Friday, September 20, 2013
"Here at the Closers Group, we often tell our clients, 'Stop planning, start closing!'" says CEO Allan Colman. "The reason for this is simple: Marketing strategies are an essential step in creating awareness about your firm or your practice, but you must also take action, engage with your prospects, and close new business."
That doesn't mean, however, that you should shouldn't plan ahead. Sales performance goes much deeper than merely preparing your legal services pitch to potential clients. The most important preparation attorney sales teams can conduct before a prospective client meeting is to know the answers to a variety of potential questions your prospect could ask. When you arrive at the meeting brimming with facts about the company, your interest, dedication, and work ethic moves you more quickly into the Closing Zone.
Questions about the company When you walk into that prospective client meeting, be prepared to answer the following:
• Do you know what is happening in our marketplace?
• Do you understand the pressure we're under?
• How much do you know about our competitors and their products?
• Do you understand how we communicate internally?
• Are you aware of the services and activities we consider vital and essential?
• What can your firm do for us that your competitors cannot?
When we work with our clients to help them close more sales, we take the time to explore and fully answer these and other questions. Having a list of prospects is great; validating each prospect's potential and having a customized game plan for each meeting is even better.
Questions about the engagement When you can answer a client's questions about its business and the benefits of engaging your firm, the client begins to understand your commitment to them and your ability to serve its needs. The next set of questions you should be prepared for are about the future and what will happen next:
• Can you describe the risks I'm taking if I hire you and your firm?
• How can I measure your results?
• Who are the professionals you will assign to the project?
• What are your expectations about the project?
• Tell me three reasons why you are the best choice for us?
• How can you protect us from government regulations and liability?
These are the tougher, harder-hitting questions that will require more thought and effort in developing succinct answers. While what you do is important, what you will do is even more important to the client. Laying out a roadmap will instill a sense of direction while building a foundation for future work. And you'll get nearer to closing sales by leaving a solid impression.
Questions about the process The next step in effective business development is being able to answer specific questions about your firm. Clients are interested in determining how compatible your firm would be with their business and how well you would be able to work together. Be prepared to answer the following in a meeting with a prospective client:
• How do you typically provide information to your clients?
• How can you support us in our dealings with the executives or board?
• Have you ever done proactive and preventative work?
• How do you bill?
• Can you provide public relations and crisis communications for us?
While you may already have answers to these questions, reviewing them with your team for consistency and updates is a good practice. Be forthright in your answers, which assures a potential client of your abilities and dedication to the work. By taking these steps to prepare for the Closing Zone, you'll be one step closer to closing the deal.
About Allan Colman
Business Development Executive, Speaker and Author Dr. Allan Colman understands the challenges facing both entrepreneurs and established businesses. He has advised organizations from 10 to 15,000 employees, customizing growth plans to fit size and industry.
In addition to his thriving consulting firm, Colman co-founded and served as Senior VP of DecisionQuest, working with his partners in growing the firm to 12 locations, selling the company, repurchasing it, increasing its value then selling it again. Before that, Colman served as president of the MCO Company and Litigation Sciences and has been the leader of a 5,600 employee public agency.
As CEO of the Closers Group, a business development advisory, Allan Colman has spent more than two decades helping law firms and professional service firms generate more revenue. He has brought in millions of dollars of new business and built business development structures that continue to perform. His clients call him their MENTOR/TORMENTOR.
Allan is known for his passion in developing pioneering strategies and for his ability to help clients generate business rapidly. He has spent many years listening to in-house counsel and business executives make decisions. Allan understands their reasoning for selecting outside professionals, and has also worked closely with law firms as they select their own advisers and consultants.
Allan holds Masters and Doctorate degrees from New York University. He is a pro bono mediator for the California Court of Appeals and the Los Angeles County Superior Court. His community activities have included Board positions with the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Los Angeles Council of Boy Scouts of America, Rotary Foundation and California Medical Center Foundation. He was awarded the “Masada Samurai Warrior” in 2004 by Masada Homes honoring his pro-bono work.
He has served on the Board of Editors for Marketing the Law Firm and has a featured blog, The Red Zone, on the Law Journal Newsletters home page. Professional articles he has written and co-written have appeared in Bloomberg Law Management, National Law Journal, Los Angeles Business Journal, Diversity & the Bar, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Strategies, Of Counsel, Minnesota Bench and Bar, and Law 360.
Allan has been a featured speaker at firm-wide events and practice area groups as diverse as Burt Hill (Architects and Engineers), PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Mississippi and Rhode Island Bar Associations, Legal Marketing Association, American Institute of CPA’s, Federal Defense and Corporate Counsel, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, National Hispanic Bar Association, and companies such as DuPont, Employers’ Reinsurance Co., General Electric and Sears. His webinars on business development have been held by several professional associations.