How Buyers Buy Professional Services

Posted January 8, 2009 by David Blumenthal
Categories: Sales, Strategy
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The editors of RainToday.com, an excellent site for those who market and sell professional services, recently released their 2009 benchmark study on how clients buy professional services. In their nine minute podcast, they talked about the top 5 ways buyers find their professional service providers.

The research involved asking 200 buyers of professional services (law, accounting, consulting, technology, training, among a whole range of services). The sizes of the buying firms were small to a billion dollars in revenue. The survey identified 27 different methods by which buyers choose professional services.

Here are the top five:

(1)   Referrals from colleagues (79% of respondents)

(2)   Referrals from other service providers (75%)

(3)   Personal recognition or awareness of the buyer / brand / reputation (73%)

(4)   In person seminars (66%)

(5)   Presentation at a conference

Here’s what the findings mean to me.

(1)   Your own client base is your greatest source of leads. It tells me that I’d better have the kind of support that keeps them happy and I’d better find opportunities to keep talking with them.

(2)   People in the industry talk. Sounds like it would be prudent to look after our professional relationships

(3)   Having a presence is important and being known is very important. This means that speaking engagements, writing articles and sharing and helping others is critical toward developing a prominent brand.

If you’d like some unique ideas about seminars, drop me a note at david_blumenthal@msn.com and we’ll set aside some time to talk about some unusual and really effective seminar development approaches taht will generate immediate opportunities.

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Guidelines for Delegation

Posted January 4, 2009 by David Blumenthal
Categories: Hiring, Leadership, Strategic Plans, Strategy
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As with most management techniques and interventions, there are guidelines and strategies that will help to assure a successful delegation process. Here are some that I have found to be most effective and important.

  • Define the task and clarify the goals. Confirm in your mind that the task is suitable to be delegated. Understand what you hope to achieve by delegation.
  • Select the individual. Be clear as to why you are selecting this person to perform the assignments. Make certain that he or she has the skills or can grow from the opportunity. Assess the person’s ability and provide the appropriate training and coaching, if necessary.
  • Explain the reasons for delegation and clarify relevant policies. You must explain to the person why the job is being delegated and why he or she has been selected. The person must also have context as to where the assignment fits into the overall scheme of things and be provided with any background data that is necessary.
  • Agree on the expected results and deadlines. Make sure that the individual understands what tasks he is expected to perform, what the expected outcome is, and by when the task must be completed. This will also assure that you have the individual’s buy-in. Such goals should always be linked to the company’s basic objectives of profitability, effectiveness, efficiency, customer satisfaction, community service, etc. Be explicit. For example, “When you report back, I’ll be expecting information on the costs of the project, how much manpower we’ll need, any obstacles you foresee, the sequence in which we will have to operate, and the milestones for each stage.”
  • Define authority and responsibility. The authority needed to get the job done should be commensurate with the responsibility. Make sure the individual knows whom to turn to if the demonstration of authority causes a problem.
  • Make sure the appropriate resources are available and limitations are set. Discuss and agree what resources are required to get the job done. Consider people, location, premises, equipment, money, materials, other related activities and services. Fix a top limit for expenditures and determine the limitations that may have to be imposed if you anticipate possible conflict with another department.
  • Check the lines of communication. Make sure that the delegate knows with whom he or she will have to interact and that all such people are committed to being available to him or her for giving and receiving needed information.
  • Institute controls. Establish reporting intervals with the delegated party so that progress can be discussed. Establish milestones that allow for spot-checking. Make certain the person understands what milestones and controls will be used.

    Setting up guidelines though is not enough, especially in the case of a permanent delegation. Delegation is never abdication. Contact must be maintained for the purposes not only of control, but also to give assistance, recognition and encouragement as necessary or desirable. To delegate responsibility is not like launching a ship and praying that it will make safe harbor; you have to serve as the lighthouse for all of your ships at sea.

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    The Rules of Delegation

    Posted December 29, 2008 by David Blumenthal
    Categories: Hiring, Leadership
    Tags: , , , , , , ,

    In recent weeks, I’ve devoted a number of posts to the hiring and development of leaders within an organization. Fundamental to your success will be your ability to delegate effectively and the degree to which you teach others when they should delegate.

    If you want to be a successful manager, you will have to give up the belief that you can do everything yourself. Learning to delegate is difficult for many managers. Sometimes this is because we don’t have confidence in those working for us or we wonder if they can do as good a job as we would. Sometimes our own lack of self confidence kicks in or we are averse to taking the risk that a failure might occur.

    When done properly, the benefits of good delegation are significant. It will allow you to devote your energies to more appropriate matters, develop your people, motivate your staff, and grow your succession pipeline.

    These are the circumstances when one should consider delegating.

    • When there is a lot of work to be done in a limited amount of time
    • When you feel someone has particular qualifications appropriate to the task
    • When someone expresses strong interest in the task
    • When you think that a person might benefit from the responsibility.

    There are also situations when you should not delegate.

    • When the task is typically part of your specific responsibilities, except in emergencies
    • When it is something you would not be willing to do
    • When the task is not suited to the person’s capabilities (This would be guaranteeing failure.)

    In our next post, we’ll present specific guidelines that will allow you to delegate effectively.

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    A Gift for the Holidays…

    Posted December 24, 2008 by David Blumenthal
    Categories: Leadership, Sales, Strategy

    Without a doubt, we are experiencing one of the most painful economic periods within the last fifty years. Far too many people have lost jobs and it is still uncertain that we have reached the low point in this ever-widening crisis.

    Yet, as the holidays roll around, I find that I am becoming much more optimistic about the opportunities that I believe will soon appear. There a few reasons why I feel this way.

    First, I believe that we are developing a new understanding of our connection to one another. I see more and more people delivering encouragement to their neighbors and looking for ways by which they can strengthen one another.

