Archive for business development
Economic Changes Call for Tactical Adjustments
Posted by: | CommentsEspecially Now, Relationships Are the Key to Good Referrals
In these uncertain economic times, my experience tells me that there are still people out there who need your services. But because they are more concerned with getting the best value for their increasingly scarce resources, they turn to the people they trust to introduce them to professionals who deliver value.
Said another way, referrals are how good business gets done when times get challenging.
Who are your best referrers?
Have you thanked them?
Have you reached out to find out how you can help them?
Are you relying on a small group of people to refer you or have you systematically positioned yourself to be the recipient of your perfect referral over and over again?
Or are you still relying on a random stream of referrals?
I’ve been advising my clients to get proactive. Especially now. Because even if only 25% of their business comes from referral, if that business dries up and goes to someone else, they are in trouble.
Take action now!
1. Audit your last 3 years of clients.
Determine to the best of your ability where each piece of business came from. What did it add to your top-line revenues? What did it add to your overall profitability? What source stands out as needing immediate attention? If it is a person or a firm, what’s the current state of your relationship?
One client who did this exercise noticed that there were several distinct groups of people who referred him business. He broke them up into areas – real estate, import/export and invited them to a luncheon at his office. He introduced them all to each other and had them share what they needed to be successful – resources, contacts, etc. He shared the same thing – and his practice grew 30% in under 6 months.
2. Connect with your referral sources.
Cement your relationships. You know what needs to be done. Do it. Don’t put it off. In the current economic climate, those relationships can be the access to your very best clients – because those sources have social capital behind their recommendations and provide social proof that you are the attorney with whom they should be speaking.
I spoke on the phone this morning with another client who had changed firms and never reconnected with old sources of referrals. She shared that just by picking up the phone and reaching out to people who used to send her cases, she increased her business immediately – one sent her a new case that morning.
Connecting frequently and consistently is the key to staying top of mind. Enlist your staff to help you make this happen.
3. Actively reproduce your best referral sources.
Take a look at the characteristics of your best referral sources. What is their profession? Do they belong to a specific professional association? Get clear about which are your best sources and begin recruiting new ones just like them. LinkedIn® is a great resource for this project. If you don’t know how to use it – Learn.
Think about what would happen to your practice and your pocketbook if you added a zero to the number of people who actively refer you your ideal client. Come up with a project to build 20-30 relationships who can keep you and your firm busy and profitable.
4. Develop a regular touch strategy.
I know you are busy. All professionals are. But the most productive have systems in place that allow them to accomplish the repetitive tasks that create continuity in relationship. The old adage “Out of sight, out of mind” can wreak havoc on your referrability. Set – or have your staff set – lunches at regular intervals. Get a system to regularly send out birthday and anniversary cards. Involve your support staff in collecting and sending clippings of pertinent articles or snippets of what they read in on-line news. The key here is to stay ‘top-of-mind’ while you deepen the relationship.
5. Train your referral sources
You know what you do. But do your referral sources? Really? Ask them what they think you do. You’ll be surprised at some of the responses. If your sources don’t know what you do and who is best to send your way, chances are referral quality is poor.
Most importantly, get clear which problems you solve that keep your clients up at night – from their perspective, not yours. “I’m a intellectual property attorney” is very different from “I help the creative protect and defend their million dollar ideas.”
Draft a document which illustrates what you do (not just a list of services) and for whom. Clearly articulate who your ideal clients are and then share that with your sources. Encourage them to do the same for you.
Building reciprocity builds relatedness. Relatedness is a trigger for referrals.
6. Develop a stable of professionals that you can refer – and refer them.
Referrals out can be tricky for some attorneys. The concern about liability is one I often hear from my clients. However, reciprocity doesn’t work if you don’t refer out. One of my clients dealt with his concern this way – when he passes a referral he uses this disclaimer – “I recommend X – s/he’s done a great job for my clients in the past. You should do your own due diligence, though, as s/he’s not always a fit for everyone.”
You do not serve all your clients’ needs. You can position yourself, in their minds, to do so by developing a stable of reliable professionals who serve those needs which you do not, and educating your clients as to their availability. Listen for opportunities to refer. Be known as a resource for your clients AND as a referrer by your key sources.
