Hide or seek?

I'm not a Luddite. Admittedly, I'm not in the first flush of youth but I am not a Luddite.

I respect, understand and actively use the new breed of marketing tools. I tweet. I make good use of LinkedIn (and have clients I can directly attribute to that platform). I contribute to blogs. And I can work my way round a CRM system well enough so that it keeps me in touch with clients and contacts and reminds me when I need to do a bit more.

However, I am also of an age when I recognise these are all supplementary business development tools. Despite phones get smarter and whatever extended reach the next social media platform offers, nothing will ever take the place of personal contact.

I was with a client recently who showed me what he called a 'coffee case study'. It was a synopsis of a recent meeting (instigated by my client, not theirs