Published in PM Forum Magazine 14th December 2006
There are lots of firms attempting new business or cross-selling drives. Why do so many flounder and what can be done to make them successful? David Tovey offers some suggestions.
We recently met with the business development (BD) director of a large professional services firm. The firm was facing increasing competition across its key sectors and had launched a major new business drive. Twelve months later the results were disappointing.
‘We certainly set a realistic target’ confided the BD director. ‘From our analysis it did seem achievable. And market conditions haven’t worked against us, there’s plenty of work out there’.
Efforts had been made to hit target. There had been fee-earner training, the creation of fee-earners’ individual business development plans and a refocusing of marketing efforts.
‘But, we just can’t seem to make it happen. Fee-earners say they are just too busy. We can’t seem to motivate them to look beyond what’s already on their desks’. Said the BD director.
It is a story we hear many times in professional services. There are lots of firms attempting new business or cross-selling drives. Many flounder, not because they are bad initiatives, but because of the way the initiatives were lead.
Success in leading a BD initiative in a professional services environment falls on two great pillars:
People, people, people
Many see leadership as just the elements in column 1. Yes, management is fundamental to administering a successful initiative and professional services firms are getting better at this. They utilise tangibles such as schedules, logistics, checklists, budgets, forecasts and reports. They make sure that systems support the firm’s aims. They set goals and monitor performance of systems and people to identify what needs to be done to achieve the given objective.
The firm we mentioned at the beginning was just such an organisation. What they lacked, however, was the second of the two great pillars. So how do Senior Partners, Practice Heads, BD or Marketing Managers, Team Leaders etc engage and inspire their people to implement a BD initiative’s objectives?
Why should I follow you?
Ask first this key question - ‘why should fee earners follow your lead?’
By their very nature, professional services firms are staffed by bright, highly independent individuals who chose to enter the profession to provide technical expertise – not win business. They are very talented and usually highly motivated to be successful in their chosen area of expertise. Very few perform well in an environment which tries to command or coerce them. Instead, they perform best when they understand and ‘buy into’ what is being asked of them. They tend to be suspicious of management motives and, if they do not trust managers, they will not support them.
Why should I believe in you?
For an initiative to be implemented successfully, those directing it firstly need to make sure their people believe in them. Such a belief comes when the leader of the initiative displays number of different qualities. These are that they:
- are good role models – they demonstrate the behaviours they are asking of others
- have a genuine interest in the people they are trying to motivate to support the initiative
- display integrity and fairness in their approach to their peers and subordinates
- understand the different motivations and aspirations of the people they work with
- recognise people’s strengths and their comfort zones
- are able to paint a picture in words of the initiative’s goals and how they can best be achieved
Some say that these qualities are only found in ‘born leaders’. We disagree. From working with a wide variety of professional services organisations over the years, it has become clear to us that you can develop leadership qualities in people. Many firms have done so successfully through training, coaching, mentoring, performance reviews and other personal development practises. Fortunately charisma is optional!
What’s in it for me?
Those who lead well and get results from fee-earners tend to understand the different motivations of each of their colleagues. They then address these in the way they communicate and manage the implementation of the plan. It’s a great skill (and again one which can be learned). Fee-earners tend to buy into a goal when they feel one of these ‘what’s in it for me’ factors applies to them:
- I believe in what the business is trying to achieve
- I have respect for you (the leader) and want to help
- I stand to make financial gain from this
- I will experience a personal challenge in undertaking this
- I will be able to support my colleagues
- I will be able to support and help my team (subordinates)
- It will help me improve on my past performance and become more successful
Knowing which factor is attractive to which fee-earner enables us to communicate in a way that engages these individuals. Some firms and leaders treat all fee-earners as if they share one common motivation. This isn’t the case and often causes resentment or resistance. How do the best leaders motivate different people? Invariably, they use their understanding of the different personality types in the people around them and play to those individuals’ strengths.
Play to my strengths
Leadership and management theory over the years has identified a myriad of different personality types in people. It can be baffling to those trying to motivate highly talented and driven people to support an initiative. In fact one managing partner of a law firm recently told us. “It didn't take me long to realise that I took the wrong degree course - I should have studied psychology".
There are 4 fundamental personality styles, an understanding of which will help people lead successful BD initiatives. These are:
- Communicator
- Driver
- Analyst
- Amiable
You will probably recognise some of these characteristics in those around you.
| Communicators | Drivers | Analysts | Amiables | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualities | ... come across as quite extrovert. They are not attracted by lots of details and like to look at initiatives in terms of the 'ball park' benefits they bring. These fee-earners love looking into the future | ...also fairly extrovert but are focused on detailed results. These are the people who scrutinise performance statistics and are interested in results | ... want even more detail. They are really excited by facts and figures and need a lot of proof to convince them to support an initiative | ... are relationship foucsed. They are team-builders and diplomats. Their interest is people and in doing things for their collegues' and/or clients' greater good |
| How to motivate them | Give them visions and long-term aspirations | Feed them with factual detail in order to make their decisions or commit to a cause | Give them lots of data to analyse and review as part of their support for the initiative | Feed them, with lots of relationship building and team building opportunities |
Inspire me
When we ask people to describe how leaders inspire people, some talk of cheerleading or motivational speeches. Others describe outward bound expeditions or team events designed to motivate and energise those involved to do a great job.
