Category Archives: Business Development and Selling

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

Posted on 23 October 2017 by

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 , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted on 21 October 2017 by

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 , , | 1 Comment

How to Build Greater Rapport with Clients

Posted on 22 August 2017 by

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 , , , | Leave a comment

Influencing Skills for Professionals – The Six Principles

Posted on 2 December 2016 by

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 , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Using the Skills of Improv to Build Better Rapport

Posted on 28 November 2016 by

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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘The Inner Game’ for Lawyers

Posted on 3 October 2016 by

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 , , , , | Leave a comment

Measuring Sales Relationships but not by Value

Posted on 18 September 2016 by

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