Stack the Deck, Strengthening Client Relationships

Sales drives the business. Without a strong, consistent sales program for developing and winning new projects and clients and filling the pipeline, everyone in the firm is overhead. 

Selling is based on your ability in building effective business relationships. After all, clients buy from people, not from from companies. How effectively you are able to build those critical client relationships, will determine how successful you are in all the other aspects of the business.

Here are some techniques you can use right away to begin building business relationships that will position your firm for higher win rates and higher profits.

1. Interview potential clients and contacts for an article or report you're writing. They'll be flattered and will also learn more about you without you pitching your services. Send the article to them all with a personal note once it's published.

2. Invite a small group of clients and associates for a lunch at your office. They'll enjoy meeting together and, because you may offer somewhat different services to each client, they'll end up cross-promoting those services to each other.

3. Enjoy jazz, the theatre or baseball? Buy two tickets to a season of events and invite a different contact each time - sometimes a client, sometimes an associate. It's a fun, low-pressure way to build business relationships.

4. Going to your professional convention this year? Why not contact an associate who's also going and arrange to fly together? You'll have a lot of time to catch up and since you have to fly anyway, your time will be well spent.

5. A great place to deepen your relationship with someone you recently met at your monthly professional association is at the next meeting. Call them and ask to save you a seat at dinner so you can explore your common interests in more depth.

6. Host an associate/client dinner. Have three or four of your associates, who all do somewhat different work, invite one of their clients to an informal dinner at your home. Each of the invited clients is a potential client for you as well as for each of your associates.

7. Arrange for a brainstorming group for contacts and clients. Let them know you're testing ome new ideas and you'd like their feedback. By the time it's over, everyone will know more about what you're doing.

8. Want to keep seeing a contact? Invite them to your professional association and suggest they join.

9. Give thanks for a referral by taking your contact out to lunch: "I appreciate you spreading the word about my business. I'd like to thank you by taking you to lunch next week."I want you to understand that getting together with people does not have to be a struggle.

If you provide a legitimate reason or set up a favorable situation, people will be eager to meet with you. And the more meetings, the more visibility and credibility you'll have.


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