Investing in business development is more vital than ever for the professional services.
The threats posed by Brexit, new market entrants, online solutions, AI, more savvy competition and increasing client demands all present enormous challenges for any professional service firm. And if that’s not bad enough, it’s looking increasingly likely that some markets will contract and (in the UK at least) the property, construction and manufacturing sectors are already showing signs of doing exactly that.
As we are going to enter a tougher trading environment, we’d suggest you pay close attentions to 3 things:
1. Communicate your Client Value Proposition clearly and in a compelling way so your clients, contacts and targets remember it and like it
2. Make sure your fee earners stay visible to your clients, contacts and targets so that when opportunities arise, you’re front of mind
3. Do what you need to in order to convert more leads and opportunities. If you can do this, you can grow … even in a shrinking market.
And how do you achieve this?
1. Invest in BD training so your fee earners know what they need to do in order to develop your current clients and win more new clients
2. Be more focused in your marketing and BD and engage with clients in their language not yours
3. Invest in independent client listening to gain better insight into what they want and demonstrate you really do care about your clients and key referrers
We are professional services business development specialists. If you’d like to talk about how to revamp your firm’s approach to business development, please email us.
Or, would you like to find out how you could outsource your blog to us?