When buying professional services, most clients will assume expert competence in the field. They are therefore not hiring a consultant, a lawyer, an insurance broker, an accountant or a financial adviser mainly on the basis of their expertise, but on factors such as price, and trust. To minimize the issue of price, professional firms need to ensure that the benefits of working with them are clear. They must identify the right prospects in the first place, and move from transactional relationships toward partnership ones. In this book, consultant Stephen Newton offers a repeatable and scalable methodology to develop these partnerships between professional services providers and their clients. The Professional's Guide to Business Development will enable professional services firms to: -Increase their hit rate in winning new clients and retaining existing ones -Qualify customers so that they are able to work selectively -Understand what drives clients at a deep emotional level (where decisions are taken) -Articulate in language that resonates with the individual client the value that they deliver -Move their relationships towards business partnerships rather than transactional interactions A companion website includes downloadable resources.
