Is Your Pursuit Of New Clients Really Organized?
Clients come up with the darndest questions. A recent prospect put off retaining us since they were already assembling a list of current and recent clients. And then he called and asked, “What do we do now?” Validating the real potential is the first step, not assembling the list. For each prospect, I suggested asking questions such as:
1. How would you define the current relationship?
2. What is the client’s satisfaction level with your work? Can you be sure?
3. Do you know what activities are considered important by your client? And how would they rank you?
4. Before approaching the client, does your relationship need reinforcing?
5. What internal pressures are on your client?
6. Who is the real final decision maker on your retention?
7. What other firms does the client use and how do you stack up?
There are many more questions but once they are answered fully, the pursuit and closing of new work can move along rapidly.
I’ll let you know how this client fares.
