Ask, Don’t Tell: The Power of Questions in Winning New Business

Many legal professionals really feel compelled to pounce on a brand new enterprise alternative by instantly presenting the case for the agency. However crafting good follow-up questions and prompting a dialog is the higher path to profitable new enterprise.

Prompting Productive Discussions With New Prospects

Once I work with legal professionals on their enterprise growth efforts, the questions are very strategic: Which industries or clientele make the most effective targets for you? How will you get in entrance of them to construct your visibility? How do you develop your community and relationships? That thought course of is necessary; technique ought to drive your actions.

On the identical time, many sudden alternatives will cross your path within the regular course of labor and dialog. Understanding easy methods to reply will make or break your success in capitalizing on them.

Listed below are some examples.

An Opening for New Enterprise

Let’s say you’re speaking to somebody whose firm you view as an excellent prospect on your providers. They use one other regulation agency for his or her litigation. Through the dialog, the contact says, “Frankly, we’re getting slightly dissatisfied with their litigators.” The pure inclination for a lot of legal professionals is to reply by expressing curiosity in doing the work. Certain, you need to be enthusiastic. However a more practical method is to ask a follow-up query like:

“What’s it about this different agency that’s making you dissatisfied?”

Possibly it’s charges. Possibly it’s a scarcity of responsiveness. Possibly it’s a scarcity of continuity within the service accomplice. With out this info, it’s inconceivable to place your self as the higher various.

Telling them you’ll be able to present litigation providers is one factor. Telling them the way you’ll present these providers in a manner that solves their downside is one other.

Cross-Promoting

Say you’re speaking to a shopper about perceptions of the agency and he says, “I actually don’t know something concerning the agency; I simply know my crew there.” Some legal professionals could be inclined to begin explaining the agency’s options — the variety of legal professionals, the workplace places, the vary of observe areas and so forth.

As an alternative of main with, “Right here’s every thing it’s best to know,” it might be higher to ask concerning the shopper’s different wants. Possibly he doesn’t use outdoors counsel for some other areas so listening to about them is a waste of time (and annoying). The higher response could be to ask:

“Are there different areas the place we’re not working with you and also you suppose we could possibly be useful?”

If, certainly, there are alternatives, a follow-up query could possibly be, “What could be one of the best ways to deliver our capabilities to your consideration?” The shopper may desire a pitch to the board of administrators, a proper RFP or a gathering with the agency’s HR director.

Shopper Complaints

If in case you have a shopper who complains about one thing you might have or haven’t finished, an apology is at all times an excellent begin. After that, nonetheless, how do you tackle it? As an alternative of simply making an attempt to repair the issue (for instance, by providing to write down off time), search for a method to collectively problem-solve.

If the problem entails communications, you possibly can first ask:

“What are your expectations for communications? Let’s discover frequency, format, stage of element and different preferences.”

Then, you possibly can probe additional: “What’s one of the best ways for the agency to reply?”

You could possibly supply concepts and invite their strategies. Maybe a protocol will clear up the issue.

Pricing

What if a shopper raises the problem of charges, saying their firm has determined to freeze charges? Some legal professionals reply by acquiescing (albeit begrudgingly) — in any case, who needs to lose a shopper? However a greater method could be to immediate a dialogue. You could possibly observe up with one thing like:

“I perceive your have to maintain prices in line. We love working with you so let’s discuss how we will construction our association to carry the road on charges but additionally make it work for us.”

Possibly there’s a method to supply up a unique staffing association, like pushing down work so it reduces prices for the shopper however doesn’t hamstring your charges.

Two-Approach Communication Is Key to Profitable New Enterprise

I perceive that not all shoppers see the connection with outdoors counsel as a partnership. If you happen to’re perceived as a vendor, it’s onerous to pursue various options. However, when you have an engaged shopper who’s open to it, two-way communication will make the connection higher and extra rewarding for each events.

Play to Win

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