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Becoming a Trusted Client Partner

Becoming a Trusted Client Partner: 5 Steps for Institutionalizing and Growing Client Relationships

By Andrew Sobel

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Editor’s Note: This article is the second part of a three-part, exclusive RainToday series based on Andrew’s new book, All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships. RainToday members can click here to read part one.

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Why do some client relationships stumble along while others take off and grow? High quality work is always the starting point, and being in the right place at the right time—such as during a client crisis—can help. But there’s much more. In this second article in this series on becoming a trusted client partner, I focus on a second key strategy: Institutionalization. Relationship growth will always be gated by the specific expertise of the lead professional in charge of the client, unless he or she takes specific steps to become a door-opener rather than a gate-keeper.

Institutionalizing and Growing Client Relationships

One of the hardest journeys is evolving from an individual relationship to an institutional one, in the process broadening and growing the relationship. I like to think of this journey as a progression, from Contact—which is Level 1—to Trusted Partner, or Level 6:

Pre-client:

Level 1—Contact: You may have hundreds or even thousands of contacts—people you’ve met once or twice but with whom you otherwise have no particular relationship.

Level 2—Acquaintance: Over time, you may get to know some of your contacts, and they may even become friends.

Client:

Level 3—Expert for Hire: You’ve been hired to solve a specific problem. About you, the client would say, “He’s very knowledgeable in that area, and did excellent work on a project for us.”

Level 4—Steady Supplier: At this level you’ve earned repeat business. The client might say, “We’ve had a relationship for a while now. She and her firm do a great job. We’ll continue to use them in their area of expertise.”

Level 5—Trusted Advisor: In order to reach Trusted Partner, you’ve got to pass through this level. It’s an important milestone, and by itself is an accomplishment. The client will say, “I’ve known him for a long time. He’s superb at what he does, and has great business sense. I really trust his judgment, and will definitely use him as a sounding board for tough issues.”

Level 6—Trusted Partner: At this stage the relationship is broad and deep. There are many-to-many relationships, and the client probably uses a wide range of service from you. In talking about their trusted partnership relationships, clients have often said to me something like this: “We view them as a long-term partner in growing our business. They’ve built many strong relationships with our people and they consistently add value. I feel that we get the best that their firm can offer.”

In studying a large number of these trusted client partnerships, I have observed the consistent use of five specific growth strategies or pathways. These are:

1. Relationship Expansion: This means building many-to-may relationships with the client’s organization, and also expanding and strengthening your internal relationships at your firm. As one chief financial officer put it, “When we make a decision about which firm to go with for a major transaction or project, I get all of my staff together, and every head must nod.” It’s no longer about just a single connection. On the other side, my research shows that your internal connections—your ability to identify and draw in the right colleagues and firm resources to the relationship—become essential to successful relationship expansion, especially as the size and scope of the relationship grows.
2. Capabilities Expansion: Clients like to pigeon-hole their external advisors, and it’s your job to demonstrate your breadth. You do this, first of all, by connecting to your client’s agenda and being agile in talking about his or her broad business issues; and then building trust in your ability to help address them. You can develop this trust by showcasing your firm’s capabilities.

   This can be done in many different ways. You might bring in other colleagues who are “branded experts”; introduce your client to another client who has used you for a broader range of services; invest time to develop an incisive point of view on an issue of importance to your client—I call this the “deep dive”; or even organize an all-day workshop around a specific topic where you bring in your experts to meet with their counterparts in the client’s organization.

   Remember that “cross selling” rarely works—it’s a seriously discredited notion. Integrated or solution selling does work, where you identify a need, illustrate how you can meet it, build trust in your capability, and then allow the client to become a buyer. Most professionals know they should be doing this, but their “expert” mindset gets in the way.

3. Relationship Management Intensity: To go from good to great with a client, you have to become much more focused and systematic about a broad set of relationship management activities. These include regular communications, formal expectations setting, systematic orchestration of many-to-many relationships, and so on. At the Expert for Hire, Steady Supplier, and Trusted Advisor levels, you can get away with low-key, ad-hoc, informal relationship management—but that’s not sufficient to sustain a Trusted Partnership.
4. Team Leadership: Trusted Client Partnerships are built by teams, not one or two individuals, and you want your client relationship to become a place where the best professionals in your firm aspire to work. In any professional services firm, all of the associates know which partners are awful to work for and which ones create a great environment on their teams—and they avoid the former like the plague. You have to go from simply staffing a project to leading and inspiring a team, coaching the individuals on it, and showing a keen interest in their personal development.
5. Client Account Planning: Effective client account planning is the fuel that energizes the first four growth pathways. Remember that “no client plan survives contact with the client.” Account planning should be a dynamic process that involves the client and creates an ongoing dialogue that focuses on five key questions:
   • What is this client’s agenda? What are the most challenging issues that the client faces, and how can we help?
   • What are our aspirations for this relationship?
   • Which potential opportunities do we want to invest in, and what actions can we take to pursue them?
   • What individual relationships do we need to develop and/or deepen?
   • Do we have the right team in place to grow this client relationship? How can we best leverage the people, ideas, and resources of the firm to help this client achieve its goals?

