Introduction: The Time to Move – Is Now
I hear voices – day and night – and they just won’t go away. They taunt me and haunt me. What they say – over and over again – is this:
“Stop doing the marketing, damn it! The last thing we need now is more work!”
I’d bet that some of you don’t believe me – that industry leaders would actually say this, right? But they do. In many different ways, yes – but the message is the same: Stop marketing.
Voices.
Now, most of the grey haired, wizened veterans of the business will know better (having seen and survived the ups and downs of business) but they don’t always speak up. And many of the younger leaders in the firm have experienced almost nothing but constant growth and abundance – for their entire career.
Reality check: if you believe that the good times are somehow permanent – here for good – and built on unwavering market fundamentals, or an unshakeable scarcity of expertise, and that neither of these can (or will) change … may I say – you’re wrong. All of this can, of course, change – or completely evaporate. Tomorrow. There are no guarantees. And frankly, I’d bet more on big, transformational change in the future, rather than small change and long-lasting stability on the road ahead.
Most professional firms are designed to be highly opportunistic, capturing all kinds of client and project opportunities as they find them. The opportunistic organization will naturally learn new capabilities, diversify its portfolio, and mitigate some risks. Good stuff. Still, there are costs: increased complexity, loss of efficiency and execution velocity, spreading the team too thin, becoming a more average generalist.
And then (and particularly in strong times like these) the firm might indeed be flush with backlog – and might not really ‘need’ any additional work.
Ok, but here’s the miss: just because you’re all busy with clients and projects doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do in business development. In fact, if that’s your thought, then maybe my definition of business development is fundamentally different from yours.
So, if I may, let me expand this idea, and see if I can change your mind. Here are ten kinetic, power moves: action initiatives you and your team can take right now – to elevate enterprise level business development substantially (in lead identification, client selection, project execution, customer experience, sustainable relationships, and top 20% revenue and profit performance).
Sound good?
Action Move 1: Have a Chat with Your Clients – Now:
I do a bit in one of my keynotes, where I unpack and explain just how many times each week that I speak with my wife Megan (by phone, text, messenger, facetime, email) – and then wonder why on Saturday night that same week she’ll claim that “we never talk.” It’s funny, but true. It’s not about the frequency, but the depth. Paying attention. Digging in. Not transactions, but relationships.
Think you know what your clients really think? Maybe so, but maybe not.
“We never talk.”
I’d recommend that you create a list now of your top ten (or twenty) clients and then list all of the contacts you have in those organizations. Then, schedule some time to reach out, have a call, host a zoom, buy a coffee, or enjoy a lunch. But with no agenda – no project agenda – and just a talk.
Mindset. Anxieties. Fears. Constraints. Opportunities. Change. Strategy.
What do your client’s really think?
Do some exploring. Gather some real intel. Go deeper.
And then, after you and your colleagues have done all of that work – and learned what you can for the moment, then set this activity up as a recurring, quarterly effort – a Voice of the Client program. Institutionalize your feedback program and relationship building.
And keep in mind, that as the value of these conversations (and relationship) grows, so will (or should) the value of your expertise – and fees.
Action Move 2: High-Grade Your Client Portfolio:
You know this, but let’s say it together: “All clients are not created equal.”
The top 20% of your clients generate most of your revenue, and often have deeper trust, higher satisfaction, and more potential (though not always). These are the clients you’ve learned the most about, and have invested much of your precious time, energy, and passion in. These should be the source of most of your value, happiness, and success.
Your bottom 20% (and often much more) generate very little of this success – and source most of your stress, conflict, and drama – and unacceptable margins. You might (sort of) know this – and agree with me conceptually. But I can almost guarantee that if you look at the facts – the actual results, both analytically and dispassionately – you’ll almost certainly see that you have considerably more concentration risk at the top of your portfolio than you realize (with three, five, or ten clients providing most of your revenue and profit, and your bottom 50% delivering almost nothing (and in some cases losing money altogether).
I know too that you (or others in your firm) will object – and claim that I don’t fully understand. This client, that project, the investment we’re making, the foot in the door, and so on. I know. I get it. Of course, there are some legitimate reasons that not all clients perform at the top. Of course.
But still, you almost assuredly have way too many (clients and projects) that are not performing well – there today because your organization doesn’t know what else to do.
We believe that a host of proactive, aggressive actions do make sense here. First, to raise your fees on a whole class of these marginal clients; and then other strategies (scope changes, operational efficiencies, organizational adjustments, etc.) Much more to say here (and we can help), but for now – do the analysis, and see what you have. Make a list of clients with revenue and profit – for the last three years – and rank this top to bottom. Then plot client value (revenue, profit, or opportunity) verses alignment (organization, culture, values) and see what it says. Then act – decisively.
