Gaining Client Loyalty

Week of September 22, 2014
Ok, so how DO we get to top of mind and build client loyalty?

Interestingly, Tom Fishburne spoke on this very thing at his Google keynote, "Marketing Worth Sharing." At the link to his keynote, he includes both his slides AND his notes. You can easily follow what he is saying, and in essence, his message is this (and I agree):

When you're with your clients, how can you make their experience a little more awesome? THAT is marketing, branding, business development, client services, and company culture all rolled into one. Are you seeing it?

More importantly, are you hearing it? What are the things your clients are talking about? What are they wrestling with? When they share this with you, are you giving them your full attention? Or are you thinking about what you are going to say next? Or what service you want to tell them about?


For the next few days, I want you to try something for me... BE PRESENT.

When the client speaks, stop what you are doing and thinking, and really listen to what they are saying. Ask for clarification. Ask for details. Ask them how it makes them fell. Ask them what they want to accomplish. Ask them what "it" would look like if "it" was working/running/behaving the way "it" was supposed to.

Do not try to solve their problem. Don't offer your advice. And don't tell them about what your firm can do about that or the project you did that was just like what they are going through. Just help them be more awesome. Listen. Reflect back what they say. BE PRESENT.

Is Client Loyalty Dead, Part 2

Week of September 12, 2014
Last week, I shared some of my recent pondering about whether or not client loyalty (loyalty to us/our firms) was dead. I have concluded that clients are not really loyal to a company/firm, but to a particular person. So in that respect, no, loyalty exists. And it is a powerful one-to-one bond.

I've seen that manifested when a popular client manager leaves a company... and the clients follow him or her to their new firm. So what is that client manager doing to gain that respect and, well, loyalty?

Interestingly, Tom Fishburne, The Marketoonist, has touched on this topic a couple of times. The reality is that clients are thinking about a lot of things, and we are probably not any of them. It is VERY much like this cartoon, "Inside the mind of the consumer" by Tom Fishburne.

This is just human nature. Clients, like all of us, have far more stuff going on in their brains than the name and services of a consultant.

Even clients who are loyal to us, who like us and come to us a lot, suffer from this "too much stuff on the brain" syndrome. For more on how the consumer/client thinks, read the companion article "Inside the mind of the consumer." It is vital to know what is on the client's mind before we can change our position within it.

Next week... how to get to the "top of mind" position with a client.

Is Client Loyalty Dead?

Week of September 8, 2014
I've been pondering this question a lot lately: Is Client Loyalty Dead?

Things keep floating up out of my subconscious in response, like when I worked for my father's law firm. He told me that clients, including managers of corporations and government officials, never liked being shifted from the attorney they were familiar with to another in the same firm. The client saw their primary relationship as being with the individual attorney, not the law firm. This was a particularly difficult issue in the large law firm in Portland where he first practiced because senior attorneys wanted the younger, less-expensive attorneys to do as much of the work as possible, which led to more profitability. And while clients may not have understood the motive, they certainly felt slighted if "their" attorney wasn't made readily available.

So maybe our thinking about loyalty is faulty -- that someone could be loyal to a firm/company. It follows that it is easier to establish and maintain a relationship with clients on an individual basis, not a firmwide or organizational one. 

What are we doing to create those relationships? 

I think that part of my role in marketing is to help identify the individual qualities of the person and then help select the technical individual who is the best match. Client research has to go beyond what can be read on the web or in a report. It is equally important to know as much about the individual client staff as it is to know about the organization, company, and market.

 It is a two-step process (at least): 1) Identify the clients and the people within that client organization who are most influential and figure out what makes them tick/what kind of people they are. 2) Then identify the strengths of your BD/Marketing team and match them up to the people at the client organization. 

If we want any semblance of loyalty, perhaps we need to look at how we approach our clients (and with whom) first. It is bringing the "friend making" to a conscious level, and pairing the "right" people together to create something extraordinary. 

I'm still pondering this... More next week...

Meaningful BD

Week of September 1, 2014
Wow, where did summer go? I have been getting a lot of business development questions lately, so I thought I would share some of the tips I've passed on to folks who have asked. Here are your Things You Need to Know for this week:

Question 1: How can I be most efficient with my few BD hours?
The short answer is: Talk to your clients. The longer answer is: Make those conversations with your clients meaningful for them. In general, your client is bombarded with requests to meet to talk about upcoming projects. They may get very little from those conversations. It might even be painful for them to take the time for those meetings because of other deadlines and their own workload. Put yourself in their shoes, and offer them something when you meet that they need/want/like. Here are some suggestions to provide meaning and engagement.

A) What does my client need to know right now to make their job easier, better, safer, smarter, more compliant, more efficient, etc.? Do I have that knowledge/resource available to share? Can I summarize it in 5-10 minutes and have a conversation about it with them? Can I bring an expert (from my company) with me to talk about that and to introduce the client to an additional company member?

B) What is my client's biggest concern/worry today? Would my client talk to me about it if I offered to listen without judgment or offering solutions? Can I be a good sounding-board for their issues, and take some time to offer a helpful solution at a later date (not offer a solution on-the-fly at the moment of the conversation)?

C) What do I have in common with my client outside of work? What committees/organizations are they involved with? Where can I help?

D) What does my client do for fun? Would my client go with me to try our a new restaurant I've heard about, but have not been to before? [Side note - sharing a low-risk adventure like a new restaurant/coffee shop can make some amazing memories and build instant rapport. And everyone needs to eat...]

E) What am I working on right now that would be of interest to my client? If I took them to the job site, what would I point out? Or if I brought them to the office, who would I introduce them to and why?

F) What funding sources are available for my client's type of work/projects? What information could I find to share with them? What services could I offer to help them secure the funding?

Question 2: I don't have a lot of interaction with the decision-makers. Where can I help?
Short answer: Keep your ears open. Long answer: The people you work with at the client and on the team are"in the trenches." They may not know what is coming down the road, but they know what they are worried about, the rumors, and the whispers. Pay attention to what they say and share that with your marketing/BD folks. Similarly, some of the consultants you work with on a regular basis can become your company's best teaming partners. You can help your company make an assessment on which firms might be a good fit.

Question 3: I think my client wants us to work on a project, but they feel obligated to put it out for open competition. Is there anything we can do to get a direct appointment?
Short answer: Get smart on Quality Based Selection (QBS) and the contracts your company has in place already that the client might be able to use. Long answer: Many states, like Oregon and Washington, have a QBS process which emphasizes firm qualifications instead of price as the selection criteria. More importantly, the QBS system often allows the public entity to direct appoint projects up to a certain dollar cap to firms already "pre-qualified." Your public client/project managers might not be aware of that, so it is an excellent piece of information to know (confirm it is true for your state!) and have ready to share.

Additionally, your company may already hold a contract that your client can draw from, using whatever procurement system is available for them. For example, you might be a subconsultant on a multidisciplinary team. Your client might not realize that they can access you through that team's contract. Often, clients can use an on-call contract to direct appoint projects up to a certain dollar amount. For other projects that are too large to direct appoint, they can select a few folks from the on-call to compete for the project, instead of holding an open competition.

I hope these help you interact in meaningful ways with your clients. Your strategies in pursuing work are only as good as your knowledge, so talking with your clients is always a good thing. And please be sure to share your information with your marketers/BD folks. They can often "connect the dots" internally between projects, people, and clients.

Make it a GREAT week!