| Adrian Priddle, Growing Clients |
1) Adrian, let's begin by talking about Growing Clients. What is exactly that you stand for?
Growing Clients is all about helping professionals build more productive relationships with their clients. Whether that leads to greater efficiency, improved service, new business or all of those things, the aim is to recognize the fundamental importance of the person to person relationship within the professional service business. I started the business with my colleague, Jamie Rowland, after we had worked together on a number of projects and found we shared the same beliefs around how a client relationship should feel and what both parties should be getting out of it.
Growing Clients is all about helping professionals build more productive relationships with their clients. Whether that leads to greater efficiency, improved service, new business or all of those things, the aim is to recognize the fundamental importance of the person to person relationship within the professional service business. I started the business with my colleague, Jamie Rowland, after we had worked together on a number of projects and found we shared the same beliefs around how a client relationship should feel and what both parties should be getting out of it.
2) In your experience, why do companies usually perform poorly when growing clients? Why do you think that happens and what are the consequences?
The main reason appears to be that the firms forget to focus on the client. They stop hearing the client’s needs and agendas and begin to concentrate only on what their own professionals think is important. The impacts of this can be numerous, but most importantly the client feels that they are not the most important person in the relationship. They feel they have not been listened too, valued or understood.
3) In a short sentence, who could benefit from your expertise? What kind of companies do you help?
We mainly work with professionals in finance, law and property. If you run a business that provides a service to a client then we think we can help.
4) On the other hand, who shouldn’t? What kind of problems are outside your area of expertise?
We don’t provide technical training on accounting or the law, our expertise is around the service, winning the business subsequent client care.
5) Let's say that a sales manager is dissatisfied with the results he/she is getting from his/her salespeople. What's the first thing you would advise a manager to do if he/she wanted to turnaround his/her sales team?
As with a lot of team performance issues the answer could lie in a number of areas. We’d probably start with understanding what the challenge was that the team was facing, so for example, was the sales approach being adopted the right medium for communication and whether this matched the decision making of the buyers for the service. Other potential areas would be to benchmark the performance of each team member and consider whether the set up of the team was getting the most out of each individual. The performance management of the individuals would also need to be considered, so how are the team members measured and what skills does the sales manager have in coaching and developing that team. Sometimes the issue is not the team but its leadership and development.
6) What do you think of online training/e-learning for salespeople? Is it being used correctly in your opinion?
Online learning has lots of advantages, particularly in areas of knowledge acquisition (such as firms services or expert theories). Clearly it can be delivered at a time that suits each individual’s diary and life, and also allows the salesperson to spend as little or as long as they like on particular subjects. Where it has been used correctly it is generally part of a package of interventions to help people develop, for example linked into a classroom experience to practice the rapport skills elements or to assess personal impact. The biggest obstacles appear to be the lack of a plan as to how the learning would be used by salespeople and a limited IT infrastructure that reduces the creativity of what can be delivered.
6) What do you think of online training/e-learning for salespeople? Is it being used correctly in your opinion?
Online learning has lots of advantages, particularly in areas of knowledge acquisition (such as firms services or expert theories). Clearly it can be delivered at a time that suits each individual’s diary and life, and also allows the salesperson to spend as little or as long as they like on particular subjects. Where it has been used correctly it is generally part of a package of interventions to help people develop, for example linked into a classroom experience to practice the rapport skills elements or to assess personal impact. The biggest obstacles appear to be the lack of a plan as to how the learning would be used by salespeople and a limited IT infrastructure that reduces the creativity of what can be delivered.
7) How about classroom training? What advice would you give a sales manager trying to be more effective regarding training his/her sales team?
As a deliverer of classroom training I believe it is the experiential element that classroom’s can offer that produces the best feedback and learning for a sales person. The area of client relationships contains so many variables which can change the judgment of the sales person and the client that the opportunity to discuss and then practice these is important to achieve real improvements.
The key piece of advice would be take the time to make the right choices. So many training courses booked in haste and without consultation or advice, fail to deliver because they are not aimed at the need.
Look carefully at what it is you want to achieve, as targets, as behaviors and as attitudes, before making any decisions about the training you will use. Often the larger programs, sometime even residential, are not the right answer because not everyone responds well to large amounts of learning in one go, they can also prove costly and poorly attended as people pull out nearer the event. Consider whether an approach with modules, some classroom, some online would meet the need more effectively and also make better use of your resources.
When determining the needs you and your team have think about the impact of leadership and teamwork within your team and the mix or personality types you have. It may be that a better understanding of each other and your client base will improve the results of sales activity without changing the activity itself.
The key piece of advice would be take the time to make the right choices. So many training courses booked in haste and without consultation or advice, fail to deliver because they are not aimed at the need.
Look carefully at what it is you want to achieve, as targets, as behaviors and as attitudes, before making any decisions about the training you will use. Often the larger programs, sometime even residential, are not the right answer because not everyone responds well to large amounts of learning in one go, they can also prove costly and poorly attended as people pull out nearer the event. Consider whether an approach with modules, some classroom, some online would meet the need more effectively and also make better use of your resources.
When determining the needs you and your team have think about the impact of leadership and teamwork within your team and the mix or personality types you have. It may be that a better understanding of each other and your client base will improve the results of sales activity without changing the activity itself.
About your preferences:
8) Besides your own website (www.growingclients.com), what other sales websites would you recommend?
I find many networking forums very helpful, so I tend to use LinkedIn and Twitter a lot, as well as more specific networks such as the Professional Marketing Forum at www.pmforumglobal.com .
In terms of blogs to read I use a number of blogs including Seth Godin (www.sethgodin.com).
