Building relationships and connections takes time. Many lawyers, CPAs and other professionals are unrealistic about how quickly they can win new or additional business from prospects. It’s really a step-by-step process and every communication with a prospect or client is a touch point to move that relationship along.
Sally J. Schmidt, in her article, “Building Relationships with Contacts,” shares some creative and valuable examples of creating relationships and winning business:
• When you meet someone who works at a company that could be a good source of business, set up a Google alert on that person as well as the company. That way, when something pops up about them, you have a good reason (and opportunity) to follow up with them.
• When a financial institution client has only used you and your firm for a one-off project, offer to provide some free services; for example, in-house training for loan officers or CLE for the legal department. This helps more people in the organization understand what you do; they see your expertise and as a result, they get to know you better. All good reasons for giving you more business.
