After reading the 2010 study, “The High Growth Professional Services Firm“ from Hinge Marketing, I am excited that current client cultivation is one of the justified areas for high growth! As firms begin to define a strategic direction for growth, many times they do not take enough time to consider their current clients and the potential that lies there. Sometimes it is simply asking / informing the client.

Here are a few ways you can take your professional service firm to the next level (high growth may not come quickly, but it will come, if you stay the course):

1. Perform the first steps in a client evaluation – determine what your ideal client profile is and fire clients if necessary
2. Continue with a deep dive into the data you are analyzing to identify the potential opportunities within your current client base
3. Rank your clients from 1 – 1,000 or A-Z (create “above and beyond” initiatives to ensure the As are treated better than the Zs)
4. Identify ways to engage your current clients as referral sources
5. Again, ask the client to refer you to other clients who may benefit from your services
6. Finally, you cannot ignore new business acquisitions. Just employ inexpensive, yet personal, touches to achieve success without hard work!

For CPAs, Larry Bildstein, president and founder of The Whetstone Group, Inc., wrote a great article for the Journal of Accountancy, called “Retain Clients and Help Them Recover” about two years ago, that can help you understand the criteria involved in investing in your clients (this will also help with your client evaluation). Understanding the data behind your client base is imperative to fully engaging the right marketing and business development tactics that will guide your CPA firm, law firm, IT consulting firm or engineering firm to become a high growth organization.

So, start now to clearly understand your client base, identify the low hanging fruit and begin planning how you will market to these companies!

With the massive amounts of information that come to us each and every day – an equivalent of 174 newspapers of data – it is no wonder why client service has suffered! What it comes down to is simply not taking the time to learn about or acknowledge the accomplishments of your clients. Here are four ways you can rock your client’s world, with little effort:

1. Send the client a personal, handwritten note – With client relationship tools today, it is easy to learn (and track) personal information about your clients. For example, I have a client who mentioned to me the other day that she celebrates the day her adopted child came to her… so instead of the normal birthday parties, the adopted child gets to choose whatever she wants to do for her “celebration day.” Last week, it was hitting Golden Corral for lunch (not a preference of the parents, but an adventure nonetheless). How impressed would your client be if you took note and sent them a congratulations note around a special day like this every year!
2. Acknowledge their accomplishments with a phone call (or message) – Let’s face it, there are awards and recognitions for all sorts of things. So, when you see a client has been recognized for being outstanding, call and praise their accomplishment. Not only will you earn brownie points, but you will be developing a much stronger relationship by learning more about the client’s passion to achieve recognition for their company or themselves – and these conversations can lead into what else they want to do!
3. Special event / occasion fruit baskets – Being in a face-paced society, we have all taken advantage of the quickie shops that have horrible snacks for our health. Consider this: Send a way cool edible arrangement to your client for a random holiday (I really love Ground Hogs Day. If you do too, send your client a themed basket of berries, chocolate covered nuts, raisins or other creative treat – things a groundhog would like to eat).
4. Say thank you – and mean it – If you run into your client in the grocery store, at a restaurant or any other non-business place, be sure to thank them for the business and if you feel comfortable, ask them to refer you to their contacts who could use a firm like yours. After all, if you don’t ask, they’ll never know you are seeking to grow your business.

Without a personal note, phone call, fruit basket or a simple thank you, your client may think that you do not care about them or their business. Is that what you want?

If you are on a budget, consider alternatives that may be just as effective, but less costly. One of my favorites is when a friend of mine had an issue with her new washer. After several technicians came to her house on several occasions to fix the broken part (and she took off work several days to be there for them), she received a telephone call from the company asking her if everything was fixed to her satisfaction. Once she said everything was fine and she was glad the determined technicians figured out the issue, she received a brief survey in the mail (next day) with a bag of M&Ms simply saying “we are sorry for the inconvenience and if there is anything we can do, don’t hesitate to let us know.” She still tells the M&M story to her friends, family and colleagues. What a powerful testimonial and reminder from that company – even though things did not go smoothly, they made it right with a bag of chocolates… and so can you! (Consider personalized M&Ms for those special clients).

