I recently spoke with a client, Amy, who landed a large matter that she was excited about. Her new client, Susan, was someone who checked all the boxes – a seasoned buyer, someone who understood the value-add that Amy and her team brought to the table, and a client with ample budget for the work.
To top that, the work fit into Amy’s niche. It was work that aligned with her core strengths and interests. I asked Amy how she originally met this client. She had to think a minute because it had been a couple of years since her first contact with Susan. She met her at one of her daughter’s soccer matches. Over time, and several subsequent soccer games, Amy learned that they had more in common than just chauffeuring their kids to various sporting events. Susan liked to hike with her dog, and enjoyed fine wine. Things that Amy enjoyed, as well. She also learned that her new friend happened to be General Counsel for a large tech company in Silicon Valley. Photo by Shane Rounce I have been working with several groups of attorneys and consultants in the past few years and have discovered a common theme with these groups of professionals who work together at their same respective firms – no one really knows their colleagues.
Sure, some of them know each other through working together on client matters, or meeting folks at firm retreats, but most of them don’t take the time to get to know each other and explore ways to help each other. Photo by Matthias Zomer I am going through a sobering and humbling time this week as I help a close family member with Alzheimer's transition into a memory care facility. A home for people who have literally lost their minds.
Every day, I appreciate more about the sound mind that I have, and care less about the trivial things that I would often get hung up on. It can be bittersweet to have a “healthy” mind. On the one hand, we can execute at an intellectual level that many people are no longer able to do. On the other hand, our intellectual minds get in the way of our progress due to over analysis and negative thoughts. I was sitting in front of an important prospective client with my colleague who was in town visiting for a few days from our Chicago office. My colleague was a seasoned partner who I assumed was good in front of clients. “No need to prep him for this meeting.” I thought. Mistake number one.
The client, my colleague, and I exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, and then it began. My colleague switched gears and said, “well, I assume we are meeting today to talk about me and my experience…” I ran into a good friend and former Deloitte colleague, Samantha (Sam), at the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival, this past weekend. A fantastic time for Pinot lovers. We caught up on family and work, where Sam blew me away when she told me how well she was doing in bringing in business.
I worked with Sam when she was a Sr. Manager in the forensic group. I always knew she was an amazing forensic accountant but did not realize the hidden talent she had with business development. At the time, I was tasked with working with Sam to teach her how to generate business in her own authentic way. She needed to learn these important skills to become Partner. This was 10 years ago. Photo by Sergie Gussav I received an email from Tony, a former client, expressing his appreciation for my help during our time working together. That is always great to hear, yet what made this note unique was the fact that he and I worked together 3 and ½ years prior to his “thank you” email.
My first response was “thank you for what?” It had been a while since I heard from him. He said, ”for helping me find my own clients.” I wanted to learn more about what clicked for him over the past few years, so we set up a call to properly catch up. Photo by Andrea Piocquadio I was on a coaching call with a client of mine, Amos, who is a corporate Partner for a mid-sized law firm. Amos was beaming about a new client he recently acquired. The opportunity was well into six figures in fees and the deal was an interesting one. I asked him how he met this client. He scratched his chin and had to think back on when he first met him.
“It was a year and a half ago at a conference. We exchanged contact information, and I stayed in touch. It wasn’t until today that he needed my help.” Replied Amos. “Let me ask you a question.” I inserted. “When you returned from that conference, what did you think? Was it worth your time and energy?” I asked. “At the time, no! I thought it was a waste of my time because I didn’t land any new opportunities.” He said. “What is your opinion of that conference now?” I asked. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.” He sheepishly replied. I walked into Gerry’s office, sat down, and asked “Gerry, how do you do it? You generate more than $8m a year in new business year after year. Your colleagues respect you. Your clients love you, and they keep coming back.”
Gerry responded “Simple. I give my clients zero reasons to consider working with anyone else. When a client puts their trust in me and my team, I always go the extra mile to exceed their expectations in every aspect of the engagement. I want Deloitte to be the only logo my clients consider. This takes effort because we are not the least expensive option in the market. The clients I want to attract and keep are the ones who will spend the money on a service provider who is willing to go above and beyond their needs, even if it is more than they originally wanted to spend.” I recently had a “disagreement” with my wife, Aja. Allegedly, I was leaving a trail of personal items around the house that she kept picking up after me. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about but perhaps for a minute there was some truth in her allegations. And maybe, although I doubt it, this has happened more than once. I needed to quickly change my habits to improve our relationship.
For the next several days I tuned into putting my dishes away, picking my dirty clothes up off the floor, and cleaning up anything I saw that would take a minute to do and yield a more positive living experience for the household, especially for my lovely wife. Photo by August de Richelieu It was 2015 on a business trip in Dallas. I was the sales leader at the time for a national consulting firm. The trip was an opportunity to meet with the BD team in that office and see them in action. One of my youngest rising stars, Jim, was excited to take me out to lunch with one of his promising client prospects.
On the way to the restaurant, I asked Jim what he knew about the prospect whose name was Frank. He told me the basics – title, role, how long he had been at the company. Not much else. He promised me that we would learn more about Frank at lunch. |
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