Dateline: 06/15/97

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Put yourself in this scenario...

A business contact of many years calls you one afternoon and says, ``I have a client here who is interested in making a public offering and I wonder if you would have time to answer a couple of questions?"  If you are alert, you say immediately, ``I would be happy to, but what if I jump in a cab and come down to answer them in person?"  This really happened to a client of mine.  And the partner who did it won a very nice piece of business from that meeting.

Was that sales? Was it marketing? Or was it simply old-fashioned good customer service?  In this case, it was sales. The partner smelled an opportunity and knew that it's easier to make a sale face to face.  By going the extra mile, he demonstrated his client service style and converted the opportunity into a new client.

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The Image of Selling Can Be a Block
Many people have an image of ``selling" as something undignified or grasping or overly bold, and out of step with their own, more personal or low key way of interacting with clients and prospects.  The stereotypical door-to-door or late night TV high pressure sales person seems dramatically out of place professional services firms. Yet the techniques they use can be adapted successfully to the professional services environment.  And they are being adapted.  Most of the larger public accounting firms, for example, now have full time sales professionals, who are starting to pay big dividends.  The trend is definitely toward direct sales in most large firms today.  Importantly for you as a practitioner, however, individuals in firms are being asked regularly to get out and sell, too.  It's a trend that makes many lawyers and accountants uncomfortable and some downright angry. 

Marketing and Sales are Not the Same
Last week I talked about personal marketing and how it's important that personal marketing be tied into the overall marketing plan of the firm.  So is marketing the same as selling?  There is some confusion about the terms.  In many firms today, the word marketing is used instead of selling, because it puts a veneer over what is perceived to be slick, glib, insincere, high pressure tactics that most accountants and lawyers feel uncomfortable with.  Marketing and Sales are not the same. Marketing" is more like long-term planning.  Marketing means identifying a market you serve or want to serve, then finding out what they need or want to buy from a  firm like yours, then creating a product or service line to fill that need.  ``Sales" is moving products--or in your case, billable hours--out the door *now*, and all the efforts involved in making that happen. 

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Selling Can Be a Great Game
If you are competitive, then you probably find selling fun. It's a game of finding out what it will take to convince the prospect that they need your product or service, and then communicating a sense of urgency that they catch, making them want it *now*.  It's a kind of dignified courtship.

The reality is that all the contacts you have made over the years probably do use or could use some service that you or your firm offers.  The game and the puzzle come in figuring out would what each prospect needs, when they will need it, and what it will take to make your contact say ``Yes".  Sales is about systematically removing the obstacles and explaining the urgency so they can only say Yes.

The next time you are with a prospective client, try asking ``What would it take for you to hire my firm to do X?"  Pick something small if you are tentative.  Pick something bold if you are confident.  Many lawyers and accountants are hesitant to ask directly for work. If you do ask the question, however, you will get an answer.  And if that answer is positive, whip out that engagement letter you carry in your briefcase (you do, don't you?), and get a signature on the spot.

In selling one must learn to accept many Nos.  Rejection is hard to face, and keeps many people from trying to sell. If you can detach yourself from the feelings of rejection that go with a no, realize that you are offering something that your prospect could benefit from,  and focus on describing the genuine value or assistance your service will be for the client, you will find people willing to listen, and that is the start to winning more business. That Henry Ford was on to something.

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Do You Ask Enough Questions For Sales Success?
The best sales people listen more than they talk. Make it work for you!

Know Thy Customer: Questioning Tips to Help You Sell More
Great tips on how to question properly and get the information you need to help you demonstrate how your services can benefit the prospect.

How to Sell to Different People: The Mind Map
Seven types or phases that can help you understand who you are talking to and how to help them understand they need what you offer.

Increase Sales to Existing Clients
Timid about trying to sell to people you don't know? Talk to the ones you do!

The Sales Increase Analysis Test
Answer these 50 questions to see if you could benefit from outside assistance in increasing your firm's sales efforts.

How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
What distinct and appealing idea sets your practice apart? How do you know?

Ten Guerrilla Selling Tips
You know that you need to improve your selling techniques, but how? These 10 short tips are a fast fix.

Don't Be Afraid--Pick Up the Phone
Cold calls can be daunting.  But remember that people are just people, and persistence wins new clients.

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Copyright 1997 by Kaye Vivian (kvivian@cloud9.net).  All rights reserved.  Permission to reprint is granted provided this article is not altered and the copyright notice remains attached

Page last updated: January 4, 1999