Categories Of Prospects

    If all the world of the legal and accounting professions are defined by the rule of billable hours, which says that thou shalt feel guilty about any hours spent that are non-billable, and at the same time you realize that some time must be spent in practice development, then a way must be found to make your practice development hours more productive. For which read -- greater results with less expenditure of time and money.

    There are many ways to do this, but one of the best is to understand the categories of prospective clients. The value here is that if you know the categories, then you can allocate different degrees of effort -- and urgency -- to prospects in each category. It's as simple as understanding that the urgency in chasing down a lead from a reliable source is greater than it is for a client you're carefully nurturing for the future. Let's look at the categories, in order of the urgency of your response.

• The prospect at the threshold. This is the prospect that's hooked, but not yet reeled in. What's holding that prospect back? It could be a problem deciding between you and several of your competitors. It could be failure to understand the real nature of his or her problem. The trick is to find out what the holdup is, and respond to it. Sometime a simple note with an article or advisory you've written on the subject works. It keeps a gentle pressure on the prospect, and reinforces your expertise. (Sometimes a golf game helps, but that's hardly within the realm of marketing theory.) As any suitor knows, sometimes the best thing to do is simply to ask. Ask about the impediments to a decision and ask about the prospect's problems. The more you understand about the prospect's needs, the better you are able to demonstrate your ability to meet those needs.

One caution. Don't rely on cosmetics or the age of your firm ("...a legal tradition since the ice age."). Focus on the prospect's problem and your ability to solve that problem, and address those needs.

• The Serendipity prospect. This is the prospect that virtually walks in off the street. It helps to know why that prospect chose your door rather than another's to walk through. You can then reinforce the reasons for that choice. How did the prospect know of you? What does he or she know about you? What is the problem that brought the prospect to your door? This is what marketing is supposed to do -- bring prospects into your sights. For this category, then, it's a straight selling situation. If the prospect knows a lot about you from your marketing efforts, then you can move more quickly to your ability to address the prospect's problem.

• The "Charley asked me to call you" prospect. You call, and clarify why Charley though you could help. You can usually tell in the first few minutes how imminent this prospect is. It might lead to a meeting. If the prospect's problem or needs have materialized, then you can immediately call him a hot prospect, and you can address the problem. If the problem isn't imminent, then you move the prospect into the next category -- I'm here when you need me.

• The "I'm here when you need me" prospect. This is the prospect who doesn't need you now, but will sometime in the future. Pursuing this prospect requires low -- but consistent -- maintenance. Put this prospect on a mailing list for your periodic mailing of clippings, articles, reprints, advisories -- the steady stream of material that keeps prospects aware of your knowledge of their problems and your interest in serving them. The idea is that when that prospect's need for your services surface, yours is the first firm that comes to mind, and the prospect moves quickly to the first category -- the prospect on the threshold.

• The "I don't know you -- you don't know me" prospect. Here is where your future lies -- the prospect that should be your client because you can help, because it fits into your long range plan, because it represents the kind of clientele you're striving to build. What you want to do with this prospect, in order of importance and a timeline, is ...
  • Build name recognition
  • Establish your capabilities, particularly in the client's industry and business
  • Ultimately, establish a meeting, at which time you begin the selling process, and move the client to The prospect at the threshold.

    This last category may be not only the most important, but it's also a process that can take a year or more, unless the configuration of the stars (the prospect's problems and your ability to help) fall into line sooner than that. It's accomplished by a routine of mailings (four to six weeks apart), which, with a good mailing list structure, becomes almost automatic and low maintenance. Simple notes with simple enclosures do it. Then, at some point (after three to six such mailings), you call and say, "We've been sending you material for a while now. By now, you know a great deal about us, but we know too little about you. Can we meet next Thursday so that I can learn more about you and your company?" If the mailings have been simple and low pressure, and informative, as many as 50% of your calls should result in a meeting.

    There's more…

• The "I got you, can I keep you?" client. It costs several times more to get a client than to keep one you have, and yet so little attention is paid to client retention. Most of what you have to do to keep a good client is obvious. Pay attention. Be responsive. Do good work. But there's one thing more, and it's not client surveys ("How am I doing? Do you like my services? Do you like my office? Do you like my receptionist?") No, it's more valuable to keep asking questions about the client's business. What are you doing? What's happening in your company that I don't know about? What's happening in your industry and your business environment? I see a potential problem for you that we can help you with. That's how you keep clients.

• The "I loved you when I had you but I've moved" prospect. Today, client relationships are usually not with a company so much as with an individual within the company. In this dynamic environment, people change jobs. The client contact who thought you were great has moved to another company. First, be sure that he or she has arranged for you to meet the successor, if possible. Next, stay with the contact. Keep in touch. Keep him or her in your loop. In the contact's new job, there may be an opportunity to bring you in - but only if you keep in touch. A note or phone call now and then. An occasional lunch. Keep the contact on your mailing list.

• The "We're sorry you left us but we still love you" client. That's the guy or woman who left you to go to another firm, or a company. A nugget. Sooner or later his or her new firm is going to have a need for you because you can handle something they can't. Or the person who left you to go to a company. Alumni, as sources for new business, are a gold mine. Put 'em on your mailing list. Keep in touch. Write often. And if you automate your mailing list, it should not be a time consumer.

• The "I know somebody who..." prospect. This is the banker, the lawyer, the accountant, the consultant who knows somebody who can use your services. This is the influential who's in a position to tout your skills. But this person has to know about your skills. This is the person who should be on your list for periodic mailings of information about your firm, its skills, it's accomplishments. These people make great lunch companions, too. An important category that requires relatively little maintenance, so long as it's regular. Definitely not the out of sight out of mind group.

    Look again at each of these categories. Each requires a different amount of attention at any given moment, and requires a different degree of urgency. The first three categories leave you no option about urgency -- they are opportunity knocking. The longer range categories can be put on automatic, requiring little attention in the early stages, and more as each prospect moves up to the next category.

    Understand, too, that there's a difference between getting clients and building a practice. Getting clients is relatively easy. Getting the kind of clients you want for your idea of the ideal practice for you requires a little longer term planning.

    In this pursuit, and recognizing the limited number of non-billable hours you or your firm can accept, seeing prospects in terms of these categories allows you to organize your marketing effort more effectively. It relieves the guilt of non-billable hours, too.

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