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Trustpoint Tuesday - What’s the winning formula for establishing yourself as the most trusted legal marketer / business developer with your clients, i.e., your attorneys? After almost 20 years as a business developer at an AmLaw 100 firm, here are my tried-and-true ‘trustpoint’ tactics: Employ the 99% rule. This is my #1 piece of advice to build trustpoints with your attorneys.  ➡ Deliver excellent work product to your attorneys that is 99% of the way COMPLETED. Whether it’s a pitch, a response to RFP, or a Chambers submission.  Deliver a nearly finished work product of the highest quality. Attorneys don’t have time to write marketing responses. That’s why law firms have a marketing and business development department. Make it easy for attorneys to provide a few key pieces of information, such as a client reference or clarification on an important matter. ➡ Be unprompted and proactive in your communication with attorneys. Just as attorneys’ clients purport that they value proactive communications from their attorneys, the same goes for the attorney-business developer/marketer relationship. Attorneys appreciate not having to ask what’s up with a particular project, pitch or practice group meeting agenda. ➡ Add value to your attorneys. Adding value is a sure-fire way to break out of the reactive, “order taker” role that so many legal marketers/business developers fall into. Give more than what is asked. Ways to go above and beyond? Listen to and summarize earnings calls of key clients and highlight opportunity areas. Read the “risk factors” section of clients' annual reports and summarize areas that align with your firm’s strengths. Track company news & forward important happenings with a brief note about why one should care. Always have an agenda when meeting with attorneys and promptly send a follow up email with action items. These actions instill trust that you know what you’re doing. ➡ Take ownership and accountability. Whether for missed deadlines or mistakes (I once forgot to procure a table at the ABA's Antitrust Spring Dinner. Oops-a daisy. 🌼 100% my fault. I owned it.)   Whatever you do, don’t pass the buck and blame it on someone else. Not cool. ➡ Approach your role as a legal marketing/business developer from a place of confidence that you are helping others. Be a cheerleader/advocate/wing-person to your attorneys. You might be one of the most positive interactions they’ve had in their day. Project positive vibes only. Smile. 😊 #TrustpointTuesdays #LegalMarketing #Smile

Trustpoint Tuesday - Last week Kathleen and I did a super fun presentation on how to convert satisfied clients to super fans. 🙌 Super fans are different from satisfied clients. Super fans are exceptionally loyal and enthusiastic. Super fans go beyond mere satisfaction to actively promoting and advocating for you and your law firm to others, often without being asked. Super fans help to amplify your reputation, creating greater lifetime value to you and your firm, not only in the form of repeat business, but in helping to bring in new clients through word-of-mouth referrals. So we thought about distilling down an easy way to remember ways HOW to convert clients to super fans. Because we love alliteration here at stage, we developed a #Relationship Rubric that, you guessed it, has these four little words that begin with the letter “R”: RAPPORT. Establishing rapport is the ROOTS to building a mutual understanding, trust, and comfort level where clients feel at ease discussing their concerns and goals. A good way to build rapport - not just with clients, but with anybody really? SMILE. 😁 Smile signals friendliness, openness, and approachability, putting clients at ease from the outset. Plus, smiles are contagious. RELAY. It is difficult to effectively relay information unless you first LISTEN to understand what the client is either directly (or indirectly) trying to convey. Being able to relay information highlights the value of communicating back to the client in a way that shows you’ve truly heard and understood them. RALLY. Be a cheerleader, an advocate, a super fan right back to your client. Let them know you’re there for them. Let them know you're in their corner. Show them that their concerns are a priority and that you are mobilizing efforts to achieve the best possible outcome. RESONATE. Connect with clients on a deeper, more personal level. Resonate with them. Remember the little things. The names of their family members. Where they went on their last vacation. How they spend their off-work hours. Write down the details so that the next time, you can pick up the conversation thread where you last left off. Ask them about the details of their life. Let them know you are paying attention. A favorite quote: "Deliver plus one. Exceeding customer expectations by just one percent creates Raving Fans." ~from "Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service" by Ken Blanchard Fun pic of Kathleen and me from our last super fun, super fan presentation ⬇ #TrustpointTuesdays #LegalMarketing #HappyClients