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from Focus on Rainmaking by Sara Holtz
It's a new year. It's time to give some thought to how you will market in the
year ahead and about who is most deserving of your marketing attention. After
all, some prospective clients are worth more of your efforts than others are.
To get the biggest payoff from your marketing,
focus the bulk of your efforts on a limited number
of prospects--generally no more than ten--who have
the most potential for sending you business in the
near term. I call these people your "A-list." Eighty
percent of your time should be spent marketing to
this A-list. If you have 200 hours to devote to
marketing this year (the minimum amount of time most
marketing experts say you'll have to invest if you
want to be a rainmaker), spend about 160 of those
hours marketing to your A-list.
Typically, the ten people on your A-list consist of:
- Clients (past and current); * Past referral sources;
- A select group of internal referral sources within your firm who, because
of their client base, your relationship with them or their interest in
cross-selling, represent good cross-selling opportunities for you; and
- Possibly a very limited number of high-potential prospective clients or
prospective referral sources.
You'll want to keep in touch with everyone on your A-list once a month. But
what about those other people in your Rolodex or contact management system?
They have the potential to send business but they're not "A-listers."
Include these people on your "B-list." Your B-list consists of people you
market to at a lower intensity than those on your A-list. Invest about 20
percent of your available marketing time on your B-list, and aim to make contact
once per quarter with each person on this list.
The challenge with marketing to your B-list is how to do it efficiently.
Let's say you have 100 people on your B-list. You clearly can't invite 100
people to lunch one at a time; it would take too much time. So you'll need to
find ways to keep in touch that are high-impact but not time-intensive.
Here are some ideas for how you might do that:
- Send an article (written by you or someone else) with a note, explaining
why you thought it might be of interest. If you can forward it electronically,
it's that much easier. I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal Online (even
though I read the paper version daily) because it makes forwarding articles so
easy.
- Invite them to a firm-sponsored seminar or marketing event. Make a point
of connecting with them at the event.
- Send a quick "stay in touch" e-mail like "Delighted to see your favorite
football team made the playoffs" or "I found a great new restaurant in San
Francisco I think you'd enjoy the next time you get there." (By the way, I
have a list of my favorite off-the-beaten-track restaurants in San Francisco
and would be happy to send you a copy--e-mail me if you would like the list.)
- Host a breakfast or luncheon for eight to ten people, all of whom have
something in common (e.g., former colleagues at the U.S. Attorney's Office,
avid moviegoers, or people charged with implementing compliance programs at
their companies).
- Send personalized holiday cards celebrating a holiday at an "off" time of
year, such as Groundhog Day, July 4, or Valentine's Day.
- Send an e-mail with a link to a website, a favorite blog entry, online
article, or video of interest. I share favorite YouTube videos with certain
clients who also really like them. (If you have one you think I'd enjoy,
please send it along.)
- Forward an e-mail announcing a sale of things you know they're interested
in, for example, songs on iTunes or handbags on Bluefly.
- Attend events where your clients and prospects are likely to be in
attendance. I have a client who attends the annual Bench and Bar luncheon
because in 90 minutes she can make contact with dozens of colleagues.
The key to staying in touch with your B-list is creating the systems to make
it easy to do.
You need two:
- A system for generating the type of information you want to share. In my
case, I read a few blogs each day by thought leaders who generate content my
B-listers are likely to be interested in. I ask my YouTube-savvy son to
forward videos he thinks my clients might like,
- A system for keeping track of who is on your B-list and what they are
interested in. An electronic contact management system can be an important
component of your B-list marketing tools.
While you should spend the bulk of your marketing time on your A-list, don't
neglect your B-list. By designing an efficient system to market to your B-list,
you'll maximize your marketing results.
Additional Resources
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