Got Feedback? Read Your Audience

By Karen Susman

Imagine a world without feedback. You meet with someone across a table at a café. You ask him a question. Not only doesn't he respond verbally, but his face is a total blank and his hands remain in his lap. You'd wonder if you were heard and understood. You'd wonder if your companion agreed or disagreed, was delighted, or angry. You wouldn't have an inkling. You'd wish he'd given you a sign of life, some feedback.

When you get up to speak in front of a group, you need feedback, too. You might argue this point as you pray that you can just get through your talk, ask for questions, get no takers, and sit down. You hope no one disagrees, is bored, or has a question that might stump you.

Trust me on this. You want to get feedback from your audience. No response is not good news.

One way to get feedback is to watch for non-verbal clues. You might question how you can give a presentation and watch the audience at the same time. This is one multi-task you must and can develop. After all, if you can talk on your cell phone and simultaneously drive in rush hour traffic and drink a soy latte, you can speak, observe, and tweak at the same time.

First, read or analyze your audience before your presentation. What do you know about them, their motivations, educational level, and gender? Ask yourself a few questions.

1. What is your audience's degree of interest in your topic?
2. What is their attitude toward you, your company, your industry, your age, your gender, and your topic?
3. What does your audience know, or think they know, about your topic?
4. Are these people volunteers or captives? Did they sign up to hear you or were they forced to attend?
5. What might the audience need to know about your topic?
6. How can your topic benefit your audience?
7. What are the expectations of those who invited you to speak?
8. What are the hot buttons or issues you need to address or avoid?
9. Why are you speaking?
10. What should you wear that will be appropriate and not detract from your credibility or content?
    

There are additional demographic questions, but these are a start. (If you'd like an extensive list of pre-presentation questions, email Karen@karensusman.com.)

To find the answers to the above and other questions, talk to the person who invited you to present. Talk to the decision makers. Do a pre-session survey of audience members via email.

Do on the fly analysis right before your presentation. If there is a session prior to yours, sit in on it to get a feel for the audience's humor and concerns. Talk with your audience and get a feel for their mood, concerns, issues, and attitude toward your topic.

During your presentation, stop, look and listen.

Stop from time to time to look at your audience members and watch their body language. Are they looking away from you? Are they carrying on a conversation with another attendee? Are they reading the newspaper? Are they using their computers? These are all bad signs.

One other clue that you've lost your connection with the audience is that they don't respond to your questions or requests. If they won't participate in group activities or exercises, you've lost them. If they are fleeing, bored, sleeping, or chatting you've lost them. If you ask, "Are there any questions?" and no hands go up, this doesn't signal you're home free. This is a sign the audience isn't engaged with you and your topic.

What to do:

1. If you feel the audience's energy and attention lagging, change your approach right now. Do something dramatic. Drop your books.
2. Gesture broadly. Walk forcefully. Talk louder, faster, and with more emphasis? Slow down, whisper, stop talking all together.
3. Move toward your audience. Lean in. If you're seated, stand up.
4. Plant questions ahead of time in the audience to get the ball rolling.
5. Ask people to stand up and stretch.
6. Lead them in an exercise.
7. If people won't participate in an activity, be sure your instructions are clear. Explain the purpose of the exercise. Promise not to embarrass anyone and then keep your promise. Be patient.
8. Repeat.
9. Rephrase a question.
10. If no one has a question, prime the pump with, “Often people ask me about..."
11. Or, ask the audience a question of your own. For instance, "What's your opinion on the best way to get teams to work together?"
    

If you remember to have a conversation with your audience, you can watch for verbal and non-verbal feedback.

Feedback: don't leave home without it.

Karen Susman is a Speaker, Trainer, Coach, and Author of 102 Top Dog Networking Secrets. Karen works with organizations that want to maximize performance. Programs include Humour at Work; Balance In Life; Networking Skills; Presentation Skills; and Building Community Involvement. Order new guidebooks on humour, networking, time management, and community involvement by calling 1-888-678-8818 or e-mail Karen@KarenSusman.com.. www.KarenSusman.com.

Published in Networking Today, August, 2006

10 Proven Ways to Say No to Someone Who Wants to "Pick Your Brain"

By Maria Marsala

Many service-related business owners these days are "giving away" their business services – and then wonder why people aren't hiring them in droves. In the name of "marketing," business owners are providing way too much information for free. Some shifts in thinking are necessary if these business owners expect to be in business years from now.

