Grow Through Collaboration

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.
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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.

Fast forward to today, and Sam is not only reaching her required $6-8 million annual revenue target but far exceeding it. When I asked what was working for her, she said “collaboration.” She added that it is all about finding ways to scale your business by working with others at the firm outside of your practice area. She also seemed incredibly happy because she didn’t appear to be drowning in work. She was finding ways to help her clients by identifying needs that her colleagues in other practice areas could address.

This seems like the perfect recipe for success. Land a new client, build trust with that client, and then become the “go-to” firm for that client over time for all their needs that your firm can serve.

So why is it so hard for other professionals at firms to follow this recipe? Ego? Short-sightedness? Lack of trust of other colleagues? Tunnel vision, i.e. working with blinders on and not seeing the bigger picture of their client’s needs?

Whatever the reason, there is a common theme that I frequently hear from professionals who are overworked and not willing to invest much time into BD. They are reluctant to reach out to their clients for fear of getting even more buried in work. That is the time when they need to step back and approach their clients differently. Start exploring areas that are outside of their area of expertise and introduce their clients to their colleagues.

I could elaborate on what goes into effective collaboration but for the sake of brevity in this message, I will break it down into three simple steps. 1) Build trusting relationships with your colleagues early and often. 2) Learn over time other needs your clients may have outside of your area of expertise, and 3) Strategize with your colleagues how you can help your clients address those needs.

When I asked Sam how much new business she is bringing in on an annual basis, she said that she originated over $60 million last year and is easily on the same track to hit or possibly exceed that number this year. The cherry on top is that she is only managing $6 million a year. In other words, she is not drowning in work, rather sharing the work with colleagues in other practice areas.
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I would say this is a great example of how to work smarter, not harder.