Two other important factors underlie client relationship growth. The first is one you can control—it’s focus. These large-scale relationships just don’t develop without a significant concentration of resources. One of my clients, for example, invested one full year of a partner’s time to build a relationship with a major Fortune-100 company. It paid off, ultimately, with a $20 million consulting assignment. It’s an extreme case, but a noteworthy one that also illustrates the need for risk syndication—for indemnifying individual professionals who make these investments—when trying to build Level 6 relationships.

The second factor has to do with the ambition of your client. Ralph Shrader, the chief executive of Booz Allen Hamilton, put it this way to me: “In order to build a broad-based, institutional relationship, you have to have a client who is intent on accomplishing his goals but who also sees himself as part of a larger mission. The client has to realize he is on a bigger stage and can accomplish something very significant.”

15 Ways To Improve Your E-mail Delivery Rates

15 Ways To Improve Your E-mail Delivery Rates

By Alan Sharpe

Delivering e-mail newsletters and sales messages to opt-in subscribers and clients is getting more exasperating—and more expensive—by the day. Delivery rates for e-mail have gone through the virtual floor. According to MarketingSherpa, one out of every six people who asked to be on your mailing list won’t receive your e-mail newsletter or marketing message because a spam filter blocks it by mistake.

Why You’re Just Not Getting Through To Them

As you probably know, the challenge you are facing is primarily spam filters, electronic and human. And no wonder. Consider these sobering numbers:

• 10 out of 12 messages reviewed are considered spam (Postini.com).
• Average users receive 42 unwanted sales pitches a day (Jupiter Research).
• 70% of all e-mail messages will be spam by 2007 (Radicati Group).

Your e-mails fail to reach your subscribers for three basic reasons. Either the e-mail is blocked by the subscriber’s ISP or enterprise firewall (in which case it never gets delivered), the e-mail is blocked by the subscriber’s spam filter (in which case it gets delivered but is never seen) or the e-mail is deleted by an irritable subscriber with an overzealous delete-key-finger who does not recognize your From: address or mistakes your e-mail subject line for something unwelcome.

But take heart. You can employ the following tactics today to increase your e-mail deliverability scores and reach your newsletter subscribers and contacts with the e-mail messages they have asked you to wing their way.

1. Hire Someone To Monitor Your Mail.

   Your most expensive option is to retain the services of a third-party vendor to monitor your e-mail deliverability. For a fee, ReturnPath.net, PiperSoftware.com, Deliverability.com, DeliveryMonitor.com and other companies will seed your mailing list with hundreds of e-mail addresses from a variety of domains. When your e-mail arrives, these firms record the time, count the number of e-mails that escaped the spam filters, and generate a report that shows deliverability scores for each ISP. These reports help you notice which ISPs are blocking your messages or are only allowing a few to get through before blocking the rest. You can then take the steps needed to improve deliverability.

2. Test Your E-Mail Messages For Spam Before Sending.

   The above companies and a host of smaller software firms let you run your e-mail message by a spam filter before sending. They search for free, buy now and other words that trigger spam filters. That way, you can see if your message is likely to be flagged as spam somewhere enroute, and tweak where needed to improve your score before hitting Send. Try the free service at www.ezinecheck.com.

3. Make Sure Your ISP Is Not On A Blacklist.

   Spammers may have abused the servers of the autoresponder or listserver service that you use. As a result, the major ISPs may have blacklisted or blocked e-mails from these servers. To discover if you are blacklisted, find the IP address of the e-mail server and do a spam database lookup at www.DNSstuff.com or www.OpenRBL.org.

4. Slow Down Your Email Send Rate.

   Some ISPs set a threshold for how many e-mails you can send during one session. If you exceed this threshold, their software flags you as a spammer and blocks the remainder of your messages. One way around this wall is to send your messages in small bursts, say 200 at a time, with a pause of a few minutes between bursts. The other solution is to host your list on a reputable listserver. The more popular ones include Constant Contact, AWeber, Topica, and GotMarketing Campaigner.

