The more people you’re connected to the easier business development becomes!

I get asked the same question time and time again by my clients “why should I connect to my colleagues in the firm?” A fair question and one that has a resounding yet simple answer.

I was recently asked it by one of my leading clients and drafted up the email you see below to go to all partners. I thought this may serve as both an explanation and as a template should you want to email your colleagues for the same reason.

I hope you find it useful.

Subject: Why do I need to connect on LinkedIn to my colleagues in the firm?

I get asked this all the time and fully understand the concerns you may have so I thought it might be worthwhile explaining why we encourage everybody within the firm to link to everybody else. Let me do this by using an example.

Employee A has decided to target company X to sell her services to but doesn’t know anybody there or, in fact, much about them at all.

Employee B happens to know Contact X, who works at company X, from a previous life.

Now if Employee A and Employee B are connected on LinkedIn as soon as Employee A searches for company X on LinkedIn she will see that Employee B has a contact there.

She will now be able to speak with Employee B to ascertain how well he knows Contact X and if well enough perhaps set up a fact-finding meeting to understand who the decision makers are, the incumbent suppliers, their budget and so on. This information is crucial when targeting a new company.

The purpose of all of us linking together is to create a firm-wide super network which not only speeds up the capture of new clients but will also make that all important “first contact” a good deal easier.

One of the biggest assets any firm possesses is the combined networks of its people – why not make the most of it.

Craig Millhouse – Managing Director, 7House

This is a guest post by Craig Millhouse the MD of 7House, a specialist business development firm. Learn more about 7House here and connect with Craig on Google Plus.

Companies that have a history of tendering for work are fully aware of how complicated and protracted this process can be. Having written hundreds of tenders and helped countless businesses through the tender process, we have noticed a number of common mistakes that when avoided can enhance the proposal immeasurably.

1)      Typos and Errors

Whilst a grammatically correct tender doesn’t mean success, a grammatically incorrect tender can mean failure. Straightforward grammatical errors often cause suppliers to dismiss proposals which are otherwise of decent quality.

A simple way to avoid typos and errors is to have THREE different people go through the whole tender on completion – not the most exhilarating of tasks but vitally important!

2)      Lack of Clarity

Suppliers will be going through many tenders so the last thing they want to read is a long-winded answer that is barely relevant to their requirements. Keep your answers clear and concise and – most importantly – relevant to the conditions stipulated in the tender.

Also remember to give details of your skills, experience and qualifications in a way that the supplier will understand how they benefit from these attributes.

3)      Opting for Quantity over Quality

A frequent blunder made by many companies is to rely on quantity rather than quality. The theory seems to be the more tenders a business submits, the more chance they have of success. This haphazard approach often takes away from the quality of each tender and relies on chance rather than skill.

Businesses that take a disciplined approach to tendering and only pursue contracts where they can offer insight and value are usually the ones that are successful.

4)       Give yourself Sufficient Time with a Useful Tender Tracker

One of the biggest problems many businesses face is obtaining tender information that offers adequate time to research and prepare the bid.

Most tender trackers offer little more than a month often resulting in a rushed and poorly researched bid. In order to engage fully in pre-bid discussions and construct a well-researched and detailed proposal, you may need anything up to six months or more.

To achieve this you should use an advanced tender notification system that can provide you with additional time and ensure you can engage with decision makers and influence the bid specification before it goes out to the market.

Here’s one product that will do this for you  Contracts Advance 

5)      Look Good, Feel Good

A high quality tender should provide useful information that is laid out in an easy-to-read format.

Use headings, diagrams, photos etc. and divide the tender into appropriate sections.  Make your tender visually pleasing and easy-to-navigate.

6)      Not Seeking an Explanation from Suppliers

Don’t assume anything.

If you are unsure of any details with regards to the tender, contact the supplier and ask. Don’t take the risk of misinterpreting the requirements of the supplier. Tender forms come with contact details so use them.

If you would like to learn more about Steve please click here.

Since 1997 he had paid £32 a month to one of the big Internet providers for his home broadband.

Not a big enough amount to bother about but eventually he succumbed to a free broadband offer from Sky.

He phoned his original provider to tell them he was leaving and they promptly offered him exactly the same service he’d been getting for £7 instead of £32 a month.

They expected him to be pleased. He wasn’t. He went with Sky and they lost him forever.

