 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Winning Firm Alliance
Visitor Menu
|
|
Phil's Weblog: People & Performance in Professional Service Firms
Having worked with thousands of professionals to help them improve their selling skills, here (in order) are the top 5 most common failings I witness:
Could you be guilty of any of these?
An obvious and understandable response to challenging economic conditions is to control costs, work harder and hope to see it through to better times. Yet changes in circumstances almost always present opportunities as well as threats. I’m grateful to Anecdote blog for a reminder of this conversation between Alice and the queen in Through the Looking Glass: "I can't believe that!" said Alice. "Can't you?" the queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes." Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Being creative demands that you entertain crazy or impossible ideas...and find ways to make them possible. It is a different kind of working hard. Not just doing more of the same, but looking for ways to do things differently. This is a great time to be innovative in professional services.
Here is another thought-provoking book book by leading contemporary marketing expert Seth Godin. The message is that businesses – professional service firms included – have a transformational opportunity by completely redesigning themselves around new marketing approaches made possible through web technologies – using social networks, You Tube viral videos, blogs, wikis, etc. However, as Godin illustrates, many businesses merely try to lay these new approaches on their existing business models and end up creating something wholly ineffective (as messy and disgusting as a meatball sundae). The book describes 14 trends and uses ample examples and case studies to show how they can be turned to advantage by businesses prepared to fundamentally rethink. Every partner in every professional service firm should be asking what their firm is doing to reinvent their business models around new technology. Better still, don’t ask, take the lead and make it happen. This book will help. The easy to read style might wrongly lead some readers to the conclusion that Godin’s ideas are lightweight. Yet there is more wisdom in this little book than in many a weighty marketing tome. Don’t dismiss it.
Would you generate more profit if you were the best in the world at what you do?
The answer is an obvious and emphatic “yes”. You would be in great demand. You would be on every client’s preferred provider list. You would be in a position to demand premium rates. Being second or third best does not bring these prizes. The difficult part is, of course, becoming the best in the world. Yet there is an easy way to make it much, much easier. You get to define “world” for yourself. So here are the two steps required to pursue this proven strategy: First: Define a world that is small enough for you to master. Second: Commit yourself to becoming the best. In a difficult market this strategy becomes even more important. When there is an abundance of work those who are second best can pick up the over-demand that the best cannot meet. When there is less work to go around there may be no over-demand and it is the second-best who suffer. It may seem counter-intuitive to narrow your offering to attract more work but it may well be the best strategy.
Here is a useful Productivity Tip from lawyer blogger Marelisa Fabrega:
“Maintain a list of small, meaningful tasks that need doing - things like replacing a light bulb, writing a letter, or returning a phone call. Take out your list when you feel a slump coming on and take care of one of those tasks. You will be out of your slump by the time you have completed it. Why? Because you will have ‘stepped back’ to catch your breath. Plus, accomplishing even small tasks is energizing. Results are always good!”
The Futurist Magazine’s top 10 predictions for 2009 and beyond includes the following:
If true, and it probably is, then firms will want to find ways to help their professionals learn that are more efficient than simply sending them on traditional training courses. The challenge is not so much for professional firms as for those of us who provide training and development for firms. I am on the case!
Many a law firm consultant, myself included has derided the billable hour, which has become so entrenched in the legal profession, and urged firms to look to other pricing methods. It seems that pressure for change is more effective when it comes from client demands rather than consultancy advice. No surprises there. Presumably all the firms that were successful in ITV’s panel review see Legal Week were willing to embrace alternative pricing methods. It will be interesting to see whether other companies follow ITV’s lead. It will also be interesting to see whether any law firms take up the opportunity to demonstrate real leadership in proactively promoting alternative pricing approaches.
There are now several web sites that match providers of professional services with potential buyers. Genius Rocket is a new and interesting example. Producers of creative content (graphic artists, viral video producers, etc) are encouraged to join and promote their portfolios. Buyers of these services pay a fixed fee for the type of service they require and post an RFB (request for brilliance) which specifies what they are seeking. Creators then submit their ideas from which the client can select. We can expect web community models of this type to be used to promote legal and accountancy services too. Not all such services lend themselves to this type of business model but some certainly do. Here are two important questions: Which of your firm’s services could, just possibly, be provided using a similar business model? Should you/your firm take the lead in introducing this approach (before someone else does)?
A new survey reports that more than 40 percent of in-house counsel have terminated relationships with some of their outside law firms during the last year.
As well as mentioning lack of responsiveness and poor work product, more than a third of respondents to the US survey cited communication and personality issues as a reason for termination. For firms that are keen to retain existing client relationships, fixing such basic client service issues would be a good place to start.
If you have attended one of my training sessions on networking you will have heard me talk about the importance of having a credible and interesting answer to the question “What do you do?” (See an earlier post on this)
But now there is another question you are likely to be asked by clients at least a dozen times over the next few weeks: “How is the credit crunch affecting you? - or variations on that theme. Last time the economy looked set to dip into recession I asked an accountant how felt about that. He replied: “If there is a recession, I am not going to play any part in it”. What he meant was that he would refuse to get dragged down by negative and self-fulfilling fears. I find this kind of positive outlook more endearing that simply bemoaning the difficulties. It is the sort of answer that can only come with a little bit of forethought. Here are some suggestions to draw from in deciding how you will answer the inevitable question:
|
Phil Gott
Welcome from me Phil Gott to this web site on People and Performance in Professional Service Firms. Please log in or register below, or click the following links for more information....
Login
Google Search
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weblog
