In the first of a two-part feature on how companies can best approach the search for new clients, we explore the importance of being process focused, rather than results focused.
SEEKING out new clients can be a costly exercise, in terms both of time and marketing outlay. This makes it important that businesses have a clear picture of who their prospective clients are likely to be before embarking on a campaign to add new clients to the roster.
Being able to accurately identify prospective clients can come to pass only if you already have a sound understanding of your current clients.
Many companies, though, are in a poor position to be able to judge prospective clients, because they’re guilty of so-called ‘rowing boat’ management. This means they’re in charge of a vessel going forward but they themselves are backwards-facing.
“Ask a question of such a company like ‘How is business development going?’ and they’ll relate to the results they’ve produced to date,” says, David Tovey, of UK-based clients consultancy, The Pace Partners. “Good, bad or indifferent, there’s nothing that can be done to influence the future. If results are poor, someone senior might instruct everyone to get out there and sell even harder, but this is unlikely to have a great impact.”
Tovey warns that if the only measures a businesses has in place are gauges of output then it is ill-placed to control its future.
“Measures need to be instituted to ensure the quality and quantity of inputs is also correct,” he says. “Today’s results are a poor indicator of future results. The indicators that help me sleep at night are those relating to the effective management of business and client development.”
Prospecting for new clients
Businesses looking to add to their client roster are effectively designing its client base of the future. “The most problematic task is deciding who not to invest time with,” says Tovey.” This is a process he calls ‘prospecting’.
Tovey explains: “If you’re to be in control of your destiny and your client base of the future, you need to define the best of these prospects.”
Only once this has been achieved is a company is in a position to move to the promoting stage of client acquisition
Begin the search for new clients by selecting the best prospects
The first step is to avoid signing up a client that is a bad for your talents, because your efforts will go unappreciated.
“Be strategic in your choice of target clients, rather than reacting to every invitation to tender,” says Tovey. This, he says, will mean you have control over the nature of the business relationships being entered into.
Filter factors in the search for new clients
A filter can help identify a prospective client as either easier or more difficult to approach, or as more (or less) interesting than other potential prospects.
Tovey outlines a number of questions that can help filter out unsuitable prospective clients:
1.Are the client’s services a good match for the capabilities of the business?
2.Is the decision making process tangible and influenceable?
3.Do the prospective clients operate in an area in which the business has a track record and credibility?
4.Is the work of the prospective client of interest to the business?
5.Do you know key people within the prospective client company?
ABOUT THE PACE PARTNERS
The Pace Partners is a UK-based consultancy that advises and coaches businesses on how to win more of the right work from the right clients at the right level of fees.
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16 Nov 2009
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