8) Besides your own website (www.growingclients.com), what other sales websites would you recommend?
I find many networking forums very helpful, so I tend to use LinkedIn and Twitter a lot, as well as more specific networks such as the Professional Marketing Forum at www.pmforumglobal.com .
In terms of blogs to read I use a number of blogs including Seth Godin (www.sethgodin.com).
9) What are your preferred sales/business books?
- Managing the Professional Services Firm and Trusted Adviser
by David Maister
- Trust Based Selling
by Charles Green
- Selling to Win
by Richard Denny
by David Maister- Trust Based Selling
by Charles Green- Selling to Win
by Richard Denny
About you:
10) How did you get started in sales?
My previous career was as an auditor with a Big 4 accounting practice, so from an early stage of management part of the measurement was about your client relationship building activity leading through to new business development. I always enjoyed meeting new people and clients so I found that part very attractive as well as highly motivating. I got involved in some proposals for new work but always felt quite limited in what I could say and the degree to which someone at my level became involved in the business.
When I left to work free-lance in training then sales became part of the way of life, if you don’t sell yourself you won’t have any work to do or money coming in. To be able to take the time to really get to know people in a business, their needs as well as the business needs provides me with the diversity which I find motivating and the challenge which I find inspiring.
11) Most memorable sale?
Winning client development work for an accountancy firm in the UK. This involved interviewing clients of the firm to get their feedback and to then report this to the partners at the firm in order to develop an action plan going forward. It was exactly the sort of work I like to do and with a team of people I have stayed in contact with as working with them has been a pleasure. The work has ranged from the very tough assignments, where clients are unhappy through to the glowing reports of some clients who couldn’t be happier. The first are often where the greatest reward and pleasure lies, because here we can make a real difference to the service the client is receiving and therefore their business, as well as potentially saving our clients from losing long and well-earned client relationships.
When I left to work free-lance in training then sales became part of the way of life, if you don’t sell yourself you won’t have any work to do or money coming in. To be able to take the time to really get to know people in a business, their needs as well as the business needs provides me with the diversity which I find motivating and the challenge which I find inspiring.
11) Most memorable sale?
Winning client development work for an accountancy firm in the UK. This involved interviewing clients of the firm to get their feedback and to then report this to the partners at the firm in order to develop an action plan going forward. It was exactly the sort of work I like to do and with a team of people I have stayed in contact with as working with them has been a pleasure. The work has ranged from the very tough assignments, where clients are unhappy through to the glowing reports of some clients who couldn’t be happier. The first are often where the greatest reward and pleasure lies, because here we can make a real difference to the service the client is receiving and therefore their business, as well as potentially saving our clients from losing long and well-earned client relationships.
12) Most disastrous sale (or funny situation)?
Answering questions in a proposal and watching every member of the team have a go it, and slowly realizing we’d missed the point entirely. The impact on the client was to disconnect from us, we looked like we didn’t understand and we looked like we hadn’t listened. I remember stopping the conversation and saying, “Did that answer your question?” and being met with a very awkward “Not really, but please move on.” Painful. Ever since I’ve taken the time to ensure I understand questions before I answer them in proposals and meetings, much prefer to be seen to be repeating something rather than my earlier experience.
About your work as a sales expert:
11) What is the biggest mistake you see as a sales expert?
11) What is the biggest mistake you see as a sales expert?
The biggest mistake I see is where people believe that by saying more, or using impressive words, they think they can impress the client. The saying I have used often is “Be Interested, not just interesting”, and too often we do the opposite. Sure people want to know what we have to say, but clients prefer to spend more time talking about their business to make sure we really understand it.
The second biggest is to forget their existing clients in pursuit of new work, there is a lot of research to demonstrate that most new business comes from existing clients, not brand new ones. Build great relationships with your clients and make sure you know what you can do for them, otherwise you are missing out to your competitors by making opportunities for them.
12) What is the best sales advice you have ever received?
Be interested, not just interesting. Ask questions, listen to the answers and clients will tell you what they need.
13) What advice would you give to someone just starting out in sales?
“No” is not a scary answer, it maybe “not now” or “not in that form”. Don’t be afraid to ask for work or to offer help or something that might be useful. If you get “no” when you’re being proactive, they’re much more likely to speak to you when they do have a problem.
The second biggest is to forget their existing clients in pursuit of new work, there is a lot of research to demonstrate that most new business comes from existing clients, not brand new ones. Build great relationships with your clients and make sure you know what you can do for them, otherwise you are missing out to your competitors by making opportunities for them.
12) What is the best sales advice you have ever received?
Be interested, not just interesting. Ask questions, listen to the answers and clients will tell you what they need.
13) What advice would you give to someone just starting out in sales?
“No” is not a scary answer, it maybe “not now” or “not in that form”. Don’t be afraid to ask for work or to offer help or something that might be useful. If you get “no” when you’re being proactive, they’re much more likely to speak to you when they do have a problem.
14) What are you working on right now that makes you feel energized? What's your next big project?
Social networking workshop to help new professionals integrate their current knowledge and use of social networking into their business networks. I love this because we continue to look at how the world around us is changing business while some fundamentals remain true. We deal with people in professional services, so we will always need strong networks and relationship building skills.
15) Any additional comments?
Do everything you can to understand the business and the world from your client’s view, what’s it actually like to be them, performing their role and the day to day stuff they do. By really standing in their shoes you can begin a really worthwhile relationship in which you can collaborate and build a win win scenario.
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To know more about Adrian Priddle, from Growing Clients, please visit www.growingclients.com. Twitter: @Growing_Clients
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