Sorting through what's important to your prospective client and determining what will differentiate you from your competitors can be a daunting task. In hard-fought competitions, how we deal with even minor issues can make the critical difference between winning, and losing.
This list is a useful starting point in determining how best to position your proposal to maximise your probability of success.
- Credentials and evidence of your experience in each area or field required
- Evidence of successfully handling routine matters in each are of interest
- Evidence or examples of successfully handling unusual or high-risk matters in each field
- Depth of your team
- Specialisations of your firm or practice group
- Participation, representation, and profile of your firm in each service area required and the client's industry or markets
- Any special techniques or strategies used/developed by your firm
- Evidence of the effectiveness of your recommended strategies and approaches
- How can you best demonstrate your track record of success?
- How many files will each lawyer handle?
- What is the right number of files for this type of work?
- Geographical coverage - appropriateness of the location/s at which you offer service
- How you'll handle regional matters and work outside your normal home patch
- How you'' manage the account
- Who will be your key liaison point?
- What service or client satisfaction guarantees will you offer?
This checklist will help you work through issues of fees, pricing, and billing when developing your proposal.
- Structure of fees: hourly rates, day rates, fixed fees, event costs, capped fees, fee estimates, volume discounts, project budgets, success or "at risk" components, retainers, client satisfaction components, other fee alternatives and hybrids
- Predictability and certainty of fees - for the client
- Controllability of fees - for the client
- Protocols for managing time spent (in the interests of the client)
- Reporting on fees and progress on project budgets
- Reporting on services availed under retainer arrangements
- Disbursements: what is classified as a disbursement?
- Overhead (e.g. photocopying, faxes) disbursements: no charge, charged at notional cost, charge rate, outsourcing arrangements
- Other disbursements: at cost, at cost plus mark-up
- Disbursements control mechanisms and reporting
- Billing frequency
- Billing styles and options: level of detail, management summary, electronic billing
- Payment terms: within x days of billing, deferred payment, pre-payment of disbursements, hybrids
- Discounts: on time payment, rebates on volume use of services, etcetera
- Pricing validity period
- Pricing/fee review frequency and mechanisms
- Value-added services: free value adds and chargeable add-ons
- How the pricing arrangements you propose serve to align your rewards with your client's interests.
Sophisticated clients buying behaviour increasingly reflects the value they place on expert professional services providers who can deftly manage relationships and who are sensitive to personal and organisational dynamics.
This short checklist will help you to work up selling arguments centered on relationship dynamics.
- Your team leader, his/her credentials for the role, and how s/he will relate to the client
- What you plan to contribute to the relationship, besides technical expertise
- Where you can add distinct value to the client's organisation: the network of useful contacts to whom you will facilitate introductions and related services which the client will access through you
- "Feel good" aspects of being a client of your firm - and how that differs from the alternatives
- Value-added services you will offer - and deliver
- Techniques you propose to obtain client feedback
- How you'll evaluate you client's satisfaction - measures or indicators you will use
- How the client satisfaction feeds into your internal appraisal, recognition, and reward systems
- How you will deal with problems and issues which arise
- What action you promise if your client is dissatisfied
- What else you'll do to establish a relationship with the client which ensures they derive maximum value
- Examples of other clients with whom you've developed similar relationships and evidence of the benefits to these clients of your relationship - testimonials, references, case studies
- What this relationship means to you and the "price" you're prepared to pay for it - how important the client will be to you
- How far you'll go to protect and advance your client's interests
- The difference they'll notice in dealing with you and your firm.
Be clearly and convincingly painting a picture of the working relationship you have in mind, demonstrating that you'll constructively engage problems, and showing downstream benefits your client will derive, you will vastly improve your prospects of success.
Previous eTips have suggested possible selling points which will help you to positively differentiate your proposal in a crowded market. Increasingly, astute clients value law firms and other expert professional services providers who show that they are both fully aware of and respond appropriately to concerns about commercial sensitivities and conflicting interests.
This quick checklist will help you to develop the key selling arguments you will use to position your proposal.
- Your understanding of this client's sensitivities to commercial confidentiality issues and conflicts
- Protocols to maintain confidentiality (no, don't just treat this as a "given")
- Systems and processes you use to recognise potential conflicting interests
- Due diligence you have conducted to establish that there is "no conflict"
- Real life examples of commercial sensitivities you have recognised and your response to these
- Examples of actual and possible conflicts - and what you would propose to do about them
- On-going input and collaboration from your client on these areas, and how you propose to obtain it
- What work/other clients you would be prepared to relinquish in order to establish and maintain a long-term relationship with this client - that is, how much this relationship does/will mean to you and what "price" you're prepared to pay for it
- How far you'll go to protect and advance your client's interest.
By proactively and constructively dealing with your client's commercial sensitivities, and any possible conflicts, you will advance your prospects by reducing perceptions of risk in accepting your proposal and establishing a business relationship with you.
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