5. Send Your E-Mail When It’s Most Likely To Get Read.

   If you send your message to businesses on a Friday afternoon, chances are that your recipients won’t check their e-mail until Monday morning. Your message will be buried way down the list with a ton of spam ahead of it (assuming the recipient’s inbox is sorted by date). The most recent messages will get the attention, and your message will likely get overlooked or deleted in the rush to start work. The open rate for e-mail is strongest within the first two days of delivery. Then it drops off a cliff.

6. Mail On The Best Days.

   Online marketers have discovered over the years that B-to-B e-mails are read most often when they arrive on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, around noon. Mondays are too busy. And Fridays are too close to the golf course.

7. Use The Right E-Mail Service.

   Choose a reputable service provider who is respected by the major ISPs. They will work on your behalf to keep you off blacklists and deliver your messages on time.

8. Help Subscribers Change Addresses.

   In every e-mail message, tell your subscribers where they need to go to change their address or modify their subscription. You’ll reduce the number of bounce-backs you receive each mailing.

9. Use Creative Copy Tactics To Circumvent Spam Filters.

   Spam filters block your e-newsletters and marketing messages in a number of ways, and one of them is looking for words that are found in most spam. These include perfectly legitimate words and phrases, such as free, opportunity, multi-level marketing (okay, that one is debatable), compare rates and free installation. Most of these words you can manage by employing a thesaurus. For example, instead of saying free, say complimentary or no charge.

10.  Get Your Subscribers To Whitelist You.

When your subscribers opt-in to your list, immediately tell them to add your sending e-mail address to their whitelist or allowed senders list so your messages are never blocked by the subscriber’s spam filters.

11.  Use A Distinctive, Predictable Subject Line.

Include a phrase in every subject line that shows at a glance who you are and what your message is about. Subscribers get used to recognizing each message from you. For example, one popular e-newsletter includes the phrase DM News-iMarketing News Daily in every e-mail subject line.

12.  Welcome New Subscribers Immediately.

As soon as someone signs up for your e-newsletter or opts-in to your list, send them a welcome e-mail. Immediately establish a connection between their opt-in action and your e-mail that confirms their membership.

13.  Make Your E-Mail Welcome Message Look Like Your Sign-Up Page.

Help new subscribers to recognize you in their in-boxes by branding your online sign-up page and your welcome e-mail with the same colors, images and typography.

14.  Send From The Same Domain That Signs Them Up.

The domain in your welcome message and subsequent messages should match the URL of the webpage that subscribers used to opt-in to your list. Otherwise, they may not recognize you as the sender and they will delete your message by mistake.

15.  Consistently Use The Same From: Address

Keep your From: address constant. This helps subscribers who have added your e-mail address to their whitelist or “allowed senders” list.

Statisitics

• 0.3 per cent of all road accidents in Canada involve a moose.
• 13 people a year are killed by vending machines falling on them.
• 4 per cent of the U.S. population are vegetarians.
• 40 per cent of cat and dog owners carry pictures of their pets in their wallets.
• 40 per cent of women have hurled footwear at a man.
• 50 per cent of bank robberies take place on Fridays.
• 70 per cent of all boats sold are used in fishing.
• 90 per cent of women who walk into a department store immediately turn to the right.
• A car is stolen every 30 seconds in the U.S.
• About 200 babies are born worldwide every minute.
• Approximately 97.3978271128 per cent of all statistics are made up.
• Assuming Rudolph was in front, there are 40,320 ways to rearrange the other eight reindeer.
• August is the month when most babies are born.
• The average 4-year-old asks over 400 questions a day.
• The average adult spends about 12 minutes in the shower per day.
• The average person keeps old magazines for 29 weeks before they throw them out.
• The average person speaks about 31,500 words per day.
• The average person spends about 2 years on the phone in a lifetime.
• The average person will spend two weeks over their lifetime waiting for the traffic lights to change.
• Children between the ages of two and seven, on average, colour for 28 minutes every day.
• Couples who marry in January, February and March tend to have the highest divorce rates.
• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada has the largest number of bars per capita than anywhere else in the world.
• In Calcutta, 79 per cent of the population live in one-room houses.
• It would take more than 150 years to drive a car to the sun.
• The longest kiss on record lasted 130 hours and two minutes.
• Married men tip better than unmarried men.
• Men are 1.6 times more likely to undergo by-pass heart surgery than women.
• The most hazardous season: summer.
• Odds of being killed by a dog: one in 700,000.
• Odds of being killed by a tornado: one in 2,000,000.
• Odds of being killed by falling out of bed: one in 2,000,000.
• Odds of being killed in a car crash: one in 5,000.
• Odds of being murdered: one in 20,000.
• Odds of dying in the bathtub: one in 1,000,000.
• Qatar has the lowest death rate in the world at 1.6 deaths for every 1,000 persons.
• The record for the world’s worst driver is shared by (1) a 75-year old man who received 10 traffic tickets, drove on the wrong side of the road 4 times, committed 4 hit-and-run offences and caused 6 accidents, all within 20 minutes on 15 Oct 1966; and (2) a 62-year-old woman who failed her driving test 40 times before passing it in August 1970 (by that time she had spent over $1,000 in lessons and could no longer afford to buy a car).
• The safest age of life is 10 years old.
• Sweden has the least number of murders annually.
• Women shoplift more than men – the statistics are four to one.
• You are more likely to get attacked by a cow than a shark.