Many of these have their roots in the commercial sector. In professional services, however, inspiration tends to come from leaders building trust in people on a one to one basis and building belief in the firm’s vision. With their ownership structure focused on large numbers of individuals, professional services firms offer a unique set of challenges in leadership and management. Vision, trust, and the inspiration which this can create, is highly dependent on how a leader communicates.
Think of 2 correspondences (a letter, email, phone call etc) you have received, which have asked you to do something. For the first, think of the correspondence that got your back up, which you resisted and possibly de-motivated you. Now think of a correspondence that excited you and bought your support.
We call the first the ‘ouch’ and the second the ‘wow’ communication. If you look at the differences between the two you will probably find that collectively the content, the choice of language and the style motivated or de-motivated you. To inspire people we need to communicate in a way that will interest them.
Strength in numbers
Leading a BD initiative to its successful conclusion will bring together a number of fee-earners in a team to achieve that goal.
For those trying to drive implementation, it is worth considering the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful teams. These help us identify behaviours and values that often mark success or failure. The negative factors can then be managed to minimise their effect on the project. The positives can be cultivated through selection, development, communication, role models, reward and management of the fee-earners involved.
| Attitudes that generate team success | Attitudes that hamper team success |
|---|---|
| Honesty | Lack of consideration of others |
| A positive mindset | Intellectual arrogance |
| Valuing group contribution | Devauling past experience |
| Focus on the good of the group | Seeing 'past experience' as 'the last word' |
| Not understanding or no regard for others | |
| Having own or hidden agendas | |
| Not being honest |
| Behaviours that generate team success | Behaviours that hamper team success |
|---|---|
| Full Participation | Waffling |
| Openness to ideas and potential change | Interrupting |
| Broad-brush ideas | Defensiveness |
| Sticking to agreed procedures | Too much criticism |
| Turning up on time | Sub-meetings or discussion |
| Enthusiasm | Drifting from the subject |
| Obviously listening | Creativity killing |
| Questioning to understand | Too much irony |
| Focus | Lack of planning and preparation |
| Preparation | To much urgency or lack of patience |
| All sharing information | Quick judgement or reaction |
| Commitments honoured | opinion posing as fact |
| Active listening - summarising and reflecting | Poor timekeeping |
| Creativity | Too much emotion |
| No interrupting | A lack of interest |
| Negative or bored voice tones | |
| Thinking of a reply when someone is speaking |
Ensuring success
Monitoring and managing performance is vital. Leaders have to confront unacceptable performance and have strategies for both good and average performers.
Prima Donna ‘rainmakers’ can generate sizeable fees, but at the same time they can generate much angst within the firm. They do things ‘their way’ and don’t apply the firm’s values and principles. Here, as leaders of a BD initiative, we need to make a difficult decision as to the true cost of these individuals. How does the fee-income they contribute weigh against the cost of the hassle, discord and dissatisfaction they generate. We can certainly choose to work closely with prima donna rainmakers to help them deliver a performance more in line with the firm’s values and objectives. If they can’t, we have known instances where the prima donna and firm have parted ways.
For underperformers, it is important to understand the cause of their poor performance. Is it because of a lack of skill or will? The strategy here is to provide them with whatever support they need to be successful. If training, coaching and mentoring can improve their ability then it should be set in place. It is important to understand where these individuals’ strengths lie and make the most of them. We have known some technically brilliant fee-earners relieved of business development responsibilities. They are then given the freedom to develop fantastic technical solutions for clients. Support is given by those in the firm who enjoy BD who ‘sell’ these innovations to clients.
For those contributing an average performance, we need to re-visit what motivates them and look for ways in which they can improve and what support they may need.
Good performers tend to be ignored by many firms, who think that if something is going well it no longer needs input. Good performers do however need recognition to ensure they continue to do a great job. They may also need further support to help them turn a good performance into a great one.
What are you really saying?
The firm’s reward system needs to send out the right messages and not work against what is trying to be achieved.
People often look to the reward system to see how seriously the firm is taking an initiative. Reward may not be just about money, it may involve how best practice is promoted and praised or how the initiative is factored into people’s utilisation targets. If reward systems are sending out mixed messages, it will be much harder to successfully implement the BD initiative.
In conclusion
Professional services firms are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the planning of new business and client management. They comprise highly talented and driven individuals, each with their own motivations and client portfolios. This presents challenges for marketing professionals and senior management in the successful implementation of these plans. The key to success is to not see fee-earners as a homogenous group – with common goals and motivations. Identifying, empathising and factoring in individual motivations in their approach will generate positive results.
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© 2008 The PACE Partners LLP London England
