How to Build Your Practice from the Inside

While finding and winning new clients is critical for practice growth, it might not be the best place for many firms to begin to develop a practice development strategy. Every practice development strategy should incorporate plans to through growth from both the inside and the outside.

Successfully growing a professional services practice involves:

• Win new clients of the type you want.
• Increase client spend by successfully providing high value services
• Not lose the clients you have and learn how to protect the new clients you acquire.

In this article, I will offer some insights on how to build your practice from the inside.

A decision to build your practice from the inside will focus on client retention and providing new needed services or products to existing clients of the firm. Deciding to build your practice from the inside also focuses on getting the referrals you have earned from existing clients. Your success in client retention, converting referrals to clients and in providing additional services to your clients will result from your ability to build and nurture relationships with clients and to understand and offer meaningful solutions to their needs. Follow-up with referrals needs to be both consistent and conscientious.

You will need to create and manage a practice development process as the first step in your efforts to build your practice from the inside. This practice development process will need to include the following activities:

·         asking for referrals from current clients

·         following up on referrals from current clients

·         converting referrals from prospects to new clients for the firm

·         nurturing relationships with existing clients

·         client’s needs assessment

·         qualifying the most profitable clients to build your practice from the inside

·         determining how unprofitable or marginally profitable clients fit into your practice growth strategy

·         researching the clients you identify in order to be knowledgeable about their business and the industry in which they do business

·         initiating conversations about their business needs

·         “dollarizing” the solutions you can offer in terms of value to the client

·         explaining how your solutions can help the client grow his or her business

·         monitoring your progress with each client as you implement your strategy to build your practice from the inside

·         identifying new opportunities as changes occur in various industries

Contrary to what many people have been taught about practice development, creating a flyer or brochure listing various services offered by your firm and sending a copy to each client does not sell additional needed services or build your practice from the inside. A brochure might serve as a talking point from which you can discuss ways in which your firm can help clients solve problems, but it will not be adequate alone for practice development.

To build your practice from the inside requires a practice development process, a means of monitoring client information and needs, an investment of your time in understanding the client’s business and in listening to the client’s needs, problems, hopes and barriers to success. To build your practice from the inside requires focused conversation with your clients about how you or someone in your firm can help the client resolve issues, eliminate barriers, overcome problems and capitalize on opportunities.

In order to build your practice from the inside, you will need to ask probing and relevant questions that help you understand where the pressure points are in your client’s business and then offer innovative solutions that clearly mitigate the cost or the risk or even the frustrations of the issues or problems. You also need to identify to your client opportunities to improve productivity or return on investment, take full advantage of changes in the industry or in a supporting industry (such as technology or manufacturing of parts), and how to achieve greater success faster. Then you need to help the client see the value of the solution you offer.

The two most important things you will need to do before you can offer potential solutions to your client’s needs are:

(a) do your research –  learn everything you can about the client’s business and about what is currently happening and what is projected to happen in the client’s industry over the next five years; and

(b) listen to the client, listen to the client, and listen to the client – the more you listen the easier it becomes for your client to believe you sincerely care about his or her success; the more you care, the easier it is for the client to trust you, the genuineness of your offer of help and the ability of your solution to make a meaningful difference. Listening to a client further builds the trust you have already established in the work you are doing. When you talk about solutions with A clients, with whom you have already established trust, they will believe the solutions you offer to be in their best interest. B clients might question your solutions, while C clients will probably assume you are trying to sell them something.

Here, in summary, are the basic steps to build your practice from the inside.

• Create a process for your practice development efforts.
• Design a process for managing client information and industry research.
• Design a process for managing a client from needs identification to sale of new products or services.
• Design a process for requesting referrals from your clients.
• Create a follow-up process for potential referral business.
• Identify current clients who have problems, barriers or opportunities and could benefit from additional services or products you offer.
• Do your homework by learning about the client’s business and about the client’s industry. Try to assemble a clear picture of the issues and challenges confronting others in the industry or the client in particular.
• Initiate a meaningful conversation with the client about how you believe you might be able to help him or her resolve some problems or mitigate some risks.
• Listen to the client. Ask probing questions that demonstrate your interest in helping the client succeed. Listen to the client’s answers. Ask questions that encourage of assist the client in thinking about the challenge in a new way or from another point of view. Listen to the client’s answers. Ask questions that probe deeper to the hidden root of the client’s concerns or to the root of the client’s pain. Listen to what the client says and to what the client does not say.
• Think aloud with the client about insights you might be able to offer to help him or her overcome the problem, mitigate the risk or be more successful.
• Clearly state the value of the solution you offer for the client. What will result from the solution you can offer? How will it help your client? What is the value of the solution for the client? Help the client understand your value, not only in finding a solution to the immediate problem, but also in finding solutions to underlying problems.
• Monetize the cost to the client of implementing your solution. Show the client why this will be of value to him or her and to his or her business.

In other words, to build your practice from the inside you need to build the process and the information management systems. Then, get to know your client’s business issues and opportunities well enough to be able to engage in a profound discussion with him or her; build relationship and trust with the client; listen to the deeper concerns the client verbalizes and the concerns left unspoken. Offer your insights and your solution. Summarize the value of the solution. State the cost and show how or why it offers value for the client. In this way you differentiate yourself from others in your field and you demonstrate your commitment to the client’s success as you build your practice from the inside.