The good news is that whether law, accounting, financial advisory, engineering, or consulting, professional services firms are busier than ever. The bad news is that seller-doers may be so busy they don’t see the need to do business development, let alone take time to do non-billable work.
But business development is not only about getting business from new clients. Existing client relationships must continually be nurtured, which, in turn, creates new revenue opportunities.
Our most successful PIPELINEPLUS users utilize the tool to manage client opportunities, not just prospects. In fact, in 2021, at Top 10 Performing Firms, users had equal percentages of current clients, referrals, and prospects as active PIPELINEPLUS targets. And the average revenue generated by a completed target at a Top 10 Performing Firm was $52 thousand, versus $38 thousand generated by each completed target at an average performing firm.
Nurturing Business Relationships
Clients value professionals who not only serve their present needs but who pay attention to details, whether personal or professional and who anticipate challenges and proactively offer solutions.
PIPELINEPLUS offers the perfect tool for capturing pertinent details and prospective opportunities with current clients as soon as they arise. Users no longer risk forgetting the information before they get to record it in a Word Document or Excel spreadsheet or record it only to forget to reference and act on it when necessary.
Our research shows that very few lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, engineers, and consultants use their firms’ CRM regularly for business and client development because of the time, technical proficiency, and amount of data input CRMs require.
PIPELINEPLUS is designed to be easy and fast to use. Its radically simple interface is intuitive and, integrated with a firm’s CRM, requires minimal data input. The tool populates client details with just a few clicks, leaving the busy professional to capture just the important date or opportunity.
PIPELINEPLUS is available on mobile and looks and works the same whether on desktop, tablet, or phone, so busy professionals can capture opportunities the moment they arise, wherever they occur. What’s more, after a user records an important date or opportunity, PIPELINEPLUS sends them simple, timely notifications so they can take the next step with the client at the right time.
Team Collaboration
Research shows that the more areas of a firm a client does business with, the more valuable they are and the longer they remain clients. That’s why collaboration is critical for firm growth.
However, seller-doers are notoriously famous for neglecting this important part of client development.
PIPELINEPLUS automatically identifies collaborative opportunities and allows users to efficiently and proactively work together to develop new business with existing clients while avoiding potential duplicate work. This keeps collaborative efforts on track and seller-doers on the same page and clear about next steps.
Marketing and Business Development Leader Insights
Because busy service professionals rarely use CRM regularly, marketing and business development leaders are often in the dark about new opportunities with existing clients. With users utilizing PIPELINEPLUS both for new business and current client development, leaders have easy access to all activities and can track progress and successes with existing and prospective clients.