Action Move 3: Uplevel (and Gamify) Your CRM System:
Today most firms do have a CRM system, but rarely are these used super-well for comprehensive business development (many were built, unfortunately, by accountants and for accountants). Most track defined opportunities well, and proposals too. Many fewer are doing a good job of tracking other sorts of ideas, leads, and opportunities (you know, marketing, not sales). And to do this right, it should happen in and with the technical, professional group – not the marketing department.
Your client relationship management system should be the central nervous system of the firm’s entire business development effort. It’s the foundational repository of information and tracking – but also the framework and structure that defines and guides the approach to opportunity development. In other words, the system itself should reflect the ‘how’ of business development in the firm. If yours doesn’t do this, you’re missing its major power. That’s not a technology problem (your system can do this) – it’s a leadership and cultural one.
Our CRM platform (Zoho-based but tailored to our profession) defines and supports our entire business development system (organic outreach, leads and prospects, referral partners, and more). And our breakthrough came when all of it became so much simpler (and more fun, like a game). Today we have it all well-defined, locked down, and humming. You log in, take your action, move your pieces from this column to that one (color-coded) – and log out. A few times each week, half an hour to an hour at a time, a little dopamine hit here and there and done. Over time, and at organizational scale, and it can amount to a major transformation.
Action Move 4: Design an Organic Outreach Engine:
Too many firms confuse marketing-noise with strategic outreach. They send newsletters, make posts to social, deliver one-off presentations at conferences. Unfortunately, the focus and message of 90% of this is off, misplaced, unmeaningful. I’m not sure what to call this, but it’s not a proper, effective, organic outreach system.
Clients and prospects don’t care about you and your firm much at all – unless it impacts them and theirs. Your staff promotions, intern celebrations, community service days, technical presentations … Look, a little virtue signaling is OK (and even expected today) but ultimately you must showcase first what it is the firm really does for clients – the problems you solve for others – and in language they use, and outcomes they care about.
Further, how you do this, and talk about it, matters quite a lot. Are you taking an interesting – even controversial – stand on the issues that matter? Creating distinction in your beliefs, focus, and approach? Making your impact, results, and value undeniable? Are you a category of one – or just a me too?
Expertise in executing basic services, managing and delivering projects on time and on budget, keeping client relationships going with good (but not extraordinary) client experience – these are average markers that define average performance. If you do average stuff, you will earn average returns.
Alternatively, firms who design meaningful, impactful, and distinctive outreach campaigns – based on stuff that clients care most about – will initiate conversations and relationships at a much more valuable level – discussions, explorations, and collaborations that are trust-based, mutually beneficial, and even transformational in impactful.
The key is intentionality, focus, coordination. Differentiation and distinction. Relevance, rhythm, and repetition. Proactive, predictable, dependable. Being there, and leading.
This is not the same thing as responding to RFPs. Or asking for money. Great marketing isn’t really about closing deals. Instead, it’s about opening up opportunities, starting conversations.
Go first, add value, expect nothing. That’s a game changer.
Action Move 5: Goodfellow, Raise Thy Prices!
Yes. That’s right. Raise them! All of them. Now!
As a partner and owner in the firm, you may already be focused on value, investment, and wealth. But many others in your organization are not – and some of these are themselves senior leaders, influential staff, or experienced hires with power and pull – and all of them arguing that raising prices is unwarranted by anything other than unbridled greed.
To be fair, few staff in the professional firm are motivated primarily by money. That said, nearly all of them are motivated by something that costs money. And asking for a higher fee is rarely easy (in fact it’s almost always hard) – especially when the clients are friends, when the scope is a little muddy, when performance hasn’t been quite perfect, and when ‘client service – at any cost’ is a top goal. It requires some business acumen – and a little ‘street-smarts’ – to see the nuance, know where the line is, and to advocate for self and for the firm.
Here’s a question you might ask your price-reluctant professional staff: ‘If instead of the fee we’re asking for now, what if we could instead get 30% more … In that instance, what would you do differently for this project and client?’ (And then, you might remind them that this isn’t greed – it’s professionalism).
Action: change and publish your higher rate schedule (rack rates) right now. Then add a little more ‘friction’ into your system for discounting (for instance, a required but brief meeting with the boss). Anchor your system and approach around higher value delivered, and in the quality, confidence, and differentiation of your team. Most firms underprice because their people under-believe. Isn’t it time for you all to stop apologizing for being extraordinary?
Enough For Now.
Ok, let’s pause here, and do some digesting and reflection. Think about actions you can take right now – or questions you have for us. Then tune in again next time, and I’ll add in five additional action initiative suggestions for your consideration (and immediate action) to uplevel business development and the growth machine in your firm.
And hey! Let us have your thoughts and feedback – right here, right now!
What else what would you add to our list here of business development success secrets? What’s working in your firm? What’s still on your list to implement this year? And what do you see as next, coming for this industry (or for professionals in general) in the Fast Future world arriving soon?
Catch ya, next time.