7. Repeat this process
Referral development is a process, not an event. Relationships are not event driven and credibility is something that is built – over time. If you have three to five hours a week – think lunches and breakfasts – you can easily roll this out over a year long program. It takes some planning and discipline, but the payoff far exceeds the perceived pain.
It takes something to alter results you are currently getting. The biggest hurdle you will have to conquer is the belief that you “don’t have the time” or that you are “too busy” to do something different.
The most productive and profitable firms have handled these conversations and developed the skills and the networks to consistently land the right kind of profitable business.
I encourage you to do the same.
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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Xobni – An Outlook Tool to Transform Your Experience of the E-mail Jungle
Posted by: | Comments
Inbox spelled backwards – it does just that. It turns your experience of your email on it’s ear. And it’s FREE
Instead of having to fish through thousands of emails in your inbox, or setting up complex rules – that sometime work, sometimes don’t work – Xobni’s add-on to outlook shows you all the key data related to your contact, the 
communication you’ve had with that contact, and the documents that you’ve exchanged between you.
All this happens outside of Outlook itself – in Xobni’s indexing process. This means that you can preview all of these pieces of the interaction jungle before you need to open any relevant communications.
You can easily search for people with their built in search bar and it calculate the pattern for when you receive emails from the contact. That way you know when you are most likely to catch them at their computer. The analytics tell you how many emails you’ve sent, how many you’ve received, and ranks the contact via the number of communications you’ve had. .
Are you interacting enough with the key people in your network? Quite an eye opener
Another very cool function is the "Schedule time with" link. It will check your Outlook calendar and open up an email with your availability for the next 5 business days so you can send it to your contact to set meeting. Very Handy!
Xobni also has a built-in LinkedIn function which allows you to click right over to a contact’s LinkedIn Profile.
All in all a very handy tool
A special thanks to N2N Student Toni Allen who called me raving about it’s functionality.
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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Law Firm Marketing – Seven Steps for Using LinkedIn.com as a Business Development Magnet
Posted by: | CommentsOriginally published in the inaugural Edition of The Rainmaker Advisor – for attorneys
Let’s face it – you’re busy. You may even fall under the classification of “very busy”. When it comes to developing business, you are faced with all kinds of options: a website, blogging, networking, referrals from current clients. The question is often where do I start? And how do I manage the ethical considerations? Especially because I’m so busy.
My advice – start with what you’ve already got. Then leverage it.
Enter LinkedIn.com, a free online social networking site for professionals.
Unlike Facebook.com or Myspace.com, LinkedIn® focuses on a business demographic1:
- Average Age – 41;
- Average Years of Experience – 15;
- Average Household Income – $109,000;
- 46% of it’s users are Decision Makers;
- Executive from All Fortune 500 companies are represented inside LinkedIn®.
These are folks who use legal services.
I train my clients to view LinkedIn® as a technological backbone to place underneath their already existing network of relationships. With 21 million people using the service, you may be surprised to find that many of the people that you know professionally are already users.
Add three levels of depth (seeing who your contacts know, and who their contacts know) and a search engine to explore those resources, and you have an extremely valuable resource to leverage.
By having a systematic approach, you can use this free service to become a magnet for referrals, business opportunities, and profitable alliances.
Here are the Seven Steps for Using LinkedIn® as a Business Development Magnet:
1. Perfect your Profile
Your LinkedIn® Profile is an online hub for Business Development Objectives. A well designed profile lets your contacts, prospective clients, and prospective referral sources know who you are, what you do, and what you are looking to accomplish. Make sure that you spend plenty of time perfecting it. Fill out all of your education. Fill out your past employment and experience. People feel like they know you when you disclose those things. Because LinkedIn is a Social Media, you want to bring down the barriers that people experience to getting to know you and your firm. This step is critical.
2. Learn the system
The power of LinkedIn® is the platform. The social software allows you to do advanced searches, connect to your current websites and blogs, promote your profile to current connections and people who could be connections, answer questions of users who are looking for someone like you and your firm, etc. Understanding the capabilities of LinkedIn® will allow you to leverage them once you’ve built out your network in their system.
