How to Initiate and Build Client Relationships - A Guide for Professionals

For professionals, initiating and developing client relationships is really important for career progression. But it’s not easy to achieve when?you don’t know where to start, you have limited time, you may lack confidence and you’re uncertain about how to network and build relationships.

Effective BD isn’t about how charming you are, it’s about following a deliberate step-by-step process and being consistent.

This article aims to help those who are just starting (or stumbling) on their BD journey by providing a framework to move from unknown professional to well-connected networker.

Phase 1 – Contact

Never assume that your potential clients will discover you by chance, because they probably won’t.

Making initial contact and having a conversation is the first stage in developing your client relationships – someone has to know that you exist and know what your capabilities are before they will appoint you.

This is the often the hardest hurdle for professionals to overcome, because it involves stepping out of your comfort zone.

Some degree of rejection is inevitable for any successful rainmaker and the rewards are reserved for those who are prepared to risk denting their ego from time to time.

Here are a few ways you can start a conversation with a prospective client:

Referrals?– People tend to place more trust in those they know compared to those that they don’t.

Therefore referrals lead to warmer introductions, make it easier to build rapport, help establish credibility and significantly increase your chances of securing a meeting.

Check if any of your existing contacts have a connection with your prospective client and see if they can secure an introduction for you. LinkedIn is a brilliant tool for checking your six degrees of separation.

A referral is the key to the door of resistance, Bo Bennet

Thought Leadership and Events?– If the referral option isn’t available, you can engineer a connection.

Put yourself in your potential client’s shoes . What events do they attend? What articles do they read? What are the most pressing issues in their industry right now? Which LinkedIn topics and posts do they engage with?

Write the articles they want to read, provide insights into the solutions to their problems, attend the events that they attend and engage online where they gather.

Then, when you are at the same event, or they read, like or comment on your article or post, cross the threshold and initiate a conversation.

Cold outreach?– Send a cold email or LinkedIn request and see if they get back to you.

This assumes that the previous two options were not available. It is the most difficult to do and has a lower chance of success.

Don’t riddle your message with self-interest; say that you think there appears to be synergy between your work and theirs and you’d like to meet them to understand their situation better.

If they don’t reply to the first message, convince yourself that it got stuck in their spam folder and send another. If they don’t respond to your second message assume that the universe doesn’t want you to work together (at this point in time) and see if the Referral, Thought Leadership or Event options present themselves down the line.

Phase 2 – Familiarity

Once you’ve secured an initial meeting your job now is to build familiarity. It is?never?enough to meet someone once and hope that you made a sufficiently good impression. Our world is too competitive.

Familiarity is built from multiple conversations and touch points, there are no shortcuts here – it grows rather than appears.

The more interactions that you have the more time there is to convey your personality, share your perspectives and move beyond a surface level exchange. The client gets a sense of who you are as a person and trust can evolve from here.

Aim for three to five touchpoints within the first six months. Leave it too long and the relationship will fizzle out. There are plenty of ways you can do this – share insightful updates and relevant articles, discuss industry trends, meet up at industry events, connect them with someone else in your network or simply offer a friendly check-in and catch up.

Aim for three to five touchpoints within the first six months

Phase 3 – Trust

As you are becoming familiar to your client you need to build trust.

Trust sits in the mind of the beholder. So how do we go about earning it from others?

Enter the Trust Equation:

The Trust Equation was coined by business consultant David Maister in his book, ‘The Trusted Advisor’ (2000) . He states that trust requires good ‘scores’ on all four variables. It’s a valuable framework and can be applied as follows:

Self-orientation (Low)?– Probably the hardest mindset shift for most professionals who are under pressure to develop new business and hit their targets; you are there to understand and help your prospective client, not to win work. You must have the intention to add value without expecting anything in return. Clients see through polished pitches that only have one agenda.

Credibility (High)?– You have done your homework before you meet. You are an expert in your field, you understand the nuances of their business and sector, you ask insightful questions, share relevant case studies and are able to highlight applicable accolades.

Reliability?(High) – You are consistent in your actions. You have good references and the market speaks highly of you.

Intimacy?(High) – You actively listen by focusing on what the other person is saying (instead of thinking about what you are going to say next). You are honest about your limitations and you find common ground by asking questions and sharing your own views and experiences to see where you align.

Phase 4 – Recency

All of the above only comes to fruition when a prospective client has an opportunity that they believe you are potentially suitable for. It might be the same day, it might be a year from now.

The way you receive that opportunity is by being top of mind at the point that their need arises.

Clients have short memories and will often contact the last credible person that they met. Understand this and use it to your advantage by periodically connecting with them – not with the intention of generating opportunities but to continually offer value and insights.

Consistent engagement?without?a sales agenda reinforces your trust worthiness and keeps you at the forefront of their minds when new opportunities arise.

Summary

• Contact?– Make initial contact and raise your profile.
• Familiarity?– Have 3-5 interactions within the first 6 months of meeting.
• Trust?– Prioritise helping, providing value, listening, finding common ground and articulating your credentials.
• Recency?– Consistently keep in touch.
• Opportunity?– Follow these steps, and one day, hopefully, an opportunity will arise for you to capitalise on.