On April 17, 2012, Marketing with Class’s President, Michelle Class, will present: “Marketing Planning: Where Traditional Meets Social.” This session will be presented to the consultants / freelancers of ProjectConnect Cincinnati. During the session, attendees will learn that social media has definitely earned a place in our marketing mix but if you abandon traditional initatives, you may be focused on the wrong efforts for your business.  During this two hour session attendees will:

• Understand the elements necessary to build a strong marketing plan
• Draft the structure for their company’s marketing plan
• Learn which elements should be incorporated in their plan

By merging traditional and social media, your strategy will be strong and focused to ensure success, while avoiding wasting precious time.

Michelle will be co-presenting with Bob Romell, National Sales Director of Web Media Expert.

Watch our blog for an upcoming article on the items we’ve presented in this session!

Michelle Class, President of Marketing with Class and Jodie Binning, President of Three Point Marketing have partnered to present a section on LinkedIn at the March 24, 2012 social media marketing workshop, sponsored by the SBDC of Ohio. The event will bring experts together to discuss the popular social media sites: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

We are delighted to assist the SBDC and look forward to meeting the small business owners who have helped secure a SOLD OUT event! We’ll see you on Saturday morning at the SBDC’s Union Institute location. Event promotion.

Have you ever asked the question, “What would it take for us to fire Client A?” You may be one of the lucky companies who thoroughly enjoys each and every customer you  have; however, if that is not the case, you  need to establish an evaluation process to get the time-sucking, profit-draining, ruthless customers off your roster.

Evaluating your top customers is usually a very challenging task. Some companies simply use profitability measures, but many others use a combination of profitability, relationship and future potential as their measurements. If you are ready to measure, manage and fire some customers, you need to develop a customer evaluation tool.  A customer evaluation tool can help you:

• establish what “really” makes a successful customer
• learn which customers have significant growth potential
• identify “true” key customers
• decide where to invest your marketing / sales resources
• gain new perspective, creating an ICP / “ideal customer profile” (great resource for identifying your ICP for TBK Consult)

Defining an ICP
Ask yourself the big question, “what characteristics are similar amongst the top 20% of our customers?” (Read more about Praeto’s 80/20 Rule) You will quickly come to a conclusion and the characteristics that define your ICP.

You can start by discussing the following objective and selective criteria questions:

Objective

• Does this customer have potential to produce over $XX,XXX in revenue?
• Do they pay on time and in full?
• What is the customer’s profitability / stability?
• Does this customer value our relationship / product / service?

Subjective

• Does the customer accept or reject our guidance?
• Does the customer call us first?
• What’s the customer’s reputation in their industry?
• Is the customer respectful and willing to tackle the hard issues with us?
• Is there potential for a long-term relationship?
• Is the customer organized / prepared (not always in “need it now” mode)?

These questions can help determine which of your customers are keepers or the ones you’ll send bye-bye.

As your company evaluates whether to adopt a measurement tool for evaluating your existing customers, keep in mind that a team approach is the most effective way of moving forward. If you engage all essential team members, you will find that collaboration, buy-in and candid discussions will strengthen your team (and your customer roster). Another important note, remember during the process, there is no wrong answer – it’s just data collection – in order to find the customers who are truly “worth the effort.” The go on, fire the ones who don’t fit!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been involved in conversations with friends, family members and even strangers about hiring a life coach. At first, I have to admit, I wasn’t clear on what a life coach was or why anyone would need one. After all, we all set goals, plan initiatives to achieve and meet them, right?! Ha! After typing that I realized very quickly, that I don’t do any such thing (I do some, but not with consistency), but if I had someone poking, prodding and guiding my choices in life, I may not reach the same conclusions I do on a daily basis. So, here’s what I did… I headed to Google to learn more about, as journalism majors know, the 5 Ws and an H about life coaches, and I’m sharing it with you!

