Grow your business archive

By Adam Thorp

The Rise (and rise) of Sales Operations

February 8, 2019 | Posted in: Grow your business

Sales Operations (or if you like ‘business development’) is moving into a broader, more dynamic and strategic role both within many organisations – and so it should.  If there’s one function in the revenue generation engine that sees all and knows all, it’s Sales Operations. Historically, Sales Operations was a blanket covering anything to do […]

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Co-opetition: if you can’t beat them, should you join them?

Co-opetition or ‘competitive collaborations’ are alliances formed between direct and sometimes indirect competitors. The term co-opetition is used by management academics and economists to describe the phenomenon of ‘competing without having to kill the opposition and co-operating without having to ignore self-interest’. You can think of co-opetition as a sort of ‘if you can’t beat […]

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Breaking up with a client

Breaking up is hard to do. Especially when you’re considering a break up with a client in the professional services context. Many professionals spend so much time winning or delivering client work that they don’t take time to think about the quality of their service relationships. The arrangement may work for the client, but does […]

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So you’ve been asked to provide a capability statement

The meeting with that prospective client went well, and the signs are pointing to yes for some work to head your way. But, *groan* they’ve just asked you to ‘send over your capability statement’ so they can show a few colleagues before they make a decision. What a capability statement is not Firstly, let’s be […]

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Your favourite blog posts of 2016

It’s a wrap for the JMA BD insights and tips blog for 2016, but before we slide into holiday mode, we wanted to take a look back at our readers’ favourite posts of 2016. These are the top five – have you read them yet? #1 Pricing lessons from a Big Six pricing specialist Our […]

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What do you really know about your competition?

October 5, 2016 | Posted in: Grow your business, Win Tenders Bids Proposals

In contracting and mature professional services markets, it’s more important than ever to know how your firm stacks up against the competition. This applies generally to firms, but it is also really important in competitive tender, bid and proposal situations. Even basic information about your competitors can be a powerful tool for your decision-making – […]

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By Lilla Smee

5 steps to a successful marketing strategy

August 24, 2016 | Posted in: Grow your business | Tags:

The most profitable professional services firms understand that a successful marketing strategy is part of everything they do; it’s a coordinated process, not just a series of campaigns. Just like politicians who stay on message, the most successful firms have focus: from cultivating referral relationships to tweeting, each activity is aligned to the overall goals […]

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Perceived advantage in professional services

July 27, 2016 | Posted in: Grow your business

Maybe you’re one of those fortunate professionals who has such a stand out service to offer that it’s clearly technically superior, demonstrably better, and so reported by objective analysts and high-profile “industry authorities”.  You and your firm have no trouble attracting, winning, growing and retaining right-fit clients. More likely, the professional services you offer – […]

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By Lilla Smee

Pricing lessons from a Big Six pricing specialist

June 29, 2016 | Posted in: Grow your business | Tags:

With the ever-increasing debate around hourly billing and alternatives, and savvier and more demanding clients, professional services firms – and in particular, law firms – need to get smarter about how to manage pricing if they are to remain profitable. It seems inevitable in some areas of law (insurance, property) that it’s simply a race […]

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By Alistair Marshall

How to get more work from existing clients

June 1, 2016 | Posted in: Grow your business

When trying to develop new business in professional services, always go to your existing clients first. Why? Because they already have a relationship with you and they believe in your service. Many firms mistakenly overlook existing clients when they try to source new work. The return on investment from targeting your existing clients who know […]

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Feature article

Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos

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. […]