Post Covid – 5 Myths exposed - Part 2

Over the next 3-4 weeks I will be serialising Chapter 1 of my book ‘How to Win Business from Private Clients’ post covid first published in PDF in 2020.

Myth 2

Face to face meetings are important

Another bad habit Covid-19 has uncovered is ‘time for a coffee?’

As a lawyer, before I adopted a very disciplined approach to winning business, I was astonished at how much time was spent in having coffee. If each face to face meetings lasts an hour and video conferencing 20 minutes, face to face meetings are a waste of time

When I first worked as a lawyer, it seemed that everyone was having coffee with anyone who suggested it. This was what Professionals seemed to do to win new business, but I couldn’t understand why. To my mind, having coffee had replaced liquid lunches, with little if any, return on investment.

When I took over as head of the group at Simmons & Simmons, I simply did not have the time for ‘coffee meetings’. I had been tasked to make the group profitable in the first two years and had to be really focussed if I wanted to meet my targets, run the group, be mother to young children and look after my clients. I needed to set goals and meet only those people who could be useful in getting me where I needed to go.

Myth 3

Travel is necessary

Travelling is such a waste of time, but most Professionals seem to love it.

Post Covid-19 - questions will be asked as to how much of our travel makes a difference to the bottom line- and how much of it is a perk of the business? In lockdown we have all learnt how to video conference call which not only saves time on face to face meetings but eliminates the time and cost of travel.

Furthermore, the effect of a restriction of travel imposed upon us during lockdown, has seen a surprising and welcome positive effect on the planet. In London, where I live the air is cleaner and fresher in just one month with so few aeroplanes flying and cars on the streets. Can we afford to keep travelling and ruining our planet when it is such a waste of time and money?

Myth 4

Conferences are needed to keep up date and network

Every Professional needs to keep up to date with their area of expertise. My regulatory bodies are the Law Society and the Chartered Institute of Taxation and I am required to clock up Continuing Professional Development hours or CPD points.

But do I really need to go to conferences to be on top of my subject?

Conferences to learn more about an area of expertise must be viewed separately from networking to win business.

At conferences you are likely to meet people with the same area of expertise as you with whom you may have interesting conversations, but at conferences you are unlikely to win business because the audience is made up of your competitors.

A far easier way to keep up to date is through online videos, training modules, podcasts and webinars.

A related myth is that clients pay for your superior knowledge. They don’t. The fact that you keep up to date with your area of expertise is assumed by clients. Think about it – clients come to seek out your advice because they are not an expert and you are. They simply cannot evaluate whether your knowledge is superior or not – and quite frankly they do not care – they just want solutions to their concerns.

The relationship between you and your client is not equal – this must be recognized if we are to adopt a Culture of Care -  in the past this knowledge inequality led to abuse.

Myth 5

A wide network is essential – it is not

A small focussed network, however, is. If the people you are meeting or contacting, whether by email, telephone or at an event are not in a position to assist you in winning your goals, don’t waste your time with them – what is the point?

Of course, if you enjoy meeting people and keeping in contact with them - fine but recognise it for what it is – a social occasion. Don’t kid yourself that in some fashion, it will win business.

If the people you are meeting do not have the sort of clients you are looking for and cannot refer you to the type of work you want, no matter how well you get on, you will simply not get any referral business – it is a waste of time

So now we have gone through the myths we now need to consider what we should be doing instead so as not to waste time, or money, network efficiently and effectively and build trust with clients

Part III of Post Covid 5 Business Myths exposed will continue next week.

Caroline’s Club was set up to put into practice the research in my book which was published in 2020 as a PDF* ‘How to win business from private clients’ post covid into practice. Caroline’s Club is where professionals can meet over a zoom call to discuss real topics and then share client stories in a networking pod. Members can then follow up using the contact details of those in their network in our digital directory and learn more about our members from their podcasts and published client stories – winning business post covid and building trust with clients without wasting time and money is the main aim of Caroline’s Club

Please let me have your comments and don’t forget to register for Caroline’s Club – it’s FREE to register and you can then learn more about our exclusive award winning club of leading private client professionals who are keen to win business and build trust with clients simply register here