3. Reach out to people you already know and build your network
You’ve spent a lifetime making connections. You already belong to multiple networks: your firm, your law school, your alma mater, your professional organizations, your place of worship, the PTA. All of these people know people. They all have connections that have potential value to you. And you have connections that have potential value to them. By reaching out to your already existing contacts, you will quickly reproduce your existing networks and be ready to use the technology to explore the opportunities that already exist in your first level connections, as well as your second and third level connections. You will never know if you don’t build it.
4. Get strategic
Know exactly what you want to accomplish. Write out your Business Development Objectives clearly and concisely such that anyone who read them could tell if you reached them or not. Are they specific? Are they measurable? Once you are clear, consider that you have an enormous network of resources available to you via your LinkedIn® network. Now answer the following questions:
- · How are you positioned with the people in your network?
- · Do they really know what you and your firm offer? If not, why not?
- · How could you communicate that to them?
- · Does your firm have a newsletter? Put a link in your profile so people can subscribe.
- · Do you blog? Via your profile you can direct people to your blog so they can read more about you.
- · Who refers you on a regular basis and why?
- · Do you have enough of these people in your network?
- · Do the people you know have contacts that could be referring you?
- · Do you know the characteristics of the people who refer you?
Once you have the answers, look newly at the network you’ve built. You will see opportunities that you didn’t see before. They were always there. Now leverage them.
5. Use the system to manage relationships
The advanced features contained in the toolbars that LinkedIn® offers give you powerful tools to manage your interactions with the people in your network. Download them and learn to use them. You can keep track of birthdays and overlooked emails. You can get updates from the people in your network as their profile information changes. You can keep track of your searches. Via a scan of your regular emails, you can find new people to connect with and continue to build and cultivate your network.
6. Reach out to meet new people through your contacts
Once you’ve built out your network and cultivated deeper relationships with the people you already know, begin to browse their networks. Look to see if they know people that will help you achieve your Business Development Objectives. You can even do deep, specific searches to find experts, vendors, specific people, and specific companies. Using the built in features of LinkedIn®, reach out to those people through the people that you already know. Use some of that Social Capital that you’ve built up with people. You’ll be surprised how willing they are to help you achieve your goals.
7. Be Consistent
The key to any Business Development strategy is consistency. Schedule 10 minutes a day for the next 90 days to work inside the LinkedIn® system. Not only will you find it enjoyable discovering new sources of business, but you will also build a habit that will transfer into your day-to-day habits and translate into a profitable world of new opportunities.
Social Networking is not a new thing. Professionals have been doing it from the dawn of commerce. Social Networking Software like LinkedIn, however, provides an opportunity to take those networks you’ve built over a lifetime and put them to use.
By developing a systematic approach to developing your network, and a technological backbone to uncover the hidden connections contained in that network, you have the opportunity to set yourself apart from other firms, and produce the kinds of result that Senior Partners in the big firms produce on a regular basis.
In our next article, we’ll address privacy concerns, ethical concerns, and demonstrate how LinkedIn®’s system is built to handle this.
Meanwhile, enjoy building what will likely be one of the best Business Development
tools you will ever encounter.
Raymond Chip Lambert, of Network2Networth, is a Business Development expert who works exclusively with seasoned professionals to leverage their existing relationships through time tested Business Development strategies and online Social Media strategy thereby unlocking the value of their existing network connections. He can be reached at 602-635-4541 or www.network2networth.com.
1Linkedin.com-http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=advertising_info&trk=hb_ft_ads
LinkedIn – In Plain English
Posted by: | CommentsLee LeFever Strikes Again!
One of my original posts to this blog was one of Lee LeFever’s videos on Social Networking.
I just got an email from a friend with this new video that does a great job of explaining the power of LinkedIn.
Please pass this on to the people in your network who are asking you what this "LinkedIn thing" is all about. You will be their hero.
And if we can help you or your organization – or even the organizations of people you know - master the use of the system for your bottom line business results, please contact us.
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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The Power of Affiliation
Posted by: | CommentsI just got off the phone with Stacy Burleson co-owner of Beyond Zebra. Stacy was referred to me by Eileen Burick who did our linkedin training.