So here’s the skinny dear reader: it’s a good idea to treat your established clients like your new clients. If you don’t and they find out they’re probably going to be pissed with you.

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Little things that make a big difference

The other day I was taking coffee with a friend who happens to be a group head for a prominent Midlands law firm. They aren’t clients but even so she felt compelled to share this true story with me.

Some time ago they did a complex piece of litigation for a client and against the odds they won.

She arranged for a post case review to take place mostly so she could secure the next piece of work.

Her clients patiently listened whilst she went through the case with them and then when she asked how they felt it had gone they said “We were so fed up with your people being late for meetings and conference calls we measured it – on average we waited 7 minutes for them to turn up”.

They now use another law firm - presumably one whose people arrive on time.

Often our clients value things that we do not: they are right and we are wrong. Deal with it.

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Following the announcement that DMH Stallard and Riverview Law have signed a formal strategic alliance I thought it would be interesting to get Tim Aspinall’s view on this bold move.  To read more about Tim please click here

Tim Aspinall – Managing Partner DMH Stallard

What is the connection between Riverview and DMH Stallard?

DMH Stallard and Riverview Law have a shared vision for the way that legal services should be delivered.  Like us, Riverview Law were keen to capitalise on the rapidly changing market and had innovative ideas for doing so. We have what Riverview Law needs to grow even faster, including a large experienced team with a great reputation for delivering services efficiently.  Riverview Law has what we need to grow, including a strong brand, sales and marketing.  Both of us believe in fixed pricing and Legal Advisory Outsourcing.

The truth is we have been working together for some time now having already undertaken a number of market tests where both DMH Stallard and Riverview Law pitched for work that neither of us could have won independently.  The market tests clearly demonstrated that for a wide range of requirements – from complex litigation to high level technical advice – the alliance is a winning formula.

Who made the first approach; you or Karl Chapman (CEO of Riverview law)?

Initially it was me who made contact with Karl. It was clear from an early stage that Riverview Law’s outlook matched how we had been positioning DMH Stallard for some time.  We know that the delivery of legal services needs to change so it seemed like an obvious conversation to have.  As it turns out it was!

What do you both get from this arrangement?

That’s a good question.

Because of our shared philosophies the alliance brings a perfect arrangement to capitalise on the Riverview Law model and brand and DMH Stallard’s legal heritage and experience in areas such as M&A, commercial property, disputes, employment and other areas of business law.

It gives each business the opportunity to offer more services to customers, work together to win new business, develop existing business and create new fixed price products.

Added to this over time we can take best practice from both firms to create a very powerful legal force combining traditional law with modern delivery – exciting isn’t it?

Do you think the relationship will stay as a strategic alliance or could it become a merger?

The legal market is undergoing significant change and in order for both organisations to take full advantage of this change and provide customers with the services they need we have decided that there are some areas where it makes sense for us to work together  Our strategic alliance achieves our goal of extending our offering to customers and right now the alliance is our core focus.

We will, however, both continue to win and deliver work separately and run independent businesses under our respective names.

What do you see as the main challenges for you both as you move forward together?

I think some people feel that expecting a traditional law firm to work alongside a disruptive innovator like Riverview will be our biggest challenge, but we don’t see this as an issue more of an exciting opportunity.  Perhaps it will be dealing with all the extra work we’ll generate together, but that’s the kind of challenge we’d both like to have!

DLA Piper own 21% of Riverview Law – do think this will create any competition issues?

DLA Piper is one of the largest and most innovative law firms in the world and so we would be flattered to find ourselves competing against them.  Riverview Law naturally briefed DLA Piper and their other large shareholder, AdviserPlus, and both organisations were and are highly supportive of the alliance.

Riverview have some very advanced technology at their disposal – will you be using any of it?

We have been investing in technology for some time now and have similar BI (Business Intelligence) software to them. Getting accurate management information to our clients is an increasing need that we have both responded to and are happy with the results. One thing we may look to leverage between the two firms is CRM.  Riverview operate a very advanced version of Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM system which we are going to be taking a serious look at.

Will there be other strategic alliances in the future?

We have a strong working relationship with Riverview Law but we are both independent businesses pursuing our own strategies.  Our focus is on making the new alliance successful, but who knows what might happen in the future.