    Sometimes, it shows up in small ways. Here’s one.

    This past weekend, my community experienced a very heavy snowfall. A year ago, you would have seen each homeowner shoveling his or her own homes.

    This year, it’s been different.

    Me and women, young and old were working together to shovel each other’s driveways. There was a palpable sense of we were all in this together. And everyone seemed to appreciate this sense of teamwork.

    The second reason that I am optimistic is because I think that after all of the bailouts and the scandals and the anger for the lies and greed, Americans want to believe and trust again.

    Much has been said and written this election year about the desire for change. But I sense that it is more than change for its own sake that people want. People want integrity and honesty.  They want transparent governance and leadership. They want an end to the philosophy of looking out for number one. They are recognizing if I am only for myself, then who am I.

    People want to believe again. And they want to trust their government, their community and business leadership and their family and friends. They want to experience and demonstrate moral courage.

    What all this might augur is a shift in what we value and how we view each other. We are learning that our business leaders are not worth admiring if they are judged by how much they earn. Rather they should be judged by their practices and the way they have earned their fortunes.

    Character matters.

    And indeed, learning this lesson seems like a pretty good gift for the holidays.

    Happy holidays to all.

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    What I’m Telling My Clients – Part 2 (or how they can create their own economic stimulus package)

    Posted December 23, 2008 by David Blumenthal
    Categories: Leadership, Sales, Strategy, Visioning
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    So what would a client referral meeting look like?  Here’s one possibility.

    The underlying context to this meeting is the recognition that the greatest challenge that any business owner faces, particularly in these challenging economic times is to drive new business to the company. The second greatest challenge is to fix a problem or capitalize on an opportunity that they might see but don’t quite know how to address.

    Each of these referral meetings would last an hour. Only a small number of clients, perhaps six to eight clients, would attend each meeting. Ideally, they would have complimentary businesses.

    Each client would  discuss

    • What values his or her company provides,
    • Its ideal client and
    • A particular problem or opportunity that it is facing.

    The idea is to try to get each a client new business via referral or find them a company that can help them meet a pressing need or opportunity.

    That’s the whole agenda.

    The only thing that is required is that each company approach the meeting with a mindset to offer a warm referral to any of the companies represented in the room. By doing so, this gathering of leadership would create more growth and value.

    And each company will get more business and / or be able to grow its business more effectively.

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    What I’m Telling My Clients – Part 2 (or how they can create their own economic stimulus package)

    Posted December 18, 2008 by David Blumenthal
    Categories: Leadership, Sales, Strategy
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    As the bailouts and their discussions whirl about us and as the list of companies laying off or employees or shutting down operations grows longer and longer, I began to wonder if there wasn’t a small business version of an economic stimulus package that could be implemented.

    And if there was a version of economic an economic stimulus package for small businesses, who could and would provide it?

    It appears to me that there is such a “package” out there and the ones that can provide it may be small business themselves.

    Arguably the greatest challenge that any business owner confronts, particularly in these testing economic times, is to drive new business to his or her company. Fundamentally speaking, as it always has been, the key to long term growth is to “grow the pie” and attract more business. Provide more appropriate services that make a difference and you will earn more business and a greater share of the customer’s wallet.

    Many companies provide services to organizations and businesses that are in related fields. Others provide services to companies in a wide range of industries. What if, each company leveraged its customer list to grow their clients’ businesses?

    Imagine, if you will, a meeting of six or seven of your clients who work in one industry but provide different services within that industry. More than likely, each of these clients knows other companies within the particular industry. Because each of these companies is your clients, you are related to them and a reservoir of trust has been established.

    Suppose next that each one of your clients attending this meeting was asked to participate with the intention of referring one of its customers to one of the businesses represented in the meeting. The economic impact of these referrals would be profound.

    Referring clients to one another would create a reciprocal relationship built on real economic value. Additionally, in effect, because your business would be in the upper parts of the minds of your clients, the number of people selling and promoting your value and services would grow geometrically as the trust that you have demonstrated in them would be returned in their discussions with their clients.

    In a short time, you might discover that you have an army of salespeople selling your value.

    In the next post, we’ll take a look at the structure of such a meeting and how to make it work for you.

    In the meantime, please write and share some innovative ways you are growing or helping others grow their businesses.

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    Making your leadership team successful

    Posted December 12, 2008 by David Blumenthal
    Categories: Strategy, Uncategorized
    Tags: , , , , ,

    Here are two questions worth considering.

    • Who is most responsible for the success of your leadership?

    The success of each level of leadership is heavily influenced by the monitoring, measuring, and coaching of the leaders directly above it. If you want to increase the likelihood of success within your pipeline, it is incumbent on you to dedicate your leadership to this process.

    • What influences the likelihood that your people will execute successfully?

    It should be clear that one of the core success factors is to have a team of leaders with the proper skills, focus, and values.

    Still, even by applying this process, you may never be completely successful. In some organizations, professionals will not readily accept people if they don’t have credentials in the field so your choices are limited. In these cases, we have no way of knowing how the person will respond to the tensions, frustrations, and relationships of staff work.

    When an executive places a person in the wrong job, s/he must correct it. Not removing them is a false kindness because in the short and long term it is cruel to the individual, the direct reports, and the company to keep that person in that role. But there is also no reason to let that person go. The appropriate course of action, and with planning this is often accomplished, is to return that person to the old job or an equivalent position.

    Sometimes, the position itself is the reason for the lack of success. When a ship would have several fatal accidents, it earned the moniker “widow-maker.” The owners would not keep sending out the ship – instead they would break it up. Whenever a job defeats two people in a row and these people in their earlier assignments had performed well, a company has a widow-maker on its hands. . The executive should consider abolishing the job because it may not be doable.

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