is just one part of the journey though.  To ensure it does indeed convert into an instruction, it’s crucial that both…

Strengthening your overseas client relationships

01 November 2017

Strengthening overseas client relationshipsAs international business becomes an increasingly strong revenue stream of many firms, some professionals find they now need to manage relationships with clients who are not in the same country or continent.

 

Just because you are miles away from a client doesn’t mean you can’t build a really valuable long-term relationship with them.   To be successful though, and retain and develop the long distance client relationship, a different approach…

Making the most of Autumn’s networking opportunities

01 September 2017

Networking tipsThe return to work after the summer holidays often coincides with a flurry of invitations to networking events.  The Autumn networking season is traditionally a good time to reconnect with existing contacts and forge new ones.

Networking has long been a key facet of professionals’ Business Development activities. Not only does it help you to get some valuable face to face time with clients and contacts (both current and potential ones)…

Taking time out

11 July 2017

BD planning tips

For many of us the summer holiday period provides a valuable opportunity to take ‘time out’, step back and review areas such as BD performance.

Business development summer planning

This is indeed time well spent as it helps professionals take stock of the BD activities they’ve undertaken and the results they have achieved. It can prevent continuing on paths which bring only limited new work opportunities, or…