The digital revolution in winning business
‘Networking’ in the traditional sense of going to an event, handing out business cards and meeting for a coffee is set to change - with the digital revolution in winning business. ‘Client mapping and matching’ has always been there, and it works with stunning results, but never has it been centre stage in the struggle to win business.
Macfarlanes, for example, is the most profitable UK law firm. Virgin formerly instructed Freshfields for its legal work, but Freshfields was not able to provide Richard Branson with his personal legal requirements, so he instructed Macfarlanes. In due course, Macfarlanes built up its corporate practice and started working on the smaller Virgin work. In due course, this led to bigger and better work until the majority of the Virgin work was done by Macfarlanes. This is what I call ‘client matching and mapping’.
When I was made head of the Simmons & Simmons private client department, I was given two years to make it profitable or to go elsewhere. I mapped out the type of client that would suit a City Law firm like Simmons & Simmons and the type of work that they could not typically get elsewhere—Family Governance—the succession of decision-making. Within two years, I had substantial work which made a profit, and I was able to refer significant work to other departments.
I have now explored and expanded the strategy of client mapping and matching to all ways in which business can be won - upselling, winning business from existing clients, cross-selling, winning business for other services in the same organisation, which includes the integration of bolt-on services, and winning business from contacts - traditionally called networking.
To incorporate the full benefit of client mapping and matching through Caroline’s Club, a firm first needs to identify the client types it wants to work for and the criteria that define them. An overemphasis on skills and expertise focuses on the differences between practice areas, not the similarities. For example, you may be an expert on boundary disputes, but the work you do will be very different if you are disputing the boundary between the owners of No’s 5 and 7 Acacia Avenue and two countries in Africa. Furthermore, the services that are needed by the owners of No 5 Acacia Avenue will be very different from those of interest to an African country.
To get the full benefit of client mapping and matching is a five-step process
1 Coaching - Client matching and mapping is not new, but using it to its full potential to incorporate networking requires some homework. Most organisations will have a business development strategy, but this may need to be tweaked to identify the firm’s Key Pivotal Clients and the criteria which define them. The firm then needs to map out which professionals in the firm serve these client types and their connections. For example, Ian Wace and Paul Marshal may be the owners of Marshal Wace, but the connections are the services they may need personally and for their charity, ARK.
2 Training - Once the Business Development Strategy has been tweaked, the business development managers, who are called Rising Stars, and the professionals picked to roll out the strategy will need to be trained. They will first need to weave the client criteria, the problem that applies to that type of client, and the solution their service can offer into a story. Case studies are at the heart of client mapping and matching, and they are also engaging, interesting, and educational, so they form the backbone of the firm’s marketing material.
The professionals with the Rising Stars need to identify the other services their clients may need from outside their organisation—their Marketing Pod. For example, every client needs a banker, a lawyer and an accountant. They then work together in their Marketing Pod to create a compilation of case studies relevant to their client type, which is published in Caroline’s Club library of case studies with links which can be sent to their respective clients.
3 Publishing—Distributing links to a central digital platform means that marketing activity can be tracked. Caroline’s Club can then feed back the activity for the firm to match against business generation. The firm and Caroline’s Club review this on an annual basis to see where and who has increased the firm's profits. The Business Development Strategy can then be amended accordingly. Through this annual review, gaps and opportunities will become apparent.
4 Lateral hires, bolt-ons and partnerships. Adopting a strategy of client mapping and matching, the firm may decide that the owners of their clients, on occasion, need a matrimonial service. However, rather than bolting on a family service, it may wish to partner with a firm that serves the owners of their key pivotal clients. At the annual review, Caroline’s Club can suggest which firms they could partner with, having studied the case studies of other members.
5 Online Program of Excellence. Caroline’s Club has an online Program of Excellence. Junior members are offered homework sessions to assist them in adopting good working practices. However, Caroline’s Club can also offer tips and techniques to the managing partner that other firms have adopted to increase revenue, such as charging higher rates for working unsocial hours.
By adopting a strategy of client mapping and matching, a professional firm can increase revenue, build trusted relationships with clients, develop strong working relationships with other professional contacts, and adopt working practices that increase profits.
Albert Einstein famously said, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ This quote emphasizes the importance of change, innovation, and adaptability. The time has come for professional industries to stop repeating the same way of winning business, which they know doesn’t work, and embrace change. Those who do will reap the rewards, and those who don’t will get left behind.
If you would like to find out more call Caroline on 07979 188288