I wish I could tell you that I recommended John after careful consideration of the many alternatives in my network. I wish I could tell you that John was the best fit for the client. All I can tell you is that I had just seen John earlier that day so he was top of mind.

The experience reminded me of a key business development principle: top of mind is top priority. You may be the best at what you do, but that doesn’t guarantee that your referral sources will think of you for every relevant opportunity. In fact, it’s naive to assume that just because your colleagues know what you do, they’ll send business your way. No one wants to think that hard. The truth is, they’ll remember whoever is easiest to remember, even if that’s nobody.

So, to realize the full potential of the people in our business network, we must all develop systems that consistently place us at the forefront of their consciousness. Perhaps it’s meetings or blogs or newsletters or social media or PR or phone calls—or some combination thereof—but we must keep in mind that in today’s overcrowded, overstimulated world, long-term memory is a precious commodity.

If you don’t have a system in place, start thinking about how you can message your unique value to your contacts consistently. In the meantime, here’s a simple exercise that can yield a quick result:

Think of someone who used to refer to you fairly consistently. Why do you suppose they stopped? They’ve already demonstrated that they have a pipeline of business for you. Chances are you’ve fallen off their radar. Schedule a conversation with them to get back onto their agenda. Do something that benefits them so that you become a priority again. Then add them to your new system so that you stay top of mind.

I’ve found that between my own business development, coaching clients, speaking engagements, managing my team, running Practice Boomers, and preparing to launch my next e-learning venture, Prospero J.D., I’m working longer hours than ever. But I’m also more excited than I’ve ever been. I feel that I am fulfilling my calling. There are moments of distress, certainly, but for the most part, I’m experiencing a constant low-burn of eustress. During my downtime, I sometimes feel a dull restlessness, tugging me back to the things that I want to do for my business.

I used to beat myself up about it. “I should have more life balance,” I would tell myself. Eventually, I realized that the pressure I was putting on myself to make my life fit the idyllic picture in my head was becoming another stressor. I accepted the fact that I like my work. It’s deeply satisfying. And the personal domains in my life are getting the attention they require. It just so happens that, for me, life balance is weighted more toward the professional than the personal.

I’m convinced that the primary reason for this is that I love what I do for a living. But it’s also worth mentioning that ever since I adopted the practice of taking short breaks every 90 minutes or so, I significantly reduced instances of “burn-out.”

Perhaps I’m an exception, so let’s hear from you. Do you have a balanced life? If not, how do you manage distress? Use the section below to share as much as you feel comfortable given the public forum.

“How do I network more effectively?”

How, indeed! We constantly interrupt our work days with networking breakfasts and lunches and coffees and mixers, and more often than not, we leave these interactions wondering if we spent our time wisely. Sure, the intention to convert a new connection into commerce is genuine, but our results are so unpredictable that we can become demoralized. We wonder to ourselves:  How long will it take to improve the quality of my network? When will I learn how to make networking efficient?  Is that even possible?

I didn’t used to think so, until I became so exasperated with my results that I forced myself to examine my approach. I came to the realization that my idea of networking was to just show up and wing it. Not very effective. So, in an effort to help you network thoughtfully and strategically, I’m sharing one of the video lessons from Practice Boomers so you can learn a simple but powerful system for effective networking.

Download the Ally Portfolio here.

If you’re interested in more videos that teach you how to accelerate your business development results, click here for a free two-week trial membership to Practice Boomers.

To fill in this survey visit http://www.ackertadvisory.com/get-what-you-want/

Thanks! Hopefully that wasn’t too painful. It won’t be for your clients either. And online surveys only take a few minutes to set up and send out. Here are some guidelines to make the survey effective and beneficial for you:

1. Tell them how long the survey will take. There’s nothing more frustrating than starting a survey, then realizing that you’re only one minute into a ten-minute process.
2. You don’t have to ask them if they have any complaints. If you feel this will open Pandora’s Box, skip it.
3. Keep it short: No more than 5–10 questions. No one wants to feel like they’re re-doing the SATs.
4. Give them multiple-choice options. Clicking is easier than writing.
5. Ask them to suggest the services they want (e.g., “Are there any additional services you wished we offered?). Their responses give you up-sell opportunities and referrals for your network.
6. Find out if they’re referral-minded (e.g., “On a scale of 1–10, how likely would you be to refer us to a friend?”). Those who give you a high score on this question are clearly open to a dialogue about how they can refer more often. (If you’re nervous about asking for referrals, watch this short video on “How to Ask for Referrals.”)
7. Expect low returns. While warm market online surveys typically get a meager 3–12% response rate, that’s still enough to give you a snapshot of what your clients want.

