The Business Development Blog

Sometimes we may overlook the potential of the relationships we have with our existing clients.  Good sales people and smart business owners work to maximize what’s right in front of them.    Consider the following.

Have you:

• Asked for additional projects from your primary source?
• Attempted to convert projects to retainers wherever possible?
• Requested testimonials for use on LinkedIn and other promotional opportunities?
• Made advocates of the constituents who benefit from your work?
• Asked for referrals and introductions to other areas of the company?
• Consistently exchanged feedback to keep relationships strong?
• Offered packages or bundled services to increase your involvement?
• Considered “Preferred” or tiered status to reward VIP clients?

What else can you do to build on your existing client relationships?

Remember, the most important part of your job is selling your service.  Though you always want to expand your outreach to include new leads, it’s easier to sell to a customer who already knows and is pleased with your work.   Don’t overlook your client base when you’re looking for business.

What day was your business born?  Was it the day you quit your last job, deposited your first client check, named your company, officially incorporated…?  Mine was the day I worked with my first coaching client, a free-lance graphic designer who wanted to build a business.  He was extremely talented and artistic but unsure of how to target potential clients and pursue them through consistent, proactive, imaginative methods.  We developed the language of the selling of his services.  I worked with him on his understanding of the process of selling.  Over time, he became masterful at picking up on the nuances, the things that weren’t said, what his prospective clients really needed.  He went from a stop-start project freelancer to a studio owner with large corporate clients.

As for me, I had added to my own roster of clients, both corporate and small business.  But my first client was my confidence-builder, much like my first speaking engagement, the one for which I award myself my business birth certificate.  I’m grateful it happened in New York and not in Hawaii, so there was no confusion.

Acknowledging your accomplishments is critically important for independent practitioners and small business owners.  It reinforces  motivation and focus and balances the  negativity we sometimes inflict on ourselves.  Acknowledge something you accomplished this week.

How and when you broach the conversation about fees with your prospective clients can make the difference between a sale and cereal for dinner.

Often, and understandably, your prospect will be  (interested, impatient, curious…) to know:

“How much do you charge?“   “What are your fees?“  “How much will this cost?“  If you answer reflexively or respond prematurely, you may discourage this relationship before it begins.

As with everything else in selling, discussion of price is a building process.  And as I always instruct my clients, you want to make sure that you are managing the process.

It’s essential to have a context within which to discuss price.  Out of context, price has no meaning…and, of course, it’s too expensive, one of the myriad objections that speak so loud your prospect can’t hear you.

So, when someone asks you about your fees, you might say “I’ll be happy to tell you about that.  Let me get an idea of what you’re looking for.” Or, “I have a number of ways I address that, depending on what the (project, assignment, program) calls for.  Let’s discuss what you want to accomplish.” Then you can proceed to find out what it is they need, the problem they are trying to solve.  You get to explore, to ask the important questions.  You must do this.  Until you are in a position to address the specific concerns you have been able to elicit and your prospective client agrees those concerns are important to address, you do not want to commit yourself to pricing a solution.

In order to appeal to a broader range of prospective clients, you may want to have some flexibility in your fee structure.  Not necessarily in your price.  But in the way you offer your services.  For example, you may work with certain clients on a retainer basis for a specified period of time.  Project fees or hourly rates may be more appropriate in other situations.  Bundling services or creative packaging may help you land a particular client.  Are you willing to negotiate the terms of payment?

When you work with people on pricing issues, it’s important to come from strength.  Strength is not the same thing as inflexibility.  Strength is about having a place to stand, conviction about your worth.  From there you can pivot in any direction that you feel will serve the relationship.  This is a conversation that is broader than what and how you charge and one we will look at in greater depth from other vantage points.

For now, I invite you to explore the following questions (worth their weight in gold – actually, silver will do these days):

• - How confident are you in your pricing?

• - Do you negotiate with ease?

• - Are considerations of price an emotional trigger?

• - Do you consider yourself to be priced low, high, or fair?

• - How often do you raise your fees?

• - Do you have a variety of ways to structure your fees?

• - Do you tend to carry receivables?

Pricing is a sensitive area for many small business owners and service providers.   Please leave comments about your experience as well as about this post.  We’ll certainly revisit this topic.

For information on exploring a coaching relationship to build your business, please contact Sue Yellin at sueyellin@gmail.com or 212 772-2721.

Nothing tells you you’ve done a great job like having a contract renewed or being called back to
work on another project.  But if you’re interested in taking a deeper cut to invigorate your
relationships (and you are), there’s nothing more valuable than getting feedback.

Feedback keeps relationships from becoming routine.  Said another way, it brings fresh perspective and vitality and, of course, gives you the opportunity to anticipate and dissipate any potential issues that might arise.  It’s healthy to review the substance of your connections.  It’s not just about the work you’re doing but how the relationship is unfolding.  Feedback is not unilateral.  It is also an opportunity for you to manage your client’s expectations, to demonstrate leadership.  Ideally, you are always speaking with your clients, but I recommend periodic formal reviews to make sure that everyone is on the same page.  You can do these reviews in person or on the phone, conversationally or in writing.  Sometimes I ask my clients to complete written evaluations where they have the opportunity to assess their progress and our work together.

