Rainmakers
Make Your Own Luck This Year
By Dr . Clifford Ferguson
Better questions . Thoughtful questions - what I call Power Questions - are always critical , but even more so now . Why ? Because it ’ s hard to feel personal warmth over the phone , and questions are important both because of the substance they uncover and because they telegraph your sincere interest in the other person . Studies show that people who ask good questions are perceived as more likeable . Fresh , thought - provoking questions will help you overcome some of the limitations of virtual communications .
An old contact gives your name to a corporate executive who emails you because it turns out he has a need in your area of expertise . No amount of planning can predict these unexpected opportunities .
Or can it ? You can ’ t anticipate the exact break you ’ re going to get , but you can plan on doing things that will greatly increase the odds of these serendipitous events occurring . And they will - if you do the right things . In short , when it comes to growing your client base , you actually can plan for the unplannable . Here-under are six strategies that I hope will help amplify the serendipity in your professional life .
Reach out regularly
Contact current clients , past clients , and your most important VIP relationships on a regular , rotating basis . Your goal is a meeting ( phone , video , in-person as circumstances allow ) to discuss their issues and share helpful insights and perspectives with them .
Educate your market . Make sure clients , prospects , and yes , friends , actually know what you do and the extent of your / your firm ’ s full capabilities . If they don ’ t know , then when they have a problem that you could help them with , they won ’ t bother to think of you .
How often do you reach out to the individuals in your core networks ? If you only do this a few times a week , that ’ s not enough .
Educate your market
Make sure clients , prospects , and yes , friends , actually know what you do and the extent of your / your firm ’ s full capabilities . If they don ’ t know , then when they have a problem that you could help them with , they won ’ t bother to think of you .
Personal Example : I got tired of having the large roofing companies not showing up to fix my roof issues at our house . So I hired an individual who repaired roofs , who ended up doing a great job . One day , I offhandedly mentioned that I needed to repair some plastering . He said , “ My brother does plaster repairs .” So I hired his brother as well . Further down the road , I asked his brother , “ So , what do you specialise in ? What kind of work do you like to do ?” Turns out he ’ s an excellent painter , so I asked him to repaint our kitchen and hall area . And on it went - soon , he was also refinishing some woodwork for me . And building a fence around my garden ... and adding a flagstone path on one side of the house …. You get the idea ?
Are your clients familiar with the full extent of your capabilities ? Do you share examples with them about the kinds of work you are doing for other organisations ?
Give visibility to your thought leadership
Write and publish regularly , so that your name and your content is not just visible to your prospective clients but also well-catalogued in search engines . Gaining new business from existing clients , getting enthusiastic referrals , and earning word-of-mouth praise are certainly your gold standard for business development . Yet , many clients do online research around issues of interest and also search for providers online .
“ Publishing ” these days is a pretty broad term - it could mean a full-length article that is featured on a magazine or newspaper ’ s website , or it could simply be a short blog or podcast interview that you post on your own or your firm ’ s website .
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