No one expects to go into a shoe store, ask for free shoes, and walk out of the store! If you don't value your services, no one else will. So, if you're holding back information that you rightfully should be paid for, and you believe that you're hoarding or being stingy, please look to see if that belief is based in reality.

Setting boundaries on just how much free information, or free services, you'll give away is not easy to do. And what can you say to people who 1) ask outright for free information, or 2) just start talking to you about something and you realize that they're trying to "borrow" your valuable resources without becoming a client? Here are some ideas. Try them on to see what "fits" you best.

• My charge for an initial consultation is "x." If we turn out to be a good match, and you hire me, I'll apply half of "x" toward your commitment.
  
  
• Yes, I do work with clients on "name the issue." Would you like to set up a consultation? · That will cost "x" per hour.
  
  
• There's a lot I can do for you that's similar to the work I did for "xyz" client. Would you like to get together and build a marketing plan? (And then charge for those services.)
  
  
• Are you looking to hire _____? Well, I'd love to talk to you about that; my fees are "x" per hour.
  
  
• "Well, the answer to that question depends..." and then spend a few minutes explaining some of the options and considerations. For example, I may explain that the best way to identify the "solution" is to work backward from the desired end result and process. That provides a natural lead-in to: "If I were to work with you on this project, here's how we would do it..."
  
  
• A complete answer to your question is going to take more than fifteen minutes over the phone. Would you like me to send you a proposal on this?
  
  
• I have really enjoyed talking with you and would like to help more. May I send you one of my brochures and a rate card?
  
  
• Do you have a time line and/or budget in mind for solving this problem?
  
  
• It's not a good time for me to discuss this right this minute. Would you like to briefly discuss project guidelines and fees?
  

As a service business owner, part of what you "offer" clients and what they value from you is your knowledge and expertise. It's as much a part of your "services" as any tangible materials you produce. So, make sure to treat it as such, and get compensated fairly! When you value your services, others will, too.

© 2006 From Get Paid What You Deserve by Maria Marsala, nationally known author, strategist, trainer and owner of Elevating Your Business. If you know that you’re underpaid or if you find yourself Boundary Challenged, visit www.ElevatingYourBusinessU.com

Published in Networking Today, June 2006.

Virtual Assistants…Six Questions You Need Answered

By Yvonne Weld

Although Virtual Assistants are popular in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, Canadians are not as familiar with this new – and quickly growing – industry. It is through education that this field can truly grow. Hopefully someday soon people will be asking, “Who is your Virtual Assistant?” rather than “What is a Virtual Assistant?”

1. What is a Virtual Assistant?
   
   Before you can determine how you can work with a Virtual Assistant you must understand what the term means. Simply put, a Virtual Assistant is a business owner who offers administrative support, virtually. The International Virtual Assistant Association defines a Virtual Assistant as “an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional Virtual Assistant assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis."
   
   
2. Why would I want to work with a Virtual Assistant?
   
   There are many advantages! First, there are no hidden costs. The Virtual Assistant takes care of his or her own expenses including office space, equipment, computers and software, and all wage-related expenses. A Virtual Assistant is not like other employees; instead she becomes a member of your team and has a stake in the success of your company. If you don’t succeed she won’t succeed.
   
   Most Virtual Assistants have many years administrative experience and can handle a variety of tasks. Many work outside of traditional business hours to provide flexibility. With a Virtual Assistant on your team you have an opportunity to grow your business rather than just maintain it. You can get back to the things you love doing…while the tasks on your TO DO list are looked after.
   
   
3. How do I find a Virtual Assistant?
   
   There are two associations that list Virtual Assistants in Canada – the Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection and the Canadian Virtual Assistant Network. Thanks to technological advances, a Virtual Assistant doesn’t need to live in close proximity as communication is available through email, facsimile, Internet, and telephone.
   
   
4. What can a Virtual Assistant assist me with?
   
   Virtual Assistants can assist you with everything from basic administrative functions (document preparation, correspondence preparation, transcriptions services, etc.) to specialized services such as Web site design and maintenance, bookkeeping, and event planning. Each Virtual Assistant has his or her own skill set and services. Many have established connections with other Virtual Assistants and will contract out specialized work or direct you to another Assistant.
   
