A shift has occurred with how businesses and individuals make their purchasing decisions for legal and financial management services. No longer do prospective clients blindly engage these services without first seeking the advice of a trusted contact or the critical review of third party comments on any social network.
Because of this trend, and now more than ever, professionals in the legal, banking, accounting, and financial sectors in the Detroit metro area are openly expressing the importance for creating a reliable new business development process for their practices.
As a Master Certified Coach in Michigan, I have had the wonderful opportunity to speak to and train professionals in all of these practice areas throughout my coaching career and have found that a formal process for sales definitely needs to be in their DNA.
Some of the key business development needs that I hear about from these professionals are:
- Developing more effective networking skills
- Having a proper process to use for qualifying prospective clients
- Knowing what a good prospective client looks like
Here are some quick, but very effective tips, for to address these business development concerns:
- Ask, “What is it that I can listen for that is a good referral for you?” to people that you meet at a networking or social event instead of immediately telling them what you do.
- Are you asking enough good, open-ended questions in your discovery process to determine if the prospect is really a good fit for you? In my training sessions we call this technique layer. Learn more here.
- Do a 5 minute inventory of your client base. Determine who your favorite clients are and what makes them your favorite clients. It may be that they pay quickly, have a unique product or service, or show great integrity under tough circumstances.
Barry Demp is a highly-skilled business coach focused on the areas of leadership, management, coaching, team-building, networking, business development, communication skills, relationship building, motivation, time management, life balance, and goal achievement. He specializes in working with business owners, executives, coaches, consultants, and high-potential professionals by helping them significantly increase their productivity, profitability, and life balance.
