There is a class of top level professionals who don’t have to quibble about fees and hourly rates, don’t jump at shadows when a competitor makes a pitch, and don’t worry about whether their firm we’ll be the adviser chosen for the next project. They’re relaxed and quietly confident knowing that for as long as they are active contributors to the client relationship, behave with the utmost integrity and always put their client’s interests first, they will be called on for wise advice and counsel on many key issues and decisions.

This holds true among professionals, accountants, engineers, architects, management consultants and more.

Draw on your wider professional background
Early career exposure to a range of professional specialties and sub-specialties is something to relish. Strong on-going interest in technical developments beyond your core brief is a great foundation for general counsel.

Take a broad management perspective
Experience in general management roles will help. Welcome portfolio responsibility for a series of diverse activities in your firm. A programme of reading will take you a long way. Formal management education can make a big difference. Simply thinking beyond your silo is the first step. Frequent interaction with enlightened managers from many disciplines is the next.

Consider organisational dynamics
Be vigilant for impacts of management decisions and changes on the client’s organisation and how each constituent part interacts with others. Take into account effects on individual and group power, prestige, and status. Be mindful of financial impacts for individuals, teams, and business units.

Communicate clearly and forthrightly
Avoid technical jargon and adopt the preferred vocabulary and communication style of your client. Use anecdotes and vignettes to bring home important points. Make your point unmistakably.

Negotiate skilfully
This is never far from top of the list.

Maintain confidences
Be aware of the sensitivity of information shared with you and always respect confidences.

Be politically aware
Unless you’re an expert with all the time it takes to play to win, avoid politics. But always be aware of the political environment in which your counsel will be received.

Develop gravitas and use it
Play the wise counsel role for long enough and one day you’ll earn the title. Be accepting and non-judgemental. When clients “confess” their sins and shortcomings, avoid any temptation for a witch hunt and blame game.

Exercise business judgement
Advise and recommend what is, overall, in the best interests of the client. Correct judgement calls are predicated on understanding those interests. Gaining that understanding is worth you investment of time and intellectual engagement.

Show the courage of conviction
If you have important advice, give it fearlessly and clearly. Don’t shy away from things your client may not want to hear.

While there is no neat recipe for transitioning to the privileged and powerful role of general counsel and valued adviser, if your objective is to break out of a functional silo or narrow transaction-by-transaction relationship , this checklist will take you a long way. Become the expert professional whose counsel is sought, valued, and relied on by the top echelon of client organisations.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

The vital role your support staff play in client satisfaction is often overlooked. However a client’s experience at reception, or their first phone call to your firm can colour every other interaction - for better or worse. Here are 12 quick tips your support staff can use to represent your firm even better.

1. Represent clients well - Always be a good ambassador or envoy for your clients.

2. Thank clients - Don’t take your clients for granted. Remember to thank clients for their business.

3. Return clients calls ASAP - This is a meaningful way to show your client just how important s/he is to you. If the lawyer isn’t around, return the call yourself.

4. Keep your clients informed - Your clients have every confidence in your firm’s ability to solve their legal problems, but they feel a whole lot more comfortable and secure when you keep them informed, frequently and regularly.

5. Learn what clients expect, then do it - You’ll never please a client unless you know what they expect, and then act on it.

6. Be completely discreet and loyal - Respect the confidentiality and commercial sensitivity of the information you come across. Reassure clients on this point. Be loyal: whatever you think of their behaviour, remember that - in the end - the client is paying the bill, and that without them, you wouldn’t have job.

7. Be a problem-solver - Clients want your help with their problems. Come up with solutions rather than excuses.

8. Constantly seek feedback - Ask clients how you can do better and listen to what they have to say.

9. Get to know clients - Show a genuine and sincere interest in each client.

10. Be helpful - Help your counterpart to do a better job and offer any guidance that you can.

11. Be flexible - Try to do things the way clients want, rather than the way that is convenient to you. Become more flexible and easier to deal with than any of their other advisors, especially other law firms.