   
5. How do I communicate with a Virtual Assistant?
   
   The most popular methods in communication are email and telephone; however, facsimile, courier, and Canada Post are often used. Many who have worked with Virtual Assistants have set up post office boxes that are accessed by the Assistant to ensure all client correspondence is handled directly by the Assistant.
   
   
6. Is there anything a Virtual Assistant can’t do for me?
   
   There is no task that an in-house assistant can do that a Virtual Assistant cannot do for you…except make your morning coffee.
   

Yvonne Weld is the owner of ABLE Virtual Assistant Services. She can be contacted at (519) 652-0914 or by email at yvonne@ableva.com.

Published in Networking Today, June 2006.

Staging to Sell…With Pets

By Catherine E. Brown

If you have pets, you know they are part of the family, or they may even be your four-legged family – but Kitty and Pooch won’t help to sell a home! Buyers will be thinking about flea-infested carpets or pet hair and dander. Those with severe allergies may not even consider a home with pets.

Just as certain scents can trigger memories in a person, the scent of a home can leave a lasting impression on a potential buyer. How the property smells is almost as influential as how it looks.

Often, people who have pets are so accustomed to their odours that they don’t notice them. Ask a friend, realtor, or an Accredited Staging Professional how the house smells before it goes on the market. If they detect odours, buyers will, too.

While making sure that the house is odour-free and spotless applies to all sellers, pet owners need to take special care. Simply baking cookies or bread (too contrived anyway) isn’t going to cut it!

Doggie Do’s

• Have the drapes, carpets, and upholstery professionally cleaned and deodorized. If the drapes are heavy and dated, remove them altogether.
  
  
• Invest in an ozone machine.
  
  
• If weather permits, open windows to let in fresh air.
  
  
• Use Glad Plug-ins with Febreeze fresh scent.
  
  
• Send pets to Grandma's house, to doggie daycare, or with you when the house is being shown. Pets under foot or leaving hair on clothing will put a damper on an otherwise positive showing. A barking dog or an overly friendly cat can distract a purchaser from the positives of the property.
  
  
• Ensure that pet dishes, beds, sleeping areas, toys, supplies, and food are put away during showings or open houses to avoid hazards.
  
  
• Vacuum all traces of pet hair.
  
  
• Pick up dog droppings from the yard daily.
  
  
• Clean kitty litter at least once a day and empty garbage bins.
  
  
• Keep fish tanks clean and fresh.
  
  
• Reptiles or exotic animals could turn off potential buyers – that’s all they’ll remember about your home – not its outstanding selling features.
  

Catherine E. Brown is an Accredited Staging Professional and owner of Staged to Move. Catherine is committed to helping clients sell their home for the best price in the least amount of time. She can be contacted at (519) 868-7171 or by email at catherine@stagedtomove.ca. Visit her Web site at www.stagedtomove.ca.

Published in Networking Today, June 2006.

Try the “Waiter Rule” to Evaluate People

By Barbara Bartlein

Working my way through college, I waited tables and tended bar. Though I have several degrees with an emphasis on human behavior and psychology, I swear I learned more about people from slinging hash and pouring drinks. I can remember accidentally spilling a few drops of an ice cream drink on a lady’s skirt and being totally humiliated as she screamed at me in the restaurant. I also recall a very kind man who didn’t get upset even though there were repeated problems with his order.

Rudeness to service staff reveals information about a person’s character reported in a recent article in USA Today. Office Depot CEO, Steve Odland, who also waited tables as a teenager, states, “You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats a waiter.” It seems that he is not the only CEO to discover the “Waiter Rule.”

The Waiter Rule has been identified by many executives, including Raytheon CEO, Bill Swanson. There is one rule that Swanson says never fails: “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person.” Swanson first identified this phenomenon when he was eating with a man who became irate to a waiter because the restaurant did not stock a particular wine.

“Watch out for people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with,” Swanson writes. “Be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles.”

The Waiter Rule can also apply to how people treat those in other service roles like bellmen, hotel maids, clerks, and secretaries according to USA Today. This can be more indicative of someone’s character than hours of interview questions in a formal setting. Some CEO’s ask front line receptionists and secretaries how they were treated by job applicants as part of their evaluation.