5 Elements Of An Effective Landing Page

5 Elements Of An Effective Landing Page: How To Turn Your Website Into A Lead Capturing Tool

By Erica Stritch

Regardless of how your prospects first identify you, potential clients will most likely visit your website before deciding to engage an initial conversation with you – especially if you have asked them to visit by offering a seminar, white paper, or other special incentive.

In the report, How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report on Professional Services Marketing and Selling from the Client Perspective, 200 buyers of professional services were asked if they visit a service provider’s website before purchasing their services. Nearly 80% of participants responded that they do. Furthermore, 69% of participants agreed that websites have “A Great Deal Of” or “Some” influence over their initial decision to contact and open discussions with a service provider.

The data is clear: your prospects are visiting your site. But are they seeing and doing what you want when they get there?

Keep Your Offer Alive With Landing Pages

As busy professionals, your prospects do not have time to search around your site looking for the information that sent them there. All too often, I receive direct mail, emails, and information packets from companies that send me directly to the front page of their website. Once there, I am bombarded with information, links, offers, images, service listings, and advertisements all competing for my attention. The original message that compelled me to visit the site is lost.

One way to avoid this confusion is through the use of designated landing pages for your various marketing campaigns. By integrating your offline marketing tactics with specific landing pages online, you are able to reinforce your message and keep your offer alive. In addition, leveraging your website will allow you to capture leads and information from prospects you might not have otherwise gotten – that is, if your landing page is properly set up to capture this information.

Five Elements Of An Effective Landing Page

The goal of any landing page is to get your prospect to respond to the offer set forth in your marketing campaign – registering for an event, completing an information request form, downloading a whitepaper, etc. Here are five elements you should have in place the next time you are creating a landing page for your marketing campaign:

1. Stick To One Offer: It is easy to say, “Well, we got them to our website, why don’t we give them information on all of our different services, and list out the clients we have worked with in the past, and create links to the articles we have written on this topic, and on and on…” Your landing page should have one specific action that you want the prospect to take – register for an event, complete an information request form, download a whitepaper, etc.

   Distracting prospects with other information or additional offers will drastically reduce the number of leads you are able to capture.

2. Create A Clear Call To Action: Do not hide the call to action at the bottom of the page, forcing the prospect to scroll down. The action you want them to take should be the main focus of the page. Create a clickable button beginning with the action word corresponding to what you want them to do – register, contact, download, buy, etc.

   Prominently place this button above the fold on the page, as well as in various places as they scroll down. The call to action button should be visible at all times as the prospect scrolls down the page.

3. Capture Prospects’ Information: Regardless of what the offer is, create a response device to capture the prospect’s information. For example, if your offer is a free, downloadable whitepaper, create a call to action button to download the whitepaper and intervene with a short form they must complete to finalize the download. If the prospect is interested in what you have to offer, they will be willing to exchange a small amount of information about themselves. Additionally, they are pre-qualifying themselves as interested prospects giving you legitimate reason to follow up (do not forget this step).

   However, beware that asking too much information may scare the prospect away, while asking too little will not allow you to determine whether or not they are a qualified prospect worth your time to follow up. It is up to you to determine the right amount of information you want/need to qualify your prospects.

4. Keep Design And Copy Consistent: The overall design’s look and feel should be consistent with the marketing piece driving the prospect to the landing page. If possible, use the same images, design elements, and colors. Repeat the copy and offer. This helps to build credibility, reinforces your message and the benefits, and increases awareness and conversions by reassuring the prospect that they are indeed in the right place.
5. Keep Navigation And Links To A Minimum: Once you have them on your landing page, the last thing you want them to do is click out to another page on your site without completing the desired action. To minimize this, simply strip the page of main navigation and keep the amount of links to a minimum. Only create links on the page that are directly relevant to your offer. And, if you must create a link, be sure to have it pop-up in a new window so your landing page is not lost.

For the next marketing campaign your company undertakes, create a designated landing page. It takes minimal time to do so, and the results can be astounding. Remember, your prospects are visiting your website. Make sure they are enjoying the visit, and doing what you want them to do, by providing a nice place to land.