Rainmaking is an Acquired Skill

No one is born with the professional skills that support a great rainmaker. It's true that some people seem to be more comfortable in selling situations, but the ability to create and close deals is not particular to the DNA of great rainmakers. Here are a few other simple truths that may help clarify your expectations around the task of making it rain.

• 80/20 is Reality: Your firm may have percentages up or down from 80/20, but I am certain they are not far from that benchmark. 20% of your partners generate 80% of your business; 20% of your clients generate 80% of your billings; etc. There are exceptions, but very few. In creating programs and working with marketing and sales objectives; focus with reasonable expectations
• Training Will Not Overcome a Poor Sales Aptitude: Some people seem to be more comfortable in sales situations, and others fall apart. The human condition, with regard to comfort levels, is the result of how people are raised, their values, the environment of their family of origin, and cultural training, etc. Some people get to adulthood with the exact opposite aptitude needed for business development success. The percentage of people in your firm with this opposite aptitude is probably around 20% (see previous point). Don't beat your head against this wall. Find other ways for this 20% to make their contribution.
• Marketing Tools Will Not Hide Poor Salesmanship: Take a less than attractive man or woman, dress him/her in the finest clothing, and he/she will still be less than attractive (attraction of course is in the eye of the beholder, but I'm sure you get my point). Marketing tools (collateral, multimedia, presentations, etc.) are exactly the same way. No matter how good your stuff looks, the prospect still measures their choice by the person holding the stuff. Improvement in your winning percentages should start with people skills and sales training. Save the 'stuff' for last.
• Trust Overcomes Everything: Build trust and all else falls in place. Nothing more needs to be said here.
  
• Know Your People, Build Their Skills: Partners are individuals with all different strengths and weaknesses. If they're already great at some things, stop burning their billable hours by enforcing training programs they can't benefit from. Focus on what they need. If your uncertain about how to identify what individuals need, visit www.peoplebest.com.

Technorati Tags: Legal Marketing, Professional Services Marketing, Marketing, Business Development, Sales

remembering

Tools Change; Marketing Does Not

This post by Robert Steers on his Be Excellent blog argues that marketing as a discipline may be unrecognizable in 10 years. He offers a lot of evidence with regard to developing technologies and how they are or will be deployed.

The idea that marketing keeps changing because the "tools" are evolving is a common belief; This is not a bad thing all in all, but it misdirects people away from what marketing really is. Marketing is about trying to influence emotions and evoking a preferred response. Stated in a simpler way, it is about wanting people to like "me" (or firm, or idea, or....)

What emotions or beliefs we can touch in another human being has not changed since the dawn of mankind. Barring forced servitude, people have always made their choices about what they like, what they will pursue, and what they believe based on the same dozen or so base emotions/feelings.

So... can marketing change? As an attorney trying to attract business, no matter what tools I use to initiate contact matters little to the final choice. The final choice has been and always will be a face-to-face activity; a relationship.

Tools are cool. Tools will not change marketing. If your marketing programs are all about the tools you use then I urge you to step back and consider what your target audience is feeling about the experience.
Technorati Tags: Legal Marketing, Professional Services Marketing, Marketing, Business Development, Sales

Remember When...

I grew up in the Midwest, the son of a Staten Island native who was heavily influenced by the very personal social network of New Yorkers. When I watched old Cary Grant and Rock Hudson movies with strong "country club good ole boy" aura's I was watching the world "according to my father."

What I remember the business world represented in those movies of the late fifties and early sixties was how closely business relationships (clients, peers, bosses, etc) were intermingled with personal life; That's how my father lived.

We would have "friends" over all the time; big social gatherings at country clubs or simply visiting the local Officers Club (my father was retired from the Air Force) for a summer swim and dinner. In all there seemed to be no line between the people he knew from work and those he knew outside of work.

These days there is a lot of chatter about keeping our "work and home" separated. I think I like the old ways of my father. The very social nature in which he approached relationships feels so much healthier and happier than stratifying the when, how, and what for everyone I meet.

