What "Value Added" Really Means

Lots of firms throw out all of their "value added" services these days. Most clients don't know, or care, what they mean.

To me, VALUE ADDED means that I, as the client, am getting something extra for the money I'm already paying. It's like getting a banana split when you were only expecting a single solitary scoop of vanilla ice cream.

One of the ways professionals can add value to their relationships with their clients is to do something good for themselves. Yes folks, you heard it right. Self-serving interests can also serve your clients, too.

Networking is one of the best ways to add value.

1. By networking, you meet lots of other cool people in your business universe.
2. By meeting these other cool people, you learn about what they do.
3. Those that would seem to have business that fits well with yours - follow up! Work on your relationship with them.
4. As clients turn to you, O Most Trusted Advisor, and ask you for advice, or the inevitable "I need a _______, do you know someone who does that?" you will have an answer for them. They will call you more and more because you seem to know everyone and are free about sharing who will take care of them in the same, careful, fastidious way YOU take care of them.
5. Because they call you first, and rely on you for all sorts of stuff outside of your immediate work realm, your relationship will deepen with them. Their loyalty to you will grow, they will become rabid salespeople for you, and will try to convert all of their friends and families into clients of yours, just like they are.

Who could ask for more? So get out from behind your desk, remove the billable meter that is constantly running in your brain, and spend some time out in your community. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Price-Sensitive

One of our clients recently received a bill from an attorney. We were talking about cash flow, and he casually mentioned that he had gotten what he felt was an "outrageous" bill from his corporate attorney. I probed a little deeper, and found out that basically this attorney's invoice had a single line in it, called "legal services", an hourly rate and the total amount being billed. I remarked, "No wonder it seems outrageous to you - you have no idea what it was for."

We're very careful in our invoices to spell out specifically what we were doing with our client's time. In the world of professional services, most of what we provide on a daily basis is intangible. Your clients aren't receiving a box full of goods at the end of the day - they are receiving your brain, years of your experience, and good advice instead. Although it's hard to put a price on that advice, we all have our hourly rates.

Many businesses in my own industry, as well as the industries we serve, sometimes forget how mystifying what it is we do for a living is to our clients. They truly don't get why writing a brief might take 2 hours or 10. It's our job to explain as clearly and concisely as possible why we price the way we do, and what they got for the price. Simply stating "legal services" will save you time in your invoicing cycle, but boy, are you going to get creamed from angry clients calling to find out what's up with their bill. "Strategic marketing planning" always gets a rise from our clients, but "Spent 2.5 hours researching market opportunity in Fairfax" doesn't.

The follow up to the story is that once the client called his attorney, and got the full description of what we on, he was actually HAPPY he was only charged what was on the invoice. Turns out the attorney had cut him a break and charged him half-time for this particular service. If he'd only taken the time to put that on the invoice in the first place . . .

Portrait of Success.

Today Jennifer and I had lunch with two friends who are also sometime clients of ours. They are one of those rare success stories - right off the bat.

They are two accountants who left a large regional firm to hang out their own shingle. Both are talented CPAs - that goes without saying. What sets them apart is their commitment to their clients and their focus on communication.

If you had told me 5 years ago that either of them were going to end up on starting their own accounting firm, I probably would have laughed. One of them was painfully shy. Networking to the tax accountant was something you did with a computer. The other was a diligent, hard-working audit manager - she didn't leave the office much because it meant a client might call and she'd miss out on helping someone with something.

Fast forward to 2006. It's their second tax season and they are rockin' and rollin'. I asked them today why they think they are successful. Both made a bunch of tongue-in-cheek sarcastic comments, but at the heart of it, they finally admitted that they always return phone calls, they give exceptional client service, and they look beyond the immediate matter of the day (i.e., a "tax return" is really chance to identify ways their clients can save more money next year by utilizing real "tax planning").

They have done very little marketing in the traditional sense. They don't even have a website (insert audible gasp of horror here). They have, however, done a lot of networking and when they left the big firm, they had rock-solid relationships - the kind that survive job shifts and market shifts - with their clients. I am so proud to know them and to have seen the kind of progress they've made from the early days of our acquaintance. And it goes to show that putting time and effort into your relationships is the key to the kingdom. That, and good tax planning.

Stupid Things To Say To A Referral Source.

Recently I had been "virtually" introduced to a company that provides a complementary service for marketing consultants. I won't be specific about the service for fear of hurting this particular company's feelings, but suffice to say, there is a lot of cross-referral potential between my company and theirs. Nearly every client we work with needs this company's services.

The "virtual" introduction is simply PC-speak for someone I know who wants me to meet someone they know, but doesn't necessarily want to physically be in the middle of that meeting. So, they tell me to call someone, they tell someone that I will be calling, we chat on the phone about our basic company services, and usually end up meeting in a loud, sometimes dirty coffeeshop.

In this case, I talked to the salesperson at length on the phone about what we do, and learned more about what his company does. He sent me a e-mailable brochure and I spent about half hour reading the fine print, doing some internet research on his company, and generally mentally preparing myself to meet him. I take these meetings seriously. In my life, time is literally money. When I'm out of the office, I'm generally not billable - and that means I'm not getting paid. Therefore, taking time out of my day to meet with potential referral sources needs to be taken seriously. We need to make the most of our time together - getting some basic information helps speed the process along.

The afternoon before our meeting, at 4.10 pm, I received an email from the salesperson. The general gist of the email was this: "Hi, sorry to do this to you at the last minute, but I talked to the owner of the company today, and they told me to tell you that our company is not interested in doing business or referring business to marketing consultants at this time." There was another paragraph in there full of well-wishes and niceties - and I felt badly for the sales rep, because it was an awkward position to be in.

However, WHAT THE HELL was that owner thinking? This has happened to us a few times over the past year, and every time it does, I'm completely mystified, stupefied, and irritated. Here's my rational.

1. Don't send the wrong message. If you're not interested in meeting with someone, regardless of what they do for a living, apparently you have far too much business and certainly don't need any referrals from anyone else outside of your immediate sphere of influence.

2. Don't anger your referral sources. The number one way to ensure you never receive a referral (or a kind word) from a consultant or salesperson of any kind is to tell them that you don't want to do business with "their kind".

3. Don't fear your competition. Even if we were technically competition for this company (which I assure you, we were not), some of the best referral sources can be your competition. If you follow the teachings of niche marketing, and are focused on your core competency and core market, there is plenty of business to go around. Some of our best clients have come from other marketing consultants, and even some of those clients have come from other marketing consultants in the professional services industry. Can you imagine what the response would have been if we had said disdainfully, "Sorry, we're not really interested in talking to other marketing consultants right now"? We have sent plenty of business out to companies that at first glance may appear to be competition. Try to check your ego at the door. Also try to check your fear. Competition is good and if you're truly focused on what you should be doing, no one can hurt you.

4. Don't assume you know everything. You probably don't. And all business owners tend to fall into the habit of assuming they know who their potential referral sources are - as well as who isn't. Keeping an open mind, and more importantly, an open ear can do wonders to revitalize your business.

After I digested the email telling me a meeting was not necessary at this time, I took the printed copy of his company's brochure and threw it in the trash. There are other companies who do what his does - and believe me, I'll be using the others.