Category Archives: Business Development and Selling

How to Walk in Your Client’s Shoes

Posted on 4 June 2018 by tonyreiss

We all know we should try to put ourselves in our client’s shoes. But it can be hard to do that when there’s so much going on in our own shoes. So here are some thoughts about what clients might … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Coaching and Training | Tagged client feelings, client focused, client-centric, moccasins | Leave a comment

Selling is About Asking the Right Questions – Try BICS

Posted on 24 May 2018 by tonyreiss

The average professional adviser talks too much in selling situations. The art to winning work is to build credibility, rapport and trust in client relationships. And the best way to do that is primarily through asking questions and demonstrating that … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling | Tagged asking more questions, BD, Buying cycle, Rackham, Selling | Leave a comment

Business Development in Professional Firms is Still Lacking – Part 2: The Remedies

Posted on 23 October 2017 by tonyreiss

Part 1 of this article outlines the case that senior income generators in professional service firms are still not fully committed to carrying out effective BD. And that this lack of commitment isn’t their fault. I point out that there’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Leadership and Management, Managing Change | Tagged 4 phase projects, BD, engagement, knowing-doing gap, nemawashi, resistance to change, vision | 1 Comment

Business Development in Professional Firms is Still Lacking – Part 1: The Problem

Posted on 21 October 2017 by tonyreiss

Let’s admit it – senior income generators in professional service firms are still not fully committed to carrying out effective BD. But is it their fault? I don’t think so. Senior management, heads of BD functions and heads of practice … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Leadership and Management, Managing Change | Tagged dark angel, knowing-doing gap, whispering | 1 Comment

How to Build Greater Rapport with Clients

Posted on 22 August 2017 by tonyreiss

It is believed that there are 5 levels of communication between clients and their advisors (see below). To move to deeper levels of communication you need the skills of building rapport. The more rapport you have the easier it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling | Tagged J Powell, levels of communication, rapport, trusted advisor | Leave a comment

Influencing Skills for Professionals – The Six Principles

Posted on 2 December 2016 by tonyreiss

We all need to get better at influencing others: clients, colleagues, friends etc. Here is a summary of the best-selling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I’ve adapted the themes and applied them to the world of professionals such as lawyers and accountants. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Leadership and Management, Managing Change | Tagged authority, cialdini, consistency & commitment, influencing, liking, psychology of persuasion, reciprocity, scarcity, social proof | Leave a comment

Using the Skills of Improv to Build Better Rapport

Posted on 28 November 2016 by tonyreiss

If you are unfamiliar with the term, by Improv I mean a form of theatre (improvisational theatre) where what is performed is created in the moment. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Coaching and Training, Leadership and Management | Tagged comedy store, improv, listening, mullarkey, rapport, system 1, thinking fast & slow, yes and | Leave a comment

‘The Inner Game’ for Lawyers

Posted on 3 October 2016 by tonyreiss

Lawyers are a self-critical bunch – too self-critical sometimes! I consistently hear lawyers saying ‘I’m no good at selling’ or something similar. This is where the world of ‘the inner game’ and tennis coaching comes in! One of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Coaching and Training | Tagged Gallwey, inner game, non-judgemental, self 1, self 2 | Leave a comment

Measuring Sales Relationships but not by Value

Posted on 18 September 2016 by tonyreiss

Many organisations measure their sales efforts in too binary a way – they either have work from other organisations or they don’t. I think this is a mistake. It encourages a particularly pushy style of selling, to get their contacts … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling | Leave a comment

Aristotle on the Art of Influencing

Posted on 17 August 2016 by tonyreiss

What did we ever learn from those Ancient Greeks? Well, quite a lot actually. Just take Aristotle for a start. He was interested in rhetoric and believed there were three aspects to the art of influencing. In his language these … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Development and Selling, Leadership and Management | Tagged aristotle, ethos, logos, pathos, rapport, storytelling, trust | 1 Comment