Once you have the data, make sure you do something with the feedback. There’s nothing worse than asking people what they want and ignoring their responses. You don’t want to disrespect your client community. Neither do I. So you can count on even more relevant blogs once I receive your survey results.

1. Do good work.
2. Wait for people to spread the word.
3. Answer the phone.

But things are different now. There’s this thing called Google that your potential clients use to investigate service professionals before they hire them. Their search leads them to your LinkedIn page, your website, and any organizations you belong to that have posted a profile on you. It also features that embarrassing picture you took back in 1986.

Try this exercise: If you have a Google account, log out of Google, then type your name into the search engine to get a sense of what your prospective clients are seeing. I was disturbed when I saw my own results. There were several versions of my bio, two of which I hadn’t updated in a decade, and at least one picture of me from before the turn of the century. (That’s the thing about the Internet—it preserves who you were long after you’ve evolved into who you are.) I don’t think I was leaving a negative impression, so much as an inconsistent one. I looked like someone who didn’t care about his professional image. It was reminiscent of a job interviewee who hands over a crinkled resume or a colleague who gives out business cards with outdated information—certainly not the brand I want to portray. I immediately updated my LinkedIn page and contacted the organizations that featured my old bios. Most of the inconsistencies have been addressed, but I’ll never know how much business they’ve cost me.

So, don’t make the same mistake I did. Google yourself and find out if your hard-earned word of mouth is being undermined by sloppy profile maintenance. Your potential clients are checking you out. Make sure they find the best and most current version of you.

But an exploratory conversation with a client can lead to new business far more efficiently than referral hunting. Your existing clients are already comfortable with the idea of working with you, so giving you more to do is a natural step. And your former clients have probably developed new problems that you could solve…if only you knew about them.

So, use these three simple words to begin the dialogue: “How are you?”

If that seems too personal, try the same approach with a business context: “How is business?”

The call might sound something like this:
“Hi, John. I was thinking about you today. How is business? Things seem to be picking up. Are you finding that to be the case?”

If you practiced this technique with all of your former and existing clients, you would likely find yourself in at least one discussion that resulted in a mutual benefit. And whether it’s “How are you?” or “How is business?,” using those three words will lead to new business from established relationships.

But, when I took a closer look at my reaction, I realized that the anger was self-directed. The prospect hadn’t done anything wrong—they had pursued the opportunity with me in earnest and ultimately made a business decision. It certainly wasn’t personal and I had the sense that the door was still open if I chose to revisit things in a year or so.

The truth is, I was angry with myself for letting it drag on for so long. The sting of rejection is especially keen when preceded by a long courtship. I thought back to the many conversations I’d had with my (now, former) prospect. Should I have been more aggressive? Should I have abandoned the process after the first two months of “maybe”? There were plenty of other opportunities I could have nurtured with the time and energy I spent on this one. Ultimately, I decided that I had put my best foot forward, and consoled myself with the fact that it’s impossible to predict which of our prospects will engage. We have to stay in the dialogue, prove our value, and win them over. Sometimes that takes time.

But I remain a student on this topic, so I am interested in hearing about your experiences. How long do you pursue potential clients? How do you know when it’s time to stop chasing a lead? And how do you manage the sting of rejection?

Use the comments section below to share your thoughts.

Todd’s perspective makes sense. Without the proper team in place to service our clients, we don’t have the ability to delegate, which means we end up doing too much of the servicing ourselves. The crux of this issue is in the way we interview new hires. Most of us rush the interview, going off of a short conversation and a gut check, rather than delving deeply with prepared questions that fully vet the candidate.

Here’s a 1-minute audio clip from Todd on the subject:

Todd Moster on job interviewing

So, if you’re finding your plate too full for business development, consider that it may be time to get (or replace) help. As you do so, invest quality time in the interview process so that you find someone who will meet your expectations. Consider bringing them back for a follow-up interview to see if their second impression is as good as their first. Spend the time necessary to hire smarter so you can market better.

1. You won’t be shocked to learn that Google+ interfaces well with Google, which means that the people in your “circles” will appear in your search engine results. In other words, if someone Googles you, and you and I are connected on Google+, I may get a cameo appearance on the first page of their search results.
2. Circles allow you to provide more targeted content to your colleagues, so instead of having to share every update with everyone in your network, you can deliver a message to those who will most benefit from the specific topic.
3. Google+ is predominantly populated with tech-savvy early adopters. If that’s your target audience, you should jump on before everyone and their cousin decides that Google+ is the new Facebook.

As with any business development endeavor, you’re always better off making an informed decision rather than following the latest trend. So, take these 3 facts into consideration as you devise your social media strategy. After careful consideration, you may still feel that Google+ doesn’t matter yet, in which case I’ll see you on LinkedIn.