12. Care about your clients - There is no substitute for genuine concern and a sincere interest in your client. If you don’t care, it will show. If you do, it makes all the difference.

Help your support staff understand their importance to your clients and your firm, and you’ll find client and staff satisfaction quickly improve.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

There are things we’d like to know or find out, but it can be difficult for the professional in day by day engagement with a client to ask some of the tough and telling questions.If you want to get answers to the questions which matter most, it’s best to enlist some support: someone external to the on-going relationship will get more frankness than you can expect in everyday professional contact.

My work confirms this useful rule of thumb: the greater the perceived distance between the client and questioner or interviewer, the greater the frankness and clarity. That applies to what’s right in the relationship, but most especially to what’s not.

Fresh eyes and ears come away from client interviews and relationship reviews with important perspectives and insights and some telling characterisations.

Previous eTips I’ve written have talked about what to ask in client interviews. Others offer tips and a great best practice framework I developed for a relationship review.

Here are some more of my personal favourites to add to the list of questions which lead to insights to propel business development:
• Just how well does this firm understand you and respond to your needs ?
• When you go elsewhere for service, what do you expect that is different from our work ?
• Thinking about this firm and its competitors, what is it that competitors do much better ?
• Where else does this firm fall short of the competition ?
• Are their people or politics which create problems or obstacles ?
• Are there any areas where this firm shines ?
• What would it take for this firm to be your most favoured service provider ?
• What would it take for this firm to get a greater share of your work ?
• Is it realistic for this firm to aim to get all your work eventually ?
• If you were managing this firm, what are the big changes you’d make ?

Worthy professionals value client relationships. Sometimes we flatter ourselves that things are travelling better than the reality. Smart and brave professionals know that tuning in to how clients evaluate our performance can yield important insights which underpin efforts to do better and increase the value produced in the relationship.

Externalising the process can make a massive difference to obtaining full, frank, and forthright feedback.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

You may be saying to yourself “if I knew the answer to that question, I’d be very wealthy!” However, the answer isn’t really all that elusive.

The CEO of a technology company recently offered the following insight to his sales and marketing team. “I’m the one who signs the cheques. For me to buy, you need to solve the two things that keep me awake at night - net profitability and getting our product to market faster than our competitors. If you can prove to me that you will improve either of those, I’ll sign the cheque … and I don’t really care what you’re selling !”

It’s easy to forget this simple principle: people buy to meet their needs or solve their problems. To get them to buy from us, we need to clearly address whatever matters most to them. In other words, we need to show them a clear value proposition - WIIFM or What’s In It For Me?

Some of the reasons your clients will buy your services include:
• seeing a positive impact on their business
• improved financial performance
• increased market share
• higher client/customer retention rates
• improved market position
• automation of labour-intensive processes
• to beat a competitor to an important commercial advantage
• to avoid or reduce unacceptable risk
• regulatory compliance.

There are many other objective. To sell effectively, it is critical to identify their objective - the issues that keep your client awake at night.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

Given the choice of reading 10 pages, 40 pages, or a 200 page proposal, which would you choose to read first? For most of us, it’s not a hard decision to read to the short document first.

Which raises a question we’re often asked: “what should we include in our proposal?”

Many are tempted to throw everything in, hoping something strikes a chord with their prospective client. So what to include and what to leave out?

To make it easy, ask yourself if your content addresses one of these four key questions that your client will be asking.

• Is this the right solution?
• Can they really do it?
• Is it a fair price?
• Will it deliver a good return on our investment?

These questions will help you determine what to include in your presentations or proposal by deciding what matters to your client and what doesn’t. If an item doesn’t compellingly address one of the four key questions, leave it out.