Areas to Explore for Feedback

- Methods/Frequency of Communication
- Adherence to Time Lines
- Quality of Work
- Participation with Team
-Requests
- Anything else you would like to tell me?

When you ask for feedback, as well as when you give it, make sure it is specific.  Where you have agreed to implement a change or a new protocol, arrange to check back in at a pre-determined time to see how it’s working.  Doing excellent work is essential to maintaining a strong client base.  Ongoing feedback engenders partnerships.

January 1.    I am blond. 

Will this be the year of…

Spontaneity?
Creativity?
Abundance?
Adventure?
Equanimity?

It is tradition in my practice for each of my clients to select a value – a quality or an attribute – that she or he wishes to explore or inquire into for the year.  I do this exercise as well.  It gives us a chance to dive deeply into that particular value, to try it on and wear it, if you will, and see what we experience from inside it.  In addition to the qualities listed above, some of the values I have had the privilege of distinguishing for myself or as a function of coaching a client include Balance, Success, Wisdom (the hard year), Presence, Commitment, Accomplishment, Prosperity…and many others.

The idea is to embody Prosperity, for instance, as a place to come from, as opposed to something to aspire to.  Can you feel the shift that way of  thinking creates?  Standing in Prosperity, what might 2011 look like for you?  Be specific.

As we work with these values through the year, we often see how looking through that prism is meaningful in so many areas.   Since my focus is what has my clients be successful and satisfied in business, I continually take the opportunity to introduce or reinforce a skill, strategy or tactic that can further our objectives.

Consider beginning the New Year by embracing  a value.  What would be worthwhile for you to explore?  Where’s the juice?

To discover the possibility that coaching might be for you and your business, please contact Sue Yellin at 212 772-2721.
sueyellin@gmail.com

The graduating class of 2010 is the most underemployed in many years.  Ditto law school grads.  Although these groups are not my core audience, they are symbolic of the wide-ranging displacement occurring in our cities, our industries.  Each of us knows someone who has been personally impacted by the economic forces that continue to plague us with uncertainty and anxiety.   The continued tug of war between intractable political parties and proposals of  band aid solutions will only inflame and prolong these issues.   Corporate America has focused on cost-cutting and increasing the disparity between senior management and everyone else.   Small businesses and individual practitioners must take responsibility for our own financial well-being and carve out a road map to ensure the sustainability of our enterprises.

So, what’s your plan?

• Evaluate and Assess

Where is your business right now?  Are you just getting by?  Barely?  Are you thriving?  What are you doing that’s working?  What’s not working?  Why?  Be willing to be ruthlessly honest.

• Be Nimble

Adapt to circumstances.   That does not mean compromise your values or integrity.    Look for ways you can re-frame your offerings, appeal to other markets, and/or add to your portfolio of services.

• Be Positive

Generate newly the conversation about who you are and why people should work with you.  It’s always worthwhile to take a fresh cut at that periodically to revitalize yourself and your energy.  Carry the banner for the idea that no one can deliver the service you offer better than you.

• Be Disciplined

Consistency and perseverance are required for a healthy,  long-term,  profitable business.   Connecting with people over time engenders comfort and trust.  Reach out in creative, informative, engaging ways.

• Be Collaborative

This is not a great time to work in isolation.   Join masterminds or networking groups.   Create alliances with subcontractors or other professionals who work in complementary areas.

Create a plan to keep your business moving forward.  You can actually thrive even when the overall economy is struggling.  If you would like to discover how a coaching partnership can help you grow your business, please contact Sue Yellin  at 212 772-2721.

My greatest respect is reserved for the practitioner who is meticulous in her/his follow-up.   Bad habits cost money.  There are great prospects within your reach.   Here’s what you must do.

• When There’s A Definite Project

If  you have not closed business at the initial meeting or phone call (the famous one call close – try it!), always attempt to arrange your follow-up with your prospective client before you leave.   Then make sure you do what you said you would.   Whenever possible, find out what has triggered the project, the specific need or mandate, what is involved in their decision-making process, budgets, who the players are and what their time frame is.  THERE IS URGENCY HERE.

Early in my career, I was competing with several much more seasoned sales trainers for an assignment at a well-known publication.  After a number of weeks of phone conversations and interviews, I was awarded the project.  When I asked the Director of Advertising why I had won the sales training opportunity, he told me it was because he knew he would get the results he needed from me.  I had earned his trust by modeling the behaviors and the attitudes he wanted to cultivate in his team.

Within twenty four hours of your meeting, construct an email to send to your key contact(s).  Your message should be gracious and reiterate key points.  No longer than a couple of paragraphs.  Re-emphasize your interest in the project and your promise to follow up at a specific time.

