Networking (2)
The theory behind networking is good.
Clients, whether companies, funds, or wealthy families, need several advisers. At the very least, they need a banker to keep their money, a lawyer to move it around, and an accountant to keep track of it.
The theory of networking is to find other professionals who have your type of clients as their clients, and eventually, they will refer them to you for your services.
The same theory can be applied to cross-selling. Within an organisation, some professionals serve your type of clients. When I was head of the private client department at Simmons & Simmons, I referred my clients to the litigation department when they had a contentious issue. One example was when a Jersey trustee made a suspicious transaction report on taking over a trustee business, and the Jersey Attorney General froze all my client’s trust assets. I referred my client to the dispute resolution team, which was kept busy for several years as it worked to lift the freezing order.
From our research, professionals spend 20% of their time prospecting for new business through networking; 42% say they are poor at it, 36% say average, and 12% say they are good. Most know there is room for improvement but are still trying to figure out what else they can do.
In this mini-series, I will show you how to generate business from your contacts, colleagues, and clients. But first, you need to be honest about what you are doing and how effective it is in winning business.
In networking, there are four obvious but frequently overlooked facts.
The first obvious fact is that if a contact has neither the clients you are looking for nor the services your clients may need, they will not refer work to you, and you will not refer business to them.
The second obvious fact is that every client needs professional advice. What other professional services would your ideal client be using or needing? If they do not need your services, don’t waste time with them. For example, if all your clients are based in the UK and have only UK assets, you will probably not need to know what professionals do in the US.
The third obvious fact is that you need to work with professionals who provide a service or product to your ideal client, who may need the services and products you offer and vice versa.
The fourth obvious fact is that you must learn how to communicate with other professionals so that they will remember you and the services and products you provide for your clients. To do this, we need to dig deep into the psychology of communication, which we will cover in our episode four.
The first step is to be realistic about what you are doing and its effectiveness. I have set out below a questionnaire to give you a snapshot of where you can look for improvements and the areas that cause you the most significant concern. If you want to learn how to resolve your specific concerns, please phone me for a half-hour chat to discuss what can be done to execute solutions.
What research do you do before and after an event?
What do you do to follow up?
Do you have a coffee or lunch? What do you talk about when you meet? What do you give or receive when you leave the meeting? If you are given a brochure, what do you do with it? File it in the bin?
Do you have any action points to take away? Have these professionals been added to your marketing list for updates? Have they been entered into your Client Relationship Management System? Do you add them to your distribution list for your marketing materials?
Do you regularly review and update your contacts to see who referred work to you and what you did before the referral?
Business travel used to be so much fun. In the early days, we always travelled business class, even for short flights, and I loved feeling special in the business lounge waiting for departure.
The fun of travel has largely gone.
In most organisations, flights under 6 hours must be in economy class unless the client is paying, and there is a limit to how much you can spend on hotel accommodation. Still, many professionals travel extensively to meet colleagues in other jurisdictions or to win businesses in a chosen destination. On arrival, the days are spent going from one office to another for breakfast, coffee, lunch, tea, or dinner. It is usually exhausting, with little to show for it.
Face-to-face meetings remain essential, and business travel will never be eradicated because more can be gleaned from a physical meeting than a virtual one. However, what is relevant is the frequency of the meetings, their purpose, and their outcome.
In the next episode, we will explore mapping out your ideal client and the work you are best suited to doing for them. We will then explore creating engaging and interesting marketing material, publishing it where it will be seen, and developing a business-development strategy.
If you would like to talk with me for half an hour about how client mapping could help resolve some of the issues of your organisation, please email me at caroline@carolines.club or phone me on 07979 188 288.