You need to include the following kinds of content:

• A clear restatement of your client’s needs, issues, challenges or objectives. For example, a short set of bullet points in the Executive Summary. The more specific your restatement, the more helpful it will be. Restating your client’s needs lowers decisionmaker anxiety about wasting money, wasting time, and losing reputation.
• A recommendation for a solution that will eliminate their problems or meet their objectives. Strangely, many proposals do not recommend anything - they merely describe products or services. Tie the features of your solution to your client’s needs, showing why each is important or relevant to them.
• Evidence to support your claim that you will deliver the solution on time, and on budget. Good evidence includes references, testimonials, case studies, third-party evaluations, certifications or accreditations, and reviews. It may also be appropriate to include project plans, methodologies, team resumes, details of facilities and resources, and summaries of experience.
• A reason to proceed with your recommendation. Without some kind of value proposition - ROI, payback, total cost of solution - the buying decision may come down to price. Base your value on your differentiators, or your competitors will be able to say “me too”.

When deciding whether to include specific content, ask yourself whether it fits clearly into one of these four categories. If not, leave it out.

• Your team leader, his/her credentials for the role, and how s/he will relate to the client
• What you plan to contribute to the relationship, besides technical expertise
• Where you can add distinct value to the client’s organisation: the network of useful contacts to whom you will facilitate introductions and related services which the client will access through you
• “Feel good” aspects of being a client of your firm - and how that differs from the alternatives
• Value-added services you will offer - and deliver
• Techniques you propose to obtain client feedback
• How you’ll evaluate you client’s satisfaction - measures or indicators you will use
• How the client satisfaction feeds into your internal appraisal, recognition, and reward systems
• How you will deal with problems and issues which arise
• What action you promise if your client is dissatisfied
• What else you’ll do to establish a relationship with the client which ensures they derive maximum value
• Examples of other clients with whom you’ve developed similar relationships and evidence of the benefits to these clients of your relationship - testimonials, references, case studies
• What this relationship means to you and the “price” you’re prepared to pay for it - how important the client will be to you
• How far you’ll go to protect and advance your client’s interests
• The difference they’ll notice in dealing with you and your firm.

Be clearly and convincingly painting a picture of the working relationship you have in mind, demonstrating that you’ll constructively engage problems, and showing downstream benefits your client will derive, you will vastly improve your prospects of success.

Previous eTips have suggested possible selling points which will help you to positively differentiate your proposal in a crowded market. Increasingly, astute clients value law firms and other expert professional services providers who show that they are both fully aware of and respond appropriately to concerns about commercial sensitivities and conflicting interests.

This quick checklist will help you to develop the key selling arguments you will use to position your proposal.

• Your understanding of this client’s sensitivities to commercial confidentiality issues and conflicts
• Protocols to maintain confidentiality (no, don’t just treat this as a “given”)
• Systems and processes you use to recognise potential conflicting interests
• Due diligence you have conducted to establish that there is “no conflict”
• Real life examples of commercial sensitivities you have recognised and your response to these
• Examples of actual and possible conflicts - and what you would propose to do about them
• On-going input and collaboration from your client on these areas, and how you propose to obtain it
• What work/other clients you would be prepared to relinquish in order to establish and maintain a long-term relationship with this client - that is, how much this relationship does/will mean to you and what “price” you’re prepared to pay for it
• How far you’ll go to protect and advance your client’s interest.

By proactively and constructively dealing with your client’s commercial sensitivities, and any possible conflicts, you will advance your prospects by reducing perceptions of risk in accepting your proposal and establishing a business relationship with you.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

Julian Midwinter & Associates has done extensive research among key consumers of legal services on the subject of newsletters. Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve found that works, what doesn’t, what clients value, and some techniques to ensure that your newsletters deliver maximum business development.

• General newsletter deliver poorer return than short, tightly-focused, single issue client advisories or newsflashes
• targeting client advisories or newsflashes on the basis of need or interest works best
• comprehensive, multi-page newsletters are still valued, especially if timely and incorporating incisive analysis
• “client alerts” which very briefly deal with a single issue, and outline advice about managing a risk or taking action, work well
• paper newsletters are better received when well-designed and produced
• eNewsletters are increasing in popularity over tree-Newsletters - particularly when in short, single-page, single-issue style.

To ensure your newsletter is well targeted, apply these tests (from the point of view of the recipient):
• why are you telling me this?
• Why now?
• Why should I care?
• What should I do about it?

