Pre-proposal due diligence
Those who’ve done it know well that while tenders, bids, and competitive proposals are great ways to win work, it’s easy to squander precious time and money on bids with limited prospects of success. Here’s a simple framework for pre-proposal due diligence which our consultants find helpful in guiding professional service firm clients to correct […]
Continue ReadingPossible key selling arguments
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 […]
Continue Reading13 support staff strategies to maintain client satisfaction
The vital role your support staff play in client satisfaction is often overlooked. However a client’s experience at reception, or their first phone call to your firm can colour every other interaction – for better or worse. Here are 13 quick tips your support staff can use to represent your firm even better. Represent clients […]
Continue ReadingMarketing minutes
Many lawyers and expert professionals juggling lots of competing tasks struggle to allocate significant chunks of time to business development as often as they’d like. But all of us – no matter how busy – can take “marketing minutes” just about every day. One marketing minute drop a brief note to a client thanking them […]
Continue ReadingCultivating gravitas
While some lawyers and professionals just have gravitas, others struggle to find it, and a whole lot simply don’t realise they lack it. Professionals who exude gravitas: speak with authority and have that authority accepted are quietly confident apparently naturally command are accorded high status in a room have others take notice of their views […]
Continue ReadingCase studies – using them to improve your tender or proposal
Well-devised case studies in tenders or proposals can be compelling. Case studies, in this context, mean write-ups (in a journalistic or “article” style) of individual cases or circumstances which demonstrate: your distinctive expertise your understanding of the client’s industry and business challenges your appreciation of the special requirements, preferences, and culture of your prospective client […]
Continue ReadingMeasuring business development success
Too often, the “highs” generated by recent wins can over-shadow the facts when it comes to evaluating the success of business development initiatives. It’s a great idea to develop some formal metrics for measuring business development success. Tracking these will be useful: number of proposals to established clients number of proposals to established clients for areas beyond […]
Continue ReadingBusiness development forecasting
Forecasting business development outcomes – wins – is an important and valuable element of successful professional services selling. But forecasting is tough. So often it’s about identifying multiple uncertainty factors, and estimating the impact of each, plus making judgements about options to influence outcomes. Good forecasting of sales lets us (and others around us) plan. […]
Continue ReadingTender debrief
If you’ve gone to the effort and expense of tendering be sure to debrief – win or lose – on the outcome. If there is an opportunity for face-to-face debriefing, take it – it’s only fair that large legal consumers who invite tenders offer debriefing and feedback to tenderers, whatever the result. Use these questions […]
Continue ReadingBusiness development skills improvement
Here are some key business development skills areas that may need improvement in your professional services firm. Rate yourself on each, and work out what most needs to improve: understanding the business development process understanding how clients make decisions presenting your firm’s credentials positioning and differentiating yourself and your firm prioritising your personal marketing efforts winning in […]
Continue ReadingSelect articles
Feature article
Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos
Tender readability remains a problem for some in the 21st century. I still see submission documents that cling to a handful of really old hat tender presentation and formatting techniques. I suspect this is because some of these ‘rules’ are viewed as being more appropriate to a ‘formal’ style of document such as a tender. […]