Using the Waiter Rule can be an accurate predictor of character because it isn’t easily learned or unlearned. It is more likely a person’s true colors and speaks to how they were raised and their value system. How a potential manager treats a waiter may be how they treat employees.

Some behaviors that indicate a problem:

• Playing the power card. Comments like “I could buy this place,” or “Do you know who I am?” reveal more about the diner’s character than his wealth or power. It is unlikely that he will be effective in leading a team if he is consumed with power and control.
  
  
• Having a short fuse. This person may have an ego that is out of control. It is a way of saying that she is better than the wait staff; she is special. These people tend not to be collaborative as they work with others.
  
  
• Demanding about every detail. You may be looking at a micro-manager who consistently sends a message to his team that their best isn’t good enough. He may have limited skills in coaching, mentoring, and encouragement.
  
  
• Speaking in a condescending manner. The message here is clear; she thinks she is better than those in subordinate positions. She may have a need to feel important by putting others down.
  
  
• Making a public scene. If he embarrasses you in the restaurant, he will embarrass you in the workplace. At best he has poor manners, at worst, his judgment is faulty. Either way, he will not make a good employee.
  
  
• Easily turning on and off the charm. These folks have situational values which may also indicate situational ethics. People with firm character adhere to their value system regardless of the circumstances. Avoid these people like the plague.
  
  
• Constantly looking around the room. Rather than being focused on the table conversation, he is distracted and not engaged. He may be looking to see who else is there or whether he is being noticed. Regardless, he will have the same behavior when meeting with his team or community board.
  
  
• Poor tipper. She may justify leaving a poor tip with various complaints about the service or the waiter. Anyone who has ever worked in a service industry knows that it is very hard work with a low base pay. If the service is adequate, a 15% tip is customary. A twenty percent or more gratitude is standard for exceptional service.

The Waiter Rule has also been noticed on the dating scene. A November survey of 2,500 by It’s Just Lunch, a dating service for professionals, found that being rude to waiters ranks No. 1 as the worst in dining etiquette. Some waiters report that women will actually pull them aside to see how much their dates tipped to obtain insight into his use of money and other tendencies.

Try using the Waiter Rule whether you are looking for an employee or a spouse. You may save yourself a lot of future problems by dining out.

Sign up for Barbara's FREE email newsletter at www.barbbartlein.com.

Barbara Bartlein, is the People Pro and President of Great Lakes Consulting Group. She offers speaking, training, and consultation to help businesses sell more goods and services. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by email at: barb@thepeoplepro.com, or visit her Web site at www.ThePeoplePro.com Published in Networking Today, June 2006.

Customers for Life!

By John Boe

The most successful companies place great value on developing lifetime relationships with their customers. In today's competitive marketplace, they're aware that their customers are aggressively prospected and their loyalty cannot be taken for granted. Customer focused companies recognize that relationship building and follow up on service are critical components for promoting both customer retention and revenue growth.

First Build a Relationship

Today we have access to innovative tools such as the Internet, cell phones, faxes, and voice mail all designed to enhance our ability to communicate. Nevertheless, even with all of these technological tools at our disposal, the alarming number of dissatisfied customers, lost sales, and failed relationships all reflect the fact that none of us are as effective at communicating as we would like to believe.

Temperament understanding helps to foster effective communication. Research in the field of human psychology indicates people are born into one of four primary behavioral styles; aggressive, expressive, passive, or analytical. Each of these four temperament styles requires a unique approach and communication strategy. For example, if you are working with the impatient, aggressive style, they want a quick fix and a bottom line solution.

Under pressure they can be ill-tempered and quick to anger. Give them options so you don't threaten their need for control. Don't waste their time with chitchat, stick to business. While at the other extreme, the stress-prone analytical style requires more information and is interested in every detail. Their cautious and analytical nature makes them susceptible to buyer's remorse. Be sensitive to their need for reassurance and guarantees. Once you learn how to identify each of the four primary behavioral styles you will be able to work more effectively with all of your customers.

Communicate Effectively

Recognize the importance of nonverbal communication and learn to “listen with your eyes.” It might surprise you to know that research indicates over 70 percent of our communication is perceived nonverbally. In fact, studies show that body language has a much greater impact and reliability than the spoken word.

