Listening to Your Clients

I have been quite busy over the last week or so with a new client, hence the gap in between posts. The good news is, I can relate this directly to a marketing tip. The marketing tip today is always listen to your clients.
Marketing ultimately boils down to communicating your value to a prospect or client. It is impossible to do this well without listening to a client's needs.

Whether you are selling turkey or telescopes, being in tune with your clients is the key to client retention. For example, in my consulting capacity, I have come across situations where the client wanted a project completed in a way that was not necessarily intuitive to me. In these instances, it turned out that the client was driven by needs that were not immediately apparent.

Actively listening to the client and following up with probing questions will allow you to elicit the client's true objectives. Remember to hone your listening skills and utilize them in your direct interactions with clients.

The Science of Follow-up

Benjamin Franklin said that "energy and persistance conquer all things." This statement rings very true in the business world. We all appreciate the current economic situation, so I won't go too off course here, but in these times you cannot afford to fall short, because competition is stiffer and there is more at stake than before.
One tactic that will help you succeed is effective follow-up. Good follow-up practices can benefit you in many aspects of your life but are critical when dealing with clients or prospects. How many new business leads exist out there that are not followed up on properly, while marketers and business owners complain about the tough business they are in? How many times have companies made one phone call to a busy client, leaving a message and not trying again?

Effective follow-up is a key part of a disciplined marketing approach

If you are a plaintiff's firm, maybe you received an e-mail question from a claimant who represents your next multi-million case. If you do not have a process in place for your staff to aggressively pursue and qualify the opportunity (I'm talking 100 times out of 100) you may lose that huge case to another firm.

A defense firm seeking new business may be sending literature to an insurance manager, and possibly placing a follow-up call. How about an integrated campaign that combines multiple mailings, calls, surveys and invitations to various events? Much of marketing is about being in front of the customer when they are ready to buy from you. Without follow-up, you may be hitting customers at the wrong time.

Same applies to vendors. You get leads from the Internet, conferences, mailings, ads - are you comfortable with your follow-up process? If someone is not interested today, do you have a consistent way of engaging them again in 6 months to share new developments? When you introduce a new service offering?

Also, if your offering is a little complex, specialized, or otherwise not self-explanatory you may need a face to face or Web presentation for your prospect to truly get your value proposition. In this case, considerable follow-up is essential to land that meeting and differentiate yourself from the clutter that is out there.

Strength in Numbers

Why is it that Fortune 500 companies can't seem to get enough of gobbling each other up? Companies merge, the large company now acquires a smaller one, then another, until the company becomes too large and diverse to effectively manage. Before you know it the company is involved in an accounting scandal that the CEO "never knew about", or the company falls to pieces as a result of risky subprime bets. Then, guess what? A white knight swoops in and... yup, you got it - acquires the collapsed business.
While there are many lessons (Do's and Don't Do's) to be learned from the world of mergers and acquisitions, here are a few reasons why companies choose to merge.

- Consolidate redundant functions and cut costs
- Gain tax advantages
- Increasing market power
- Compensating for weakness in key areas

How does this apply to litigation marketing?
Tip: There is strength in numbers.

The same principles that apply to these large companies also make sense for smaller entities. I have seen a perfect example of this in a NY no-fault/PIP firm that has brilliantly combined partner merger activity, superior marketing and client communications, technological efficiency and operational exellence to blow their competition away and gobble up market share. The merger was the catalyst for everything else that followed.

They combined one partner's marketing expertise, with another's client base, another partner brought strong operational capabilities to the table and together they created efficiencies and pooled resources. This in turn allowed the partners to focus on their respective areas of expertise, cut costs, increase marketing spending and it wasn't long after until no firm in the marketplace could keep up and they put much of their competition out of business.

Now, I am not suggesting that mergers, or even joint ventures are for everyone. In the legal field, or even as a legal vendors, getting in bed with the wrong partner can be disastrous. However, it is important to be mindful of the flip side of this coin. Make sure that you do not get so caught up in your business routine, that you ignore opportunities to strengthen your firm's or company's strategic position - your competitors may be doing just that!