What is a life coach? Lifecoaching.com presented the following definition: “The coaching process addresses specific personal projects, business successes, general conditions and transitions in the client’s personal life, relationships or profession by examining what is going on right now, discovering what your obstacles or challenges might be, and choosing a course of action to make your life be what you want it to be.” For me, the words that I bolded are the most important to my current life situations. Here’s why:

• Personal projects - Being a mother of three and wife of a determined man who is rising quickly in his profession and reaching all his goals (personal and professional), I’ve realized the I am not doing enough for myself. The personal projects that could be on my bucket list, aren’t, but they should be. I started my own consulting company over a year ago and wow has this changed my perspectives on life/work balance, building/maintaining relationships, and most of all made me think about my goals for myself, my family and my company.
• Transitions - Whether you are transitioning from college to the “real world,” from a Fortune 500 company to becoming an entrepreneur, from being a stay-at-home-Mom back into the workforce, or even from a career into retirement, you never know what life will bring to you. As each phase of my life transitions (and let me tell you, it does constantly), there are always positives and there are also learning experiences. One could not exist without another and I would not be the person I am today without all these.
• Relationships or Profession - As much as life transitions occur, so do relationships. How you deal with, evaluate and build relationships shows your character. If you are someone who values relationships, you know that each one creates a valuable experience that enhances the ones to come. This is true in your personal and professional lives – be sure you structure relationships on what you want out of life and how you want to be treated. Do not let relationships run you… you are you… so run them the way you want. After all, you are in control of your own destiny, relationships and professional development.

When is the right time to hire a life coach? If you are reading this article, you must be close! I never saw the value of having someone else look at my life, as an outsider, and provide advice to me – at least not in my teens, 20s or 30s, but now that I’ve officially entered the 40s, I appreciate what others provide to me in the form of feedback, guidance, advice and criticism (corrective, of course). So, if you are willing and able to listen intently to how others view you, ready to make some changes and can’t wait until you reinvest in yourself, then the time is now!

Where do I find a life coach and who is the right life coach for me? If you are like me and do not want to be consumed by the plethora of information on the web, then check out these Life Coach Questions to Ask. This is where I have started developing the criteria as to what my ideal coach would look like. (You are correct, I have not chosen one yet, but am currently researching)!

How do I structure the relationship with my life coach? In order to structure the relationship, ask yourself the following questions (again, this will help identify what type of coach you are seeking).

1. Do you prefer intimate or public settings for sessions? (make sure the coach is also comfortable in the setting you choose)
2. Are you more effective in a group or one-on-one session?
3. How does the life coach want to work? What process do they follow to make them most productive?
4. How will a coach help determine and achieve the “right” goals?

As you identify what type of coach you are seeking and what your personal and professional goals are, you will be armed with the right information to start the search for the best coach to meet your needs.

As a marketing consultant, I am constantly advising my clients on how they can market themselves – without breaking the bank or wasting too much time. So, below are four tips to help small business market themselves in 2012. Here are seven more ideas to consider too!

1. Develop a way to market to your existing customers – My favorite example is referral cards. As you know, the cost to print business cards is minimal. So, why don’t you design a business card sized referral card? It can be as simple as: front side – your current business card; back side – text that simply says “Referred by ____________.” Be sure to include your incentive on the card! So, if you are offering current customers 10% off their monthly statement for referring business to you, then make sure it’s on the card – that way all new customers will be enticed to help your business grow.
2. Populate your online space - Complete your Facebook and LinkedIn pages. You’ve planned to do it, but you haven’t, so now is the time. I don’t mean create a plan to populate them twice a week or more, I just want you to take a look at your current social media pages and examine it from your customer’s perspective. Are you saying what you need to say? This should only take one-hour of your time, so, do it now!
3. Network – Pitch your company, yourself and your capabilities to your network! Tell friends, family and your employees that you are seeking to grow! Word of mouth marketing is the best marketing for small businesses. As people enjoy positive experiences, ask them to share your name and company with their network.
4. Step back and evaluate your current marketing initiatives - Whether you are currently advertising, sending direct mailers or telemarketing, your company needs you to stay at a high level. Take a step back from the day-to-day and look at your marketing activities from a 10,000 foot view. Make the evaluation simple by making a list of:
   • “What’s working?”
   • “What’s not?”
   • “What do I think could work?”
   • “What has worked that I thought wouldn’t work or that I never considered?”

