I have always liked to write things down. A good quality notebook is a fantastic way to distil thoughts and get complete clarity of direction.
Back in 2016 when I was travelling to meet Bang & Olufsen in one of my favourite cities, Copenhagen, I realised I had not brought any paper to write on during my meeting. This was pre-laptop Kilburn & Strode, so I had no way to take notes. I had a bit of time to wander the pretty streets of the so-called Latin Quarter of Copenhagen before my meeting where I bought myself a large Swedish PaperStyle notebook in a mottled Nordic grey. Lovely.
After a successful meeting with Bang & Olufsen, I sat eating an Ethiopian vegan feast on a giant injera in the lively Nørrebro district. I opened my PaperStyle notebook and started mapping out my thoughts. One key thing on my mind was my long and disorganised list of contacts that I was developing at the time. It was at that point that I organised these thoughts into something I call my client target funnel. We’ll come back to the funnel in a moment, but let’s hop to the present day first.
While I continue to jot my thoughts down in that lovely notebook that I bought in Copenhagen in 2016, I rarely look back over what I have written in the past. However, being locked in my house at present, I had a bit of time to flick through that notebook to see what my slightly over-energetic and disorganised mind has been up to over the years. The thing that really took my interest was that early entry – the first client target funnel, something that I started in Copenhagen and that has adapted continually over the years.
I thought the funnel was so interesting that I shared it with Adam Cohn, who has since been encouraging me to write this. So here I am writing and I share with you all a photo of that first client target funnel.
So, what is interesting? Well, I think it is this:
First, by identifying key contacts I was pursuing, and then actively making efforts to reach out to those contacts to develop them has led to some great opportunities for Kilburn & Strode. For example, since I jotted the funnel down in that Ethiopian restaurant in Copenhagen we have been invited to pitch to Bang & Olufsen and HPE, in addition we have started working for Columbia University, Google and Seagate. I was actually surprised when I looked at the funnel how many client wins I have had in recent years are actually the result of long-term planning and focus.
Lesson 1: identifying specific targets and putting effort into pursuing those targets does seem to result in new clients or the opportunity to pitch. I would therefore urge you all to write down your targets and focus on them.
Second, it is clear that more than half of the identified targets have not led to new work or pitches. The reality is that we are not going to win everything. In order to convert contacts into clients we need to have a larger number of contacts we are actively pursuing in order to turn a small proportion of those into clients. If you only identify two or three targets that you pursue, I think there is risk you end up with no new clients at the end. In the context of the funnel you need to throw a lot of contacts into the top of the funnel for one to pop out of the bottom. So I really recommend getting out about and meeting people, physically or virtually.
Lesson 2: you need a reasonably large network of contacts and companies that you target in order to ensure that you turn contacts into clients over time.
While not clear from the funnel itself, something I have realised reflecting on those contacts and companies that have slowly found their way through the funnel to become clients is that they didn’t do so by chance. In fact, a relatively systematic approach has been taken and much of it is down to doing one thing – listening. For everyone in my funnel I make an effort to send thought leadership out directly and regularly. The widest top end of my funnel probably has about 150 contacts that I aim to send thought leadership to every month or so. If I am in the area of any of these 150 contacts I will reach out. At present, I am trying to do that by reaching out virtually.
When I have email correspondence or meet with these people I like to ask questions and listen. I gather clues as to whether they should move further down the funnel, that is whether there is a chance of them becoming a client.
Questions I like to consider and ask:
Are they looking for new attorneys? Do they have a review cycle for their outside counsel? Do they have any issues that their current firms are not solving? Is their portfolio expanding such that they need to diversify their European firms?
As I listen and learn and companies move down the funnel they get more attention. Perhaps that extra attention includes invites to our exclusive events. Maybe we offer a seminar just for their team. We might write some thought leadership dealing with a problem they have highlighted. Whatever it is I base it on what I have heard and understand their needs to be. And as they move down the funnel I talk with them more, listen more, and (aim to) give them what they want more. Eventually they realise they would benefit from working with us. And like that, they become a new client.
Lesson 3: Don’t just talk to your contacts, you should prioritise listening to them. Then as they become hotter prospects, listen more and give them more of what they want and need.
So that’s it. I hope you find this little story interesting and perhaps it inspires some of you to organise your thoughts, get out and about to find more contacts to throw in the top of your funnel, stay focused on actively pursuing a select list of potential target clients, and listen carefully to those contacts as you work them through your funnel to become the firm's next new client.