Create a favorable first impression and build rapport quickly by using open body language. In addition to smiling and making good eye contact, you should show the palms of your hands, keep your arms unfolded, and your legs uncrossed. You can develop harmony by “matching and mirroring” your customer's body language gestures. Matching and mirroring is unconscious mimicry. It's a way of subconsciously telling another that you like them and agree with them.

Improve Your Active Listening Skills

To develop and encourage conversation, use open-ended questions to probe the meaning behind your prospect's statements.

Occasionally repeat your prospect's words verbatim. By restating his or her key words or phrases you not only clarify communication, but also build rapport. Keep your attention focused on what your customer is saying and avoid the temptation to interrupt, argue, or dominate the conversation.

Little Things Make a Big Difference

Rendering quality customer service is both a responsibility and an opportunity. Often salespeople view customer service as an administrative burden that takes them away from making a sale. The truth is that customer service provides opportunities for cross-selling, up selling, and generating quality referrals.

Customers describe quality customer service in terms of attention to detail and responsiveness. Customer satisfaction surveys consistently point to the fact that the little things make a big difference. Not surprisingly, the top two customer complaints with regards to customer service are unreturned phone calls and a failure to keep promises and commitments. Make an effort to see yourself through your customers' eyes. True customer service is meeting and surpassing your customers' expectations.

Successful salespeople “go the extra mile” when providing service and turn the customers they serve into advocates to help them promote their business. Your referrals and follow up on business are in direct proportion to the quality and quantity of service you render on a daily basis. Want more referrals? Improve your service!

Five powerful customer service tips:

1. Under-promise and over-deliver. Develop a reputation for reliability; never make a promise that you can't keep. Your word is your bond.
   
   
2. Pay attention to the small things. Get in the habit of returning phone calls, emails, and other correspondence quickly. Follow up, follow up, follow up.
   |
   
3. Stay in contact and keep good records. Take the time to jot down notes from meetings and phone calls making certain to record all relevant information. Maintain a written record of service. This is especially helpful when clients are reassigned to a new sales rep. Setup a suspense system to track important contact dates such as client review calls and birthdays. Consider sending a personal note or an article of interest every six months.
   
   
4. Give your customers a promotional gift. Consider sending them a letter opener, coffee mug, or a calendar with your picture and contact information.
   
   
5. Establish a feedback system to monitor how your customers perceive the quality and quantity of the service you provide. Service is not defined by what you think it is, but rather how your customers perceive its value. When it comes to customer service, perception is reality.
   

Progressive companies emphasize commitment to customer service from the top down by establishing training standards and continuously monitoring customer satisfaction. Companies that fail to implement an effective customer service program actually do a disservice to their customers and unknowingly, leave the backdoor open to their competitors. If you do it right, sales and service blend seamlessly and you will exceed your customers' expectations!

John Boe presents a variety of training and motivational programs for meetings and conventions. John brings over twenty years of experience as an award-winning sales trainer to the platform. His programs are unique, consistently well received, and get results. Visit www.johnboe.com for more information.

Published in Networking Today, June 2006.

What To Do When Nothing’s New: Five Strategies for Success

By Susan A. Friedmann, CSP

Look at that throng of people crowding the trade show floor. People come from all over the country to walk these aisles, eager eyes flitting from booth to booth, scanning the exhibits for…what, exactly?

Research shows that the vast majority – 76% – come to trade shows to discover what’s new and exciting. Maybe it’s a new product, or an innovative bit of technology, or a snazzy new application, or even an entire company that they were never aware of before. In an ideal world, every company would be constantly innovating, creating cutting edge products at phenomenal savings guaranteed to meet the customer’s needs.

But as you and I know, business doesn’t work that way. There are years when companies struggle to survive. Other years, it takes every ounce of effort just to maintain market position. And still other times, things might be fine, but the newest innovation is six, twelve, even eighteen months on the horizon.

Is it even worth exhibiting during these times? Do the results of participating in a trade show while your company’s in a lull phase justify the costs?

Absolutely! In fact, it is precisely at these times when not participating could hurt your bottom line. Businesses rise and fall based on the strength of personal relationships. There is no better place to form new relationships and maintain and reinforce existing relationships than at a trade show.