If you have one message for the legal profession what would it be?

If you could take a sneak preview of the legal profession in 5 years’ time I think you would be looking at a completely different landscape than the one we have today. The legal world is changing at a frightening pace and those firms that can’t adapt in parallel are going to be left behind. I have no intention of letting DMH Stallard be one of them.

My reflections

I happen to know DMH Stallard very well (they are a client) and as regular readers will know my relationship with Karl Chapman stretches back to the early 90′s so I will watch this relationship with interest in the coming months.

DMH Stallard are a well thought of traditional law firm with a great track record and a strong brand in the south east.

Riverview are a disruptive force in the marketplace especially in their use of technology and processes. By bringing the two together I would expect to see a very interesting hybrid emerge which could potentially be even more disruptive than either could achieve alone.  Time will tell I suppose.

Silhouette Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Social Media policy you can really get your teeth into

These days most firms have a detailed social media policy for their staff.

No doubt it will cover all the angles and is very handy in disciplinary procedures but is usually way too long to remember and so is of little practical day-to-day use. Can you honestly tell me you can remember what’s in yours (if you could be arsed to read it in the first place).

What’s needed is something short, memorable and based on common sense.

Try this for size: -

1. Never mention clients by name in any social media message.
2. Never criticise clients; suppliers or colleagues by name or anonymously.
3. Avoid any comment that could leave you accused of being any word ending in “ist”.

If I was to summarise the above into one sentence it would be “never publish anything that would offend your mom or give your enemies ammunition to use against you”.

I’m not saying that you have to stick to these rules religiously (I don’t) but people should be aware that if they break them they are exposing themselves, and perhaps the firm, to unnecessary risks.

Perhaps it’s time to add a new introduction to your social media policy – feel free to steal mine.

E-rapport is a relationship built and maintained solely through social media; usually LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

People fall in love and get married and the only communication they’ve had has been via the Internet. They find and establish electronic pen-pals based upon a shared interest and, sadly, we’ve all read articles about the darker side of social media when used to  establish and develop highly improper relationships. Like it or not they are all a testament to the power of e-rapport.

E-rapport is important because relationships can only exist through interactions. These interactions do not have to be in person or over the telephone – they can be entirely electronic.

In my experience people tend to be more open to approach on social media from those they don’t know (especially true on Twitter) and when dialogue has been opened they are usually more chatty too, giving out (and receiving)  more personal information – also a requirement for building relationships. You can’t expect to develop a relationship if all you talk about is work, quel boring!

Of course in the longer run you need more than e-rapport: you will only do business with somebody you’ve actually met so up the relationship ante and give them a call or suggest a meeting. Man cannot live by e-rapport alone.

Avoid indulgence: its easy to connect with interesting people who will not be a benefit to your business but who are easy to talk to and will happily interact with you.  These people are called friends; they’re great to have but should not be confused with prospective clients.

So if you want to know why so many people benefit from using social media it’s because, amongst other things, they get to establish e-rapport, and therefore start relationships, with people they normally wouldn’t get access to.

I’d say that’s a pretty awesome thing to do and I’m hoping you do too.

Image courtesy of Ohmega1982 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The more people you’re connected to the easier business development becomes!

We all know that LinkedIn is an enormously powerful business tool and has now matured away from its “online CV” origins but are there any obvious bear-traps the hapless user can fall into?

Yes there are and here’s 12 of the most likely.

1)      Don’t only talk about your company on your profile

I’m going to be brutal with you… no one cares about your company.  If I wanted to know about your company then I would go to your company page.  On your profile page I want to read about you, sure a little bit about your company is acceptable, but I’m talking about a single line here; ‘A top 10 law firm specialising in large corporates’.  I want to know why I should choose YOU over the hundreds of other people who do the same job.  Remember people buy from people, not companies.

2)      Don’t be out of date

Don’t have awards on there that you won in 1999 or quotes from customers that you had in 2001.  If that is all you have then I am going to wonder why you haven’t had any quotes or awards since then, has your service slipped?  Did you become complacent and stop trying?  These are not questions that you want your prospective clients to be asking.