The same ideal feels right in creating marketing programs. I don't want to attract people I can't like, so I focus creating messages directed at the people I would like.

So... the next time you come up with a "great idea" for finding new clients, ask some people you like, and ask some people that you do not like how they feel about your great new idea. If the idea is more attractive to those you like less, then get back to the drawing board.

Is Competence Why People Keep Coming Back?

This post at Virtual Handshake is interesting... The author, David Teton, says that, "Charm helps, charm counts, but Character and Competence trump mere charm every time." It sounds logical but...is that how the world really works?

The attorney David uses in his example is celebrity lawyer Bert Field, who states he has never used socializing to get business. The implication is that people do not hire him as a person they can work with, but simply because of his "skills" (which are legendary).

I have another opinion about whether it's skills as an attorney or skill with people that is the foundation for his success.

Reading about Mr. Field in the many articles about him (like here, here, and here) revealed a deep and caring person (former surfer, dedicated walker, family man, and Shakespearean expert) that really connects to his clients. I would venture to say that without the ability to connect he could not have lasted as long as he has in the entertainment industry (known for squashing even their hero's).

I think "charm" might not be the right word to describe the ability to connect with other people in the sense of securing new business or sustaining existing clients. Maybe the right word is, "caring". Being able to communicate at an emotional level, demonstrating real compassion without judgment while maintaining a healthy sense of self feels like what Mr. Field does.

Just my take, and I leave you with a quote:

The secret of great rainmakers is not their ability to sell.
It is their ability to create a relationship that encourages the desire to collaborate.

Technorati Tags: Legal Marketing, Professional Services Marketing, Marketing, Business Development, Sales

Headshot Vs. Editorial Photography

Kevin Briody at Seattleduck has paid me a wonderful compliment by stating, "Bruce Allen has one of the better blog personal photos...." Can anyone ever tire of hearing nice things from good people?

His comments remind me to let people know the name of the photographer that has the creative genius to take complimentary photos. "My" photographer is a creative wonderkind; Raffi Alexander of Spiderbox Photography. If you want great talent on your side; give him a call!

Picking a Great Promotional Item

An age old question; What can I buy, stick my logo on, give away, and have any hope the item will not get tossed or lost?

To find the answer look around your office and home and count the number of promotional items you’ve kept. If you’ve hung on to anything at all I would venture to guess it’s not any of the cheap stuff.

I believe that professional services firms should only put their name on items that reflect the quality of their firm. A pen that costs $1.99 when you purchase 100 would not be a good example. So what is a “keeper”?

I once gave away a t-shirt with the name of a law firm on it. The twist was that it’d been imprinted to look like a surfer/Hawaiian shirt with flower pattern running horizontally across the front and back. The firm’s name was subtly worked into the design. That shirt went out over five years ago. I was at a business barbeque a few months back and a banker I’ve known for a while showed up wearing the t-shirt. She said that it’s one of the few giveaway shirts she’s hung onto simply because it “looked cool”. It cost just a little bit more to have the screening done, but I think it paid off beautifully.

On another occasion I commissioned an artist to design an original “modern art” print that was then printed poster size with an invitation to an open house tastefully added on the bottom. The invites were rolled into tubes and sent out. Several weeks later the attorneys reported that the posters were showing up in client offices, framed and hanging on walls.

If I was going to give a pen away I would want it to be an expensive pen (Montblanc maybe), I would be very selective about who I gave it to, and I wouldn’t print a logo on it. When it comes to fine gifts, like an expensive pen, people remember where it came from. Wouldn’t you?

I’ve had commemorative coins minted that people report they still have. I’ve personally hung on to a rocket tin-toy that was sent to me (It looks totally retro and cool). Another item that’s worked well for me is silk camp shirts with an embroidered logo on one of the sleeves in a color that matches the shirt (very classy).

Let’s review. If you would like people to hang on to the promotional item you give away then buy them something you would keep yourself. Have fun, be creative, be remembered. By the way, the firm that always comes though when I need promotional magic is Promotions by Design.