Now while I was talking to Stacey, I was looking at her LinkedIn profile and noticed that she was an ex-Disney employee – she was a member of a LinkedIn Group for those folks.
Although she said I came "highly recommended", the rapport that opened up in our conversation was amazing. That one piece of information transformed a stranger into a friend – someone I had something in common with.
I shared with her that I still point using the signature sweeping gesture that I was taught at 16 when I worked in the park as a sweeper.
I then started sharing about my speaking engagement at the LACBA Small and Solo Law Firm Conference and that I was speaking to large groups of people about using LinkedIn for marketing and business development.
The world opened up.
You see, she is on the board for the Women’s Business Enterprise Council – West. And they look for speakers that can make a difference for their organization.
Now – I don’t know if it will turn into anything, but she left our call excited that she’d just found a resource for her group. She’s going to pitch the idea of my speaking to her membership.
And that’s the power of affiliation and LinkedIn!
If you’ve had any success stories like this, please let me know. I’d like to interview you and possibly share your story with the folks who are following this blog.
Have a happy 4th of July.
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Develop Training Partner
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Beyond Small Time Clever – an update
Posted by: | CommentsThe last few weeks have been nothing short of amazing.
As I’ve begun to drill down and clearly identify and articulate what I do for attorneys, CPAs, and financial planners, a literal avalanche of opportunities has presented itself.
Our positioning statement is: We help established small- to medium-sized professional firms leverage their book of business by shifting their relationship to that book from one of transaction-focus to one of strategic asset development.
I will be speaking about the power of LinkedIn® to facilitate that process at the Small and Solo Law Conference in Los Angeles this week put on by the Rainmaker Institute, LegalTech, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. It began with a clear articulation of what I was trying to accomplish and a conversation with Stephen Fairly. I’ve written for the Magazine that is being launch at the conference (and I’ve been asked to potentially write a series) and there are some more exciting things in the works given the relationships I am building. I will continue to update you as things roll out.
Suffice it to say – if you have an attorney in your network, invite them to subscribe to this blog. We’ll have lots of resources for them in the not too distant future.
I’ve also begun in earnest to address the CPA market.
What I’ve found is that many small to medium firms have no marketing plan whatsoever. They grow primarily by organic referral. Our Business Development Intensive is perfect for this market because we work with these firms to tap into their already existing client base to determine their markets, find and work their leverage points, and design a systematic approach to firm growth.
One firm I worked with grew by 25% in 6 months. And this was a well established, highly regarded firm here locally (Phoenix Market).
We are also now offering, in partnership with a marketing firm that has served over 6000 professional services companies, a comprehensive 2-day marketing audit that leaves the firm with a roadmap of exactly what additional marketing steps to take to achieve the results they are looking to accomplish.
I’m looking for suggestions to position this new offering into the market (via word-of-mouth – We’ll be using some of the marketing strategies we espouse in other media) so if you have any, or know someone I should be speak to please let me know.
I also recently spoke at the Women in Insurance and Financial Services Phoenix Chapter launch on June 10th. If you are a woman who works in financial services or insurance, I would recommend that you contact Tisha Diffie, the president, and get to their next meeting in August.
I found as I was speaking, many of the women in the room understand that the strategies that had them reach a certain level of success now leads to a plateau in production. As I spoke about leveraging their networks and using LinkedIn® to help facilitate the process, the lightbulbs began to go off. I expect that many of those in attendance will be going back to their book of business with a different set of eyes and I’ll be looking forward to hearing from some of them as they apply what I spoke about.
Again – if you know a successful producer who has plateaued, please introduce me. I can help them.
As always, I welcome your feedback and input.
The journey from Small Time Clever Continues.
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network2Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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Using LinkedIn to Make Money – Our LinkedIn 301 Webinar is Released
Posted by: | CommentsWe just released our LinkedIn 301 Webinar – Business Development on LinkedIn – Using LinkedIn to Make More Money.
If you haven’t done one of the webinars, I suggest you start with the 101 and work your way up – we don’t cover any info in 201 that’s covered in 101 and the same applies for the 301. If you don’t have the fundamentals down, the 301 won’t make sense.
