Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Sales Speak: Relationship Building: Systemizing Prospect Engagement
A prospect has been identified and qualified. Now what? Building rapport with prospective or existing clients and referral sources requires intentional ongoing communication and patience. Relationship building with qualified targets is the longest stage of a sales cycle, sometimes taking up to two or three years to see results. When relationships fail to progress, it is most often due to a lack of follow-up.
Attorneys should be thoughtfully connecting with each qualified lead six times per year at minimum, with two of those times face-to-face. At times, outreach can feel awkward or even like an insurmountable hurdle because of time constraints. Fortunately, with minimal upfront investment time, systemizing one's outreach and identifying all resources available to leverage, can drastically improve results and help you add value to your targets.
Track
While it's impossible to know exactly how outreach to each contact will happen over the next year, it's important to plan for it and do it in a way that adds value to the person you're contacting. (The how is addressed later in this article.) Outreach should be treated like an important meeting or deadline and added to calendars with reminders, and a CRM if one is in place. Compile all targets by rank into one document (table or spreadsheet) for tracking purposes. Work with a business development colleague if you need help ranking contacts. At minimum, the document should include a target's name, company, rank, columns for each planned outreach (six minimum), and next steps. It can be helpful to have a column that records quick notes that include major events or personal details about the contact such as upcoming travel.
Be In the Know
Staying apprised of news and industry trends that impact prospects in real time creates opportunities to keep in touch in a meaningful way that adds value and shows that you are genuinely interested in their business and success. The key is to leverage technology to automate how we receive this information. Connect with each person on LinkedIn and follow the person's company. Check to see if your high priority targets are using other social media platforms like Twitter. If so, do the same as LinkedIn. Create Google alerts for the person and company. If one has access to law firm library services, ask what competitive intelligence tools are available. There are many tools that can send a customized rollup of news. All of this allows us to identify opportunities to thoughtfully reach out to prospects with minimal investment time.
This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
- Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
- Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
- Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the Office
A trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Bit Parts
Summary Judgment Denied Defendant in Declaratory Action by Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Play Seeking Amateur Theatrical Rights
Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.