All professionals must have had the following experience: You are responsible for a piece of work about which you just cannot seem to get excited. It is not that the task is too difficult, too easy, or even inherently uninteresting, just that the spark is not there. Nevertheless, being dutiful, you sit at your desk … Read more

In a variety of contexts, I have asked members of professional service firms to write down what they have learned from their activities over the past year that has made them better at what they do – to identify something they learned about serving clients, managing projects, or approaching certain matters in a new way. … Read more

One senior professional puts it this way: “If I want to help my people acquire the skills I have, I must get them involved in planning the work, understanding how their task fits in, and interpreting the discoveries made as the project unfolds. There is no use in their sitting in on client meetings unless … Read more

“The problem, you see, is this. I’ve had lots of interesting experiences, but I’m not sure I’ve figured out what they taught me. I’ve had my share of successes, but I’ve never paused to reflect on why that particular assignment went well – I was always too busy dashing on to the next assignment. And, … Read more

As I worked to address these problems in subsequent years, more harsh realities about professional life became evident. Unfortunately, I discovered that it was harder to generate asset-building work than to sell what I was already known for, already had methodologies for, already had written articles about, already had references for. If I took the … Read more

I was not only very busy (“highly chargeable”), hut, because I was being hired to do things that I already had a reputation for, I had relatively few problems with fee levels (I had a “high realization percentage). I made a lot of money, more than I had hoped for. All seemed to be going … Read more

A perfect place to get junior professionals (and other marketing novices) involved is with existing clients. Frequently, firms attempting to obtain greater involvement in practice development find that there is less resistance to (and more enthusiasm for) learning the best ways to maintain good client relations than there is to learning “how to sell.” Yet … Read more

Some time ago, I was conducting a weekend-long workshop with a major professional service firm on the topics of marketing and selling their services. Many subjects were covered, including strategic positioning, targeting of key prospects, selling skills, client service, and the relative merits of seminars, brochures, and newsletters. Toward the end of this two-day workshop, … Read more

Marketing works when it demonstrates, not when it asserts. Marketing tactics that illustrate one’s competence (such as speeches, seminars, and articles) are infinitely more powerful than those which assert it (such as brochures, direct mail, and “cold calls” to “let me tell you more about our firm.”) Excerpted from ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm’ by … Read more

Here’s what I want if I ask you to make a presentation. Sit down, distribute your materials in advance, and let’s go through them together. Don’t lower the lights, put up your slides, stand up, and walk me through your canned speech. It makes me feel like I am being lectured to. If I want … Read more