In a nutshell, we apply some of the foundation pieces that I train in the Business Development Intensive to the LinkedIn system and that seems to unlock the true value of the tool.
I’ve got clients that are applying what they learned and beginning to see some impressive results. If you want to hear more, give me a call 602-635-4541.
I’d include the text here, but I’d rather have you click the link if you are interested.
I trust that you will have a profitable day
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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What’s Your Biggest Asset? Is it leveraged?
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I begin an engagement, I ask this question to all of my clients and invariably they come up with answers like: my building; my client list; my equipment; my Accounts Receivable.
I’ve been reminded of the real answer repeatedly over the last few weeks.
If you look from a macro perspective – YOUR NETWORK is your largest asset.
And not just in an abstract way.
It’s the relationships that are right there in front of your face that make the difference.
With the shift in my business, I’ve begun to re-audit and build out my network.
I’m seeing my connections and relationships in a completely new light – given my new perspective.
And the conversations I’ve been having are helping me re-write my website, redesign my messaging, tap into new resources, and frankly, reconnect with people that it’s been too long since I have talked with.
I’m clear I have some work to do to re-establish some relationships and maybe even clean up some messes I didn’t realize I’d made.
But that’s the beauty of it all.
Even if I have to eat crow.
I’ll be revising the text and purpose of my website over the next few weeks.
Please check in and let me know what you think. Your feedback is appreciated and welcomed!
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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Moving Beyond Small Time Clever
Posted by: | CommentsI had a great conversation with the CEO of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, Rick Kidder, last week about the shift that has been going on inside my business over the last year and I asked him what he thought about the name of my company – Network 2 Networth. What he said was a a kind of confirmation for me. A reinforcement of what I knew on some level – but couldn’t quite put into words. He said that it struck him as "small time clever."
Now some people may think that statement is a bit straightforward – but given the history of my company and product offering, it brought something into relief for me. I desperately need to re-brand myself and what I’m offering.
A bit of history – Along with a fantastic group of folks, including Betsy McGrew, Joel Bez, Butch Leiber, and many more, I presided over the growth of one of the largest chapters of BNI in the world – The Biltmore Power Chapter. At one point we had over 80 members and were passing record amounts of referrals. I learned quite a bit about network building and relationship building.
Through that association, Betsy McGrew introduced me to the Certified Networker Program, offered by the Referral Institute, and I quickly became a licensed trainer for the Program. Over the course of 3 years we trained over 300 students – at the time the largest number by far – and produced some fantastic results with people.
But a few things bothered me.
One – the material was largely a rehash of Dr Ivan Misner’s written material. A way to repackage his books. It wasn’t done in a way that people could systematically apply the material.
Two – there was a lot missing. Being a business coach and having worked with people in the implementation of their client development strategies, the material was surface and didn’t really address the subtext that people deal with as they learn new skill sets.
So, staying true to my license, I delivered the material as presented and added the missing elements. The results were incredible.
Then in March 2007, I parted ways with the Referral Institute.
I pulled back, looked back over the previous three years and took my own coaching. I applied the 80/20 rule and looked at the students who had the most success with what we taught. And an amazing thing happened – a clear profile emerged. And a clear set of things that they consistently asked me for and asked for coaching around. My perfect client was almost never a run-of-the-mill BNI participant. They were often advanced in their career and had a completely different set of issues than a typical BNI type business.
So I drew up a new curriculum, brought in a fantastic collaborator, and created our Business Development Intensive.
We’ve had over 70 students through the program in the last 12 months and the results have been off the charts.
So now to the crux of the issue.
Shortly after meeting with Rick, I attended the CEO Advantage program (also through the Scottsdale Chamber) and presented my dilemma to the group – I feel caught between old branding and new – and old perception of what we
delivered and the new reality.
So over the next few months, I am going to be asking for input from the current course participants, and talking to the old course participants and sharing what is happening.
And if you are a reader of this blog – I’d love to hear from you. What issues have you dealt with in regards to re-branding and re-messaging when you’ve gone through a shift in your company?
Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth
Your Outsourced Business Development Training Partner
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