Every now and then, you are faced with the prospect of working with a client you don’t particularly like. But, at the end of the day, we are professionals and with the right mindset and strategies, we can navigate these challenges and even turn them into opportunities for growth.
Horizon scanning is a critical strategic tool used to identify and analyse potential future trends, opportunities and threats. It is the process of systematically identifying and assessing potential future developments that are likely to impact your professional practice.
In a recent post, we discussed implementing a Key Client Program (KCP). In this post we want to expand upon that and discuss what the benefits are of having a KCP – and trust us, there are plenty more than the 10 listed in this article.
In this blog, we explore when it might be a good time to fire a client and talk through some proactive steps you can take to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.
You’ve done an internal audit of your existing skill set and identified a deficiency. It might be that you never had that particular skill set in the first place. Or it could be you’ve recently lost the skill to a retirement or departure. Either way, you don’t have it, and you need it.
For most professionals, the very thought of a meeting with a new prospect or an existing customer to talk through how you can help them with their problem(s) can be daunting.
Strong client relationships are critical to maintaining and growing business. With most service-based professional businesses – such as legal, accounting, and engineering – relationships with customers tend to be transactional. So, how do you balance a transactional practice with a need to foster long-term client relationships?
Every professional services firm collects huge amounts of data about their clients and the industry sectors they operate in each and every day. Few, however, take the time to apply the resources to interpret this raw data and apply the findings to its own business in order to improve the value of the service they’re providing.
At GSJ we believe that by not segmenting your client list to the relevant readership, you’re missing out on a ton of business development opportunities. If you want to rectify this error, you should start by classifying your current client and target client lists.
A common question in business is whether it is better to be a generalist, full-service practitioner or a niche practitioner? As with so many things in professional services, our answer to that question is a cop-out: "it depends".
This post is inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘8 Rules of Writing’. If you’ve never heard of Vonnegut’s 8 Rules, Rule #1 is about as perfect an example of a rule that should apply to your business development activities. Read here for this #1 tip and 9 more!
Partner retreat season generally happens a couple of months before the end of the financial year, and regardless of whether it’s your first partner retreat or your 20th, you need to make sure you follow a planned strategy to maximise your networking opportunities at the getaway.