To do this, you need to create a positive impression with your exhibit. Demonstrate something new and exciting. Give the people what they want. How can you do that, you ask, when you don’t have any new and exciting products? Here are five focus strategies the pros use when they’re in a similar situation:

1. Focus on Features: Purveyors of high-tech or complicated products often don’t realize how little consumers know about the items they purchase. For example, take the average word processing program. It has countless features – yet how many does the everyday user know about, much less use? Realize that your buyers may not even know what they don’t know. Here’s an opportunity to offer seminars, tutorials, or other interactive options centered on the more obscure features. This way, you’re demonstrating that you value your customers and want them to make the most of your products/services. You could win their loyalty for life.
   
   
2. Focus on the Future: If the next big innovation is in sight, but you’re not ready to spill the beans just yet, you’ve got an ideal opportunity to create a buzz. Some of the most effective excitement generating campaigns say little, if anything, about the new product, yet still create an impression that something noteworthy is about to happen. Signage, graphics, and literature all declaring “It’s Coming!” let the public know that you’re excited about the new product – and that they should be too.
   
   
3. Focus on Finesse: Is there a way to make your product new and improved? You’ll sometimes see this technique that I’ve called the Proctor & Gamble strategy. Every so often, you’ll see a new and improved version of a product introduced – laundry soap, shampoo, deodorant, and so on – yet you’d have to be a chemical engineer to notice any discernable difference between the old product and the new one. Still, consumers flock to the new, even if it’s only slightly different than the product they were previously satisfied with. If you can’t change your product, what about the packaging? Glidden changed their paint can while still keeping their actual product, the paint, the same as it ever was, and saw sales rise as a result.
   
   
4. Focus on People: Great products wouldn’t exist without great people. Consider putting a human face on your operation by centering your latest exhibit around the people who make, test, or use your product. Post Cereal, Reynold’s Wrap, and NAPA auto parts have all used this strategy successfully during periods when their product line was fairly static – and then carried the idea forward, altering it as needed to introduce new products!
   
   
5. Focus on Service: Many times, we’re asking buyers to make a huge investment to buy our products. If something goes wrong, the buyer worries that they will be left holding the bag on a very expensive mistake. Reassure consumers that they’ll never be alone if there is a problem. By promoting service plans, support networks, and other types of assistance, you’re demonstrating that you’ll be there for your customer – through thick or thin!
   

Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, is The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. For a free copy of “10 Common Mistakes Exhibitors Make”, email: article4@thetradeshowcoach.com; Web site: www.thetradeshowcoach.com

Published in Networking Today, June 2006.

New Promotion, New Clients – Now What? Building a New Client Base

By Andrew Sobel

A client called me recently to tell me he had been promoted. That was the good news. The bad news was that his phone had stopped ringing and his calendar was emptying out.

Prior to his promotion, he had worked extensively with a senior professional in his firm, and had led most of the execution of the actual work, which his colleague had sold. His firm had reshuffled relationship responsibilities, and he was now being asked to develop business with a group of new clients, most of whom did not know him from Adam. He was, in effect, leaving behind some very senior-level client relationships – albeit as the number two from his firm – and facing the challenge of building new ones.

This is not an untypical situation as we progress in our careers, especially in a large firm. Let's look at the various strategies you have at your disposal to face my client's challenge. With a systematic approach, success here is nearly assured.

1. Leverage your current relationships to create new ones.

The most powerful introduction to a client who does not know you comes from one who does know you and the quality of your work. You need to make a list of every current or past client whom you believe could provide a referral and who may have a connection into one of the new clients you would like to meet with. After all, you've done great work for these clients at a very senior level – they should be quite comfortable connecting you to someone they already know. Systematically contact each one of them, and set up a meeting.

Spontaneous word-of-mouth referrals do happen, but if you ask you'll get five times as many as you will just waiting and doing nothing. (Professionals who excel at getting referrals often mention this at the start of the relationship: e.g., "My practice is based mostly on word-of-mouth, and in a year – assuming you’re are as delighted with our work as my other clients are – I will probably ask you for an introduction to someone who could similarly benefit from our approach...")

