Category Archives: Business Development and Selling

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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‘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 →

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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 →

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Aristotle on the Art of Influencing

Posted on 17 August 2016 by

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 →

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