When you follow up, do it by telephone so you can have a real-time interaction.   Focus on closing business.   Surface any last minute obstacles or issues and dissolve them in the moment.  If you have been astute in your sales process, you will have revealed, even anticipated, any red flags or impediments to closing.  How you distinguish yourself and  your ability to inspire confidence will smooth the way.

ASK FOR THE PROJECT.   Make promises you intend to keep.  Come to terms on fees and deliverables.  Make sure you put it in writing.  Create and maintain a healthy, respectful relationship.  Live happily ever after.

• When There’s No Definite Project

Stay in touch with people regularly in a variety of ways.  I’m a fan of periodic telephone outreach, both for specific campaigns as well as for general  “connecting.”  The phone is still our most powerful and efficient sales tool.  Use it to follow-up, to cold call, to brainstorm.

Hard mail and email should be used creatively, as should social media.    Your promotional efforts must be more than self-serving requests for business.  It’s important to carry your own banner but in order to capture the attention of others, you must say something that engages them.

Follow-up requires discipline.  Profitable and satisfying relationships can be cultivated with people on the basis of how you show up over time.  Consistency and dedication to a process is the mark of a true professional.  Right now, for many of you, your databases are filled with prospective clients.  Begin to tap in and don’t let anything stand in the way of your commitment to the growth and success of your business.

Be Timely -  Be Tenacious -  Be Consistent -  Be Enthusiastic -  Be Of Service -  Be Articulate -  Be Confident

I was on the subway with my nephews Ryan, 11 and Max, 9.   As our ride began, a shabbily appointed woman at the end of our car made an announcement:  “I am currently homeless and living in a shelter.  The shelter does not provide us with meals or anything but a place to sleep.  I am determined to make this situation temporary and to care for myself.  Will you help with a small donation of money, food or anything you can spare?”

I watched as several riders reached into their pockets and purses.   The woman’s message and delivery had gotten our attention.   Unfortunately,  without stopping,  she walked directly to the other end of the car.    She didn’t make contact,  didn’t register the impact she had made.  The passenger sitting across from me shrugged and closed her handbag.   Ryan noticed, too, and asked me, “Why didn’t she wait?”

In selling, we talk a lot about asking questions.  The fact is,  well-crafted questions are the cornerstone of consultative selling.  For some sales people, however, granting the space, taking the PAUSE after posing a question, is a difficult thing to learn.

It is essential to become comfortable with silence.   We have a tendency to rush to fill the space, to continue to speak.   If you have conducted your sales interaction correctly, you should have been building to the close.  That’s why you’re there.  So when you ask a critical question, such as  “When would you like to begin the project?” or “What could keep you from moving ahead now?“, you must be quiet, confident that you can stand in the moment and whatever it brings.

As you craft your portion of the sales meeting and develop your key questions, envision the rhythm of the exchange.  Make sure you allow your prospect the opportunity to step into the space you provide when you…pause.

I’m a huge proponent of consistent and creative outreach to stay in touch with your community of prospective clients.  Cynthia Perun, at Entrepreneur Magazine, has published “7 Tips for Writing Dynamic Sales Letters.”  It’s worth a read.  More importantly, it’s worth some action.  http://www.entrepreneur.com/sales/howtoguides/index.html

Not everyone comes to selling with great gusto or enthusiasm.  Many people go into business because they have amassed expertise and distinguished themselves over many years, often in corporate settings.  As they venture out on their own, they are confronted not only with the need to develop the skills that will make their businesses viable, but their reticence to be identified with sales people:  you know, “pushy, aggressive, overbearing,…” etc (actual words used by real professionals to describe their impressions of sales people).  Some practitioners never master the selling process and, though they manage to keep their doors open, they perpetually suffer the consequences of under selling.

Selling, as a methodology, begins with the way you speak about what you do.  Through the cycle, it is a process that is consistently reinforcing itself, step-by-step, as you build your relationships – which can be achieved in a single telephone call as well as through a series of marketing initiatives and interactions over time.

Selling is not about battering someone with your knowledge or your point of view.  Being well-spoken is not the same as selling.  It’s not enough to have talent or even to be an expert when there are many service providers competing for the same opportunities.   Selling requires extending yourself beyond what’s comfortable – a willingness to lead, to probe, to listen actively, to inspire confidence and trust.  Oh, yeah – close.  Close.  Not clothes.  Close.

Have you ever left a meeting with a prospective client knowing you didn’t get the business…and knowing you should have?  This experience should register as a consequence of under selling.

Consequences of Under Selling

• You deprive this organization/person of the opportunity to work with you

• Living your business life in a stop/start mode

• Not realizing your true potential

• Ambivalence about who you are as a business person

• Not mastering a critical business function

• Less $  $  $  $  $

In my work,  I am privileged to coach very accomplished professionals who have become much more adept at business-building than they imagined they could be.  They are no longer willing to put up with the consequences of under selling.  As they continue to give themselves more and more permission to explore, they discover how much room they have in their interactions with prospective clients and referral sources.   Remember, the game isn’t over until you stop playing!