2. Offer your clients a fresh perspective on your sector or practice area.

Take a deep dive and invest some serious time on this. Interview key internal and external players to build a fresh perspective that you can use to create demand for meetings and provide you with interesting talking points. Don't send out some big document or research report – clients get more written reports than they can handle. Give them a teaser in an email, phone call, or letter and then use the point of view you've developed to create a dynamic face-to-face meeting.

One of the fundamental principles of effective salesmanship is curiosity. You need something that is evocative or controversial that will evoke your clients' interest in having a meeting in the first place. Surveys can be an excellent way to gather this type of data, and the sample size doesn't have to be as large as you think to be credible – quite a few business books have been written based on just 25 or 30 executive interviews.

3. Use your firm's network to get both advice and introductions.

If you work for a firm that has multiple offices, practices, industry groups, or product areas you have an untapped resource at your disposal. It is highly likely that someone else at your firm knows the executives you would like to build a relationship with – or at least they may know someone at the company who can be a coach to you and/or make other subsequent introductions.

Identify others whose own networks encompass one or more of the clients you want to get to know. Also, get advice, selectively, from your senior people. If they don't have a direct contact themselves, they may know another client who does.

Be focused in your approach, and make it clear you've done your homework both about the companies and potential messages you might bring them: Go to a few of your most experienced, senior, client-facing executives, and ask: "There are two particular companies that I'm trying to build a relationship with...I've looked at several potential entry strategies, but hit a dead end. Any thoughts? What's worked for you in this type of situation? Who in our network do you think could help me?"

4. Find a coach.

You many not be able to reach, on your first try, the executive you want to meet. A coach can help introduce you to the right people, enable you to understand who's who in the organization, and generally advise you in developing and growing a relationship. A coach could be a lower-level professional, a former executive of the company, a board member who has had a good experience with your firm in the past or (as in 3) a colleague in your firm who already knows the organization. Always find yourself a coach.

5. Identify your prospects' "watering holes."

This is a classic although somewhat longer-term strategy. Where do these clients congregate? What do they read? How do they spend their time outside of work? Nowadays, there are so many specialized media and forums that it may well be possible to narrowly target some conferences, events, and publications that will allow you to meet these prospective clients.

6. Segment and prioritize.

You cannot go after 10 or 20 clients at once, so you need to set priorities.

Do some of them have strong, pre-existing relationships with one or more of your competitors, making it difficult or impossible to break in? Is there a conflict or dissatisfaction that will give you an entry? Would it make sense to first talk to the mid- or smaller-capitalization companies on your list, versus the largest ones? Which ones are geographically close to you? Which ones are going through turmoil caused by declining profits, competitive incursions, price competition, reorganization, or other events? Which of these clients is most ideal for you and your firm, given what you can offer?

You might want to identify three groups, and go after them in phases.

7. Be different and memorable in your approach to these clients.

A plain-vanilla letter asking for a meeting to become acquainted with you and your firm is not likely to get a lot of attention or interest from a busy top executive or CEO. Nor will sending a brochure – clients receive hundreds of these each year, and they all look similar. The same goes for a letter which says you "just got promoted and wanted to meet"...or that your boss is in town and you would like to get together with him.

If you send a letter, it needs to have a strong "hook" – something that will get the recipient's attention. I prefer leading with solid content, the offer of value-added ideas – but novelty approaches, if used judiciously, can work as well. A client of mine got the attention of Southwest Airlines former CEO and founder, Herb Kelleher, by having one of their associates run around in front of Southwest's headquarters building wearing a wild turkey suit (Kelleher's favorite bourbon, apparently). Others have sent letters in a box also containing a waste can with their company's logo on the side, and a line in the letter which read, "I know you probably put most unsolicited correspondence like this in the trash, so just in case, this letter comes with its own waste bin. That said, we believe that a brief meeting to discuss..."

While these more outlandish approaches may not appeal to you, the basic principle is the same: Evoke your prospective client's curiosity and get his or her attention. Of course, if you employ points one and three above, you won't need to be quite so creative – you'll already have a warmed up introduction.


Andrew Sobel is the leading authority on client relationships and the skills and strategies required to earn enduring client and customer loyalty. He is coauthor of Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Development Breakthrough Relationships (Simon & Schuster). He can be reached at (505) 982-0211 or by e-mail at andrew@andrewsobel.com www.andrewsobel.com

Published in Networking Today, June 2006.