3)      Don’t use the common ‘buzzwords’

It’s the same as a CV.  No one wants to hear that you are a dedicated and trustworthy team player.  It may be true but these words have lost all sense of meaning.  Use words that are unique to the point that you are getting across.  If you are in employment law then talk about how conscientious you are about keeping up to date with the constant law changes, or how you have built your reputation on getting to know your clients culture so you can act accordingly.  Yes it means the same thing but it differentiates you from the crowd.

4)      Don’t send out the LinkedIn text

Never, and I mean NEVER, send out the text that LinkedIn automatically gives you, whether it be for an invitation to connect or a request for a Recommendation, people know this text and will not respond warmly to you.  Instead if it is an invitation to connect write about where you met each other, or how you help to be useful.  If you are asking for a recommendation then I would advise you ask them for it in person and then use the invitation on LinkedIn as a guidance tool.  Mention the work that you want to be recommended for and mention the topics you would like to be recommended for e.g. ‘As mentioned at lunch today would you recommend me for the work I did for you in February. If possible could you mention how I saved you money and was able to answer any and all questions you had quickly and effectively?’.  People will be grateful for the guidance.

5)      Don’t automatically recommend those who recommend you

This used to be the etiquette on LinkedIn, but times have changed.  Now it devalues any recommendations you may have and makes them look contrived.  Only offer recommendations to people you generally feel deserve it, remember you are putting your name and reputation on the line.

6)      Don’t have spelling mistakes

It’s exactly the same as in a CV or in a tender, spelling mistakes are like a plague to any potential business, it will stop it dead.  If you have problems with spelling (like me – Dyslexia runs in the family) then write everything in word first and then get someone else like a friend or colleague to read over it for you.  Better safe than sorry.

7)      Don’t accept competitors

Don’t accept invitations to connect from competitors, odds are they just want to scour your connections and rob them.

8)      Don’t have a casual picture

I have seen people use photos of themselves on sunbeds whilst on holiday, in a rubber ring in a pool and even one of a statue!  Your photo should be a corporate headshot of you in business attire.  People want to see your beautiful faces!

9)      Don’t have empty sections on your profile

Please don’t leave your summary blank, or fill in your work history for your current role but leave the others blank.  This shows laziness and lack of pride in your work.  Think of your LinkedIn page as your own personal website; fill it with as much information as humanly possible!

10)   Don’t join groups and immediately start selling yourself.

If you are in any groups you will know that nothing is more annoying than someone joining and immediately talking about themselves or their company or blathering on about all the offers that they currently have running.  People will immediately turn off and you may even find yourself reported to the group manager.

11)   Don’t join groups your competitors are in.

Why would you want to surround yourself with your competitors?  Why, if you are a construction lawyer would you join a construction lawyers group? Instead join a group where your potential clients lay, join construction professional groups.

12)   Don’t have too many Skills and Expertise

Yes its exciting when you realise that someone has endorsed you for a skill, but if you have too many that aren’t your focus you can end up looking like a Jack of all Trades.  Focus on between 3-10 skills that you wish to be known for.

RIP Baroness Thatcher 1925 – 2013

Mrs Thatcher was probably one of the most divisive prime ministers in the 20th century.

Whilst she did do some things that I never agreed with I thought she took a country that was on it’s knees through years of weak government, union torment, poor business management and a criminal lack of investment and completely turned it round. I remember those pre-Thatcher days and they were truly awful.

She was a commitment not a focus-group politician who did what she believed in, always put Britain first and took on the male establishment and beat it. Say what you will but she was a truly remarkable person hence the state funeral (or as close as a commoner can get) and the world-wide plaudits.

I was born in a council prefab (we couldn’t even get a council house), went to a secondary modern school and had no access to family money or influence. Success didn’t come easy for me but much of what I have achieved was made possible because of the Britain Mrs Thatcher created. For that I am truly grateful.

Anyway, to celebrate the great lady here are my douzey-dozen Baroness Thatcher quotes – enjoy.

1. Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
2. If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
3. I love argument. I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me – that’s not their job
4. If you want to cut your own throat, don’t come to me for a bandage.
5. To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning
6. Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money. 
7. Pennies don’t fall from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth.
8. I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society — from a give-it-to-me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.
9. There’s no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families
10. I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end
11. Defeat? I do not recognise the meaning of the word
12. My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.

Late in her life I was lucky enough to find myself in the same place as her. Long after her prime and despite her illness her charisma and power seeped from every pore.

RIP Margaret Thatcher.