Once you’ve gone through these four tips, schedule 2-3 hours on a Friday afternoon to focus on your business – do not let anything interrupt your planning – this is a critical step to ensure your company is positioned to grow into the future. You owe it to yourself, your employees and your company to take time now to plan for 2012.

“Michelle is that missing component I knew I was missing to take my business to the next level.  It’s more than her training,  I know for me it is the way she is wired, it clicks.” ~ Mary Sequin, Mary Makes It Happen, Food Stylist and Trainer

This summer, my daughter started expressing her entrepreneurial spirit. Though she is only 8, she has watched me move from corporate America to running my own business. This transition has been over the past year, so she has been gleaning ideas from me on how to run her business venture (well, she’s had a few).

Her first venture was to open a restaurant with outdoor dining on our patio, called “Dining with Class.” Her enthusiasm quickly became infectious; her creativity amazing; and well, the operations pretty incredible.  She, of course, was the owner / in charge of operations. Her dad was the chef, her brother a server and I (Mom) was tagged with marketing the restaurant, funny isn’t it?

Then her passion moved to opening “Lawn Care with Class.” This was a much easier business; however, she’s decided to add a partner (a 9-year old friend on the street). From running the business perspective, it was just the two partners who would get the jobs and dad who was in charge of doing all the work! Again, great spirit, but reality was a little blurry.

With her mind racing onto her next venture, she wasn’t aware how she was affecting me and my business! She had raised three concepts that really mattered to my business:

1. Instilling a Passion to Succeed - By sharing her excitement with family, friends and neighbors, she soon had them asking us when these companies would be accepting new visitors / customers. Her “sales force” would have spread news about her quickly!
2. Strive to Be the Best – By focusing on securing the most qualified people, learning from them, listening to them and becomiong an employer that no one wants to leave, she was creating a strong team from the start and planning to only add people who will increase the strength of the team.
3. Focus on the Details – Though my daughter has very little business planning experience, I realized that her instinct of focusing on the small things built relationships and trust which cemented customers that will last a lifetime.

Not that we will be opening our family restaurant or a lawn care service anytime soon, but it is amazing to me how the basic principles of business have been re-taught to me by my 8 year old daughter. She’s an amazing person and I cannot wait until the day when she joins my business! BTW, it may be soon, since she’s already taking keyboarding classes in the 3rd grade!

I visited a reputable company today only to find me waiting on the owner who did not realize that we had a meeting.  What’s funny is the reasoning…which we can all relate! He just purchased a new Droid smartphone, not all appointments were perfectly transferred, and well, the past few days have been transitional for him!

I get it! I did the same thing about a year ago. Moved into the BlackBerry world and began living my life by the device attached to my palm (or in my pocket). Mishaps happen and we can all learn from them.

In this situation, the owner was a genuine communicator. He told me about his technology transitions, we shared a good laughe about how the “old way” of doing things has gone by the wayside and that we rely on technology to guide us through the day, schedule our lives – personal and professional, and well, even help raise our kids! The reminders regarding my kids activities I could never give up… and if I didn’t have my device, I could not keep up!

Too many times we find ourselves rushed with email, rushing to the next meeting/event/activity/etc. and forgetting to transfer that one important email onto our calendar. So, as a very organized individual, this drives me crazy!

What needs to happen to fix these mishaps? Should we go back to the confirming appointments on Monday morning for the week? Should we actually “call” using the same telephone to confirm our appointments? What do you think? What ways are you managing your communications?