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Explore over 350 articles that will help you grow your client relationships and improve your personal effectiveness.

Two Unexpected Zen Masters

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Japan where I had some truly remarkable experiences, including unexpected meetings with two Zen masters. These encounters underscored for me a number of principles that are important not just to build client relationships but also to achieve professional fulfillment. For those of you who are interested, I […]

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Ideas Are Everywhere

The most common refrain I hear from client executives is a desire for more new ideas and perspectives from their service providers. In most markets, the core products and services that firms offer are nearly identical, and therefore outperforming the competition in ideas, innovation, and creativity can be a meaningful source of differentiation. It’s hard […]

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Do an “Unplugged” Performance

About 12 years ago, I was living in Rome, Italy, where I was the country head for Gemini Consulting. For a major assignment for a $5 billion aerospace and defense company, I was collaborating with a business school professor. He taught me the power of performing “unplugged” in front of clients. This professor was opinionated […]

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No Client Plan Survives Contact with the Clients (Part II)

Last month, I talked about the importance of a client plan, and the fact that many professionals dislike the process of client planning. Small wonder, since very often it becomes a bureaucratic process overburdened by complex forms. In that newsletter I set out the first 8 of 16 principles for developing a thoughtful, robust client […]

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No Client Plan Survives Contact with the Client (Part I)

Each year, a large forest is consumed to make paper for all of the client plans that are written around the world. Trees and business professionals alike generally loathe the task. I can understand why the trees are upset, but why do many client-facing executives dislike this exercise? Here are some typical comments I hear […]

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How to Price

Robust pricing is a key to profitability, yet most professionals spend little time seriously exploring how to price their services effectively. Worse, they chronically underprice as they over-react to client pressure to reduce fees and become afraid they will lose the sale. Most of you reading this deliver a high value-added service. We’re not talking […]

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Gaining CEO Access

Do any of these laments sound familiar? “We want to move up in the organization, but we’re stuck working with a mid-level director” “This is a major, target client for us. We’ve been trying to meet the CEO, however, without success. We just cannot get the access.” “We’d like to get broader visibility for our […]

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Growing Relationships: The Client’s Perspective

“We really don’t need a lot of new client relationships,” the chairman of a large professional services firm recently told me, adding, “We have a great client base already. There’s huge potential to grow and develop our existing clients.” Many companies feel the same way: That there is a large opportunity to deepen and broaden—to […]

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