You’ll probably find that your:
• single issue
• single page
• industry or area specific client alerts
• quick advisories and newsflashes

pass the tests above more often than full-blown, multi-subject newsletter.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

We’ve all had the experience of watching a TV commercial and wondering “what was that all about?” … or reading a sales promotion letter and thinking “so what? why should I care?”

Or even worse, receiving a proposal and groaning at the thought of reading the whole document …

Persuasive messages can be characterised by the four Cs:

Clear
Compelling
Concise
Convincing

Next time you are writing a proposal, preparing a presentation, or pitching for business, test your key messages against these four Cs to be certain you will persuade your audience.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

Sorting through what’s important to your prospective client and determining what will differentiate you from your competitors can be a daunting task. In hard-fought competitions, how we deal with even minor issues can make the critical difference between winning, and losing.

This list is a useful starting point in determining how best to position your proposal to maximise your probability of success.

• Credentials and evidence of your experience in each area or field required
• Evidence of successfully handling routine matters in each are of interest
• Evidence or examples of successfully handling unusual or high-risk matters in each field
• Depth of your team
• Specialisations of your firm or practice group
• Participation, representation, and profile of your firm in each service area required and the client’s industry or markets
• Any special techniques or strategies used/developed by your firm
• Evidence of the effectiveness of your recommended strategies and approaches
• How can you best demonstrate your track record of success?
• How many files will each lawyer handle?
• What is the right number of files for this type of work?
• Geographical coverage - appropriateness of the location/s at which you offer service
• How you’ll handle regional matters and work outside your normal home patch
• How you” manage the account
• Who will be your key liaison point?
• What service or client satisfaction guarantees will you offer?

This checklist will help you work through issues of fees, pricing, and billing when developing your proposal.

• Structure of fees: hourly rates, day rates, fixed fees, event costs, capped fees, fee estimates, volume discounts, project budgets, success or “at risk” components, retainers, client satisfaction components, other fee alternatives and hybrids
• Predictability and certainty of fees - for the client
• Controllability of fees - for the client
• Protocols for managing time spent (in the interests of the client)
• Reporting on fees and progress on project budgets
• Reporting on services availed under retainer arrangements
• Disbursements: what is classified as a disbursement?
• Overhead (e.g. photocopying, faxes) disbursements: no charge, charged at notional cost, charge rate, outsourcing arrangements
• Other disbursements: at cost, at cost plus mark-up
• Disbursements control mechanisms and reporting
• Billing frequency
• Billing styles and options: level of detail, management summary, electronic billing
• Payment terms: within x days of billing, deferred payment, pre-payment of disbursements, hybrids
• Discounts: on time payment, rebates on volume use of services, etcetera
• Pricing validity period
• Pricing/fee review frequency and mechanisms
• Value-added services: free value adds and chargeable add-ons
• How the pricing arrangements you propose serve to align your rewards with your client’s interests.

Sophisticated clients buying behaviour increasingly reflects the value they place on expert professional services providers who can deftly manage relationships and who are sensitive to personal and organisational dynamics.

This short checklist will help you to work up selling arguments centred on relationship dynamics.

• Your team leader, his/her credentials for the role, and how s/he will relate to the client
• What you plan to contribute to the relationship, besides technical expertise
• Where you can add distinct value to the client’s organisation: the network of useful contacts to whom you will facilitate introductions and related services which the client will access through you
• “Feel good” aspects of being a client of your firm - and how that differs from the alternatives
• Value-added services you will offer - and deliver
• Techniques you propose to obtain client feedback
• How you’ll evaluate you client’s satisfaction - measures or indicators you will use
• How the client satisfaction feeds into your internal appraisal, recognition, and reward systems
• How you will deal with problems and issues which arise
• What action you promise if your client is dissatisfied
• What else you’ll do to establish a relationship with the client which ensures they derive maximum value
• Examples of other clients with whom you’ve developed similar relationships and evidence of the benefits to these clients of your relationship - testimonials, references, case studies
• What this relationship means to you and the “price” you’re prepared to pay for it - how important the client will be to you
• How far you’ll go to protect and advance your client’s interests
• The difference they’ll notice in dealing with you and your firm.

