9
O P I N I O N
Calling to find work
B ecause of COVID-19, there has probably never been a better time to get on the phone to call clients and potential clients. They are more likely than ever before to answer a call and will likely spend more time talking to you than they would have pre- COVID-19. Getting on the phone right now may be the single most important thing you can do to bring in new work.
Mark Zweig
If you would like to bring in some new work to your A/E firm, here are some thoughts on these business development calls and how to make them: 1) Start by calling all of your current clients. This is usually the most fruitful. Are they happy with what you are doing for them? What problems are they having you can help them with? Do they even know everything your firm does for clients? 2) Next, call your past clients. What’s happening? How are they faring? What can you help them with? Do they know everything you do? What are you doing with other clients like them right now that would be interesting to tell them about? 3) Call everyone you think you would like to do business with. How is their business? What problems are they having and how are they dealing with them? Do they know anything about your
firm? What would it take for you to get a chance to demonstrate what you can do for them? 4) For new clients, your singular goal is to get to the next step in the selling process. Is there anything we can help you with? What is the next step for us to learn more? Who else do we need to be in touch with over there? 5) Open up with lots of questions. Get the client talking about themselves, their business, and their problems. It’s a fact that people love to talk about themselves more than anything else. So ask questions to get them talking about themselves. Odds are if you do that they will think you are a “great person” and be willing to keep talking with you. 6) Try out the “assumed need” approach. This is very simple. You open up the discussion by
See MARK ZWEIG, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 1, 2020, ISSUE 1347
Made with FlippingBook Annual report