Articles
Explore over 350 articles that will help you grow your client relationships and improve your personal effectiveness.
Five Things You Should never say to a military serviceman or servicewoman
Monday was Memorial Day, which is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the armed forces. It has also become a day to express gratitude to everyone who is serving or has served in the military. I’m personally grateful to my father, my mother, and my father-in-law (all deceased) who […]
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Are you part of your clients’ growth and profits? Or an expense to be managed?
Meet Ellen and Peter. They are both partners with large, well-known public accounting firms. They both went to good schools. They each have years of experience in auditing the financial statements of Fortune-500 companies. Consummate professionals. But that’s where the similarity ends. Ellen is a trusted advisor to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of her […]
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Eight Client Listening Strategies You Can Implement Today
Many executives tell me, “Of course we listen to our clients—we see them every week!” But those day-to-day interactions, while important, do not yield the kinds of in-depth information and feedback you need about your clients’ evolving needs and their perceptions of your relationship. Here are eight ways you can start listening more systematically and […]
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How To Ask Powerful Questions
I was having breakfast one morning with the CEO of a large professional firm. He was stepping down after nearly 10 years in the role. He had a busy morning coming up, and after we had chatted for a while, he flagged the waiter for the check. I then asked him a very simple question: […]
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12 Common Business Development Mistakes You Cannot Afford To Make
The other day a client called me for advice about an important sale he was involved with. His firm was making its final presentation that very week. I did my best, but the problem was that he and his team had made some important mistakes much earlier in the business development process. It was now […]
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Six Rules for Evoking Curiosity
In the 1987 movie Wall Street, Charlie Sheen plays a young, ambitious broker named Bud Fox. He goes to see Gordon Gekko, a renowned financier–played by Michael Douglas—to pitch him stock ideas. At every turn, Gekko rebuffs him, telling him his ideas are either old news or just plain bad. Rejecting his final idea, Gekko […]
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Are You Truly Independent From Your Clients?
How would you handle this situation? A client asks you to undertake a project that isn’t in your sweet spot of capabilities. It’s something you don’t have quite the right skills for. OK, that’s easy. You probably are able to say “no” to the request and recommend someone else. And in doing so you’ll deepen […]
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Do You Treat Your Old Clients As If They Were Brand New Ones?
A marriage requires constant work and investment—just ask any couple that has successfully been together for 15 or 20 years. When a couple divorces, the partners will often look back and describe a long period of mutual neglect prior to the eruption of real acrimony. The basis for successful marriages and successful long-term client relationships […]
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