Be clearly and convincingly painting a picture of the working relationship you have in mind, demonstrating that you’ll constructively engage problems, and showing downstream benefits your client will derive, you will vastly improve your prospects of success.

Previous eTips have suggested possible selling points which will help you to positively differentiate your proposal in a crowded market. Increasingly, astute clients value law firms and other expert professional services providers who show that they are both fully aware of and respond appropriately to concerns about commercial sensitivities and conflicting interests.

This quick checklist will help you to develop the key selling arguments you will use to position your proposal.

• Your understanding of this client’s sensitivities to commercial confidentiality issues and conflicts
• Protocols to maintain confidentiality (no, don’t just treat this as a “given”)
• Systems and processes you use to recognise potential conflicting interests
• Due diligence you have conducted to establish that there is “no conflict”
• Real life examples of commercial sensitivities you have recognised and your response to these
• Examples of actual and possible conflicts - and what you would propose to do about them
• On-going input and collaboration from your client on these areas, and how you propose to obtain it
• What work/other clients you would be prepared to relinquish in order to establish and maintain a long-term relationship with this client - that is, how much this relationship does/will mean to you and what “price” you’re prepared to pay for it
• How far you’ll go to protect and advance your client’s interest.

By proactively and constructively dealing with your client’s commercial sensitivities, and any possible conflicts, you will advance your prospects by reducing perceptions of risk in accepting your proposal and establishing a business relationship with you.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

One of the first things you must remember is that to market to tech, you need to be part of the community. However, simply not wearing a tie does not make you part of that community!If you want to reach tech clients, follow a few of these rules and notice a few of the trends …

• They think they are every bit as smart or smarter than some of your best professionals. A lot of them can battle you for pedigrees anytime: do not place too much emphasis on this beyond necessary demonstration of experience and quality.
• They love ot see that you have done this for other tech companies. Know their names and their products - not just “we did IPO for…”
• They cluster. A lot. Their culture almost encourages cooperation more than most industries. Want to talk about a “boys club”? This is one of them. Referrals are huge, but they want professional advisers who have a big presence. This is where marketing comes in: they like to brag about the great lawyer or adviser they have. They also like to see a press article, an ad or airport display and say, “that’s OUR firm!”
• Paint a picture. Guess how many firms in this area can do patent work? A whole bunch. The winner is the one that can paint a picture for a tech CEO of how your firm can put him/her on the beach due to the incredible success of his patent.
• They like one stop shops. The less they have to worry about like screening and hiring ten different law firms, the better.
• They like revolutionary thought. Stand out. Be creative. Emphasize personality. Remember, many of these folks started their companies to change the world. Don’t look too much like a part of that old world they left behind.
• Realise that a lot of emerging tech firms view hiring a law firm as a necessary evil. If they could do without, they probably would. The main thing they worry about is that a firm will slow them down. While we know these things take time, you need to be able to communicate a constant state of movement towards the end goal.
• They are very worried right now. Help them see the light at the end of the tunnel, not just the long road to get there.

This eTip has come to you by courtesy of Daryl Cross of DFW TechBiz in Dallas For Worth, Texas.

A few years ago, a high technology vendor surveyed 400 sales reps, asking what was the most important factor in winning a deal. Overwhelmingly, the answer from the salespeople was “price”.

At the same time, the company surveyed 400 clients and potential clients, asking the same question. Their number one answer: “reliability”. In fact, price ranked only sixth on the list.

The high-tech company’s proposals, of course, were focusing primarily on price. Even though the vendor had a great story to tell on their reliability, with several important differentiators which clearly set them apart in the industry, the most important factor in client decisionmaking wasn’t highlighted.

In a competitive market, it can be very difficult not to feel that price is the most important factor. (And, sometimes, price is very important). But don’t ever just assume that price is what matters most.

The best way around the “price trap” is to clearly determine what differentiates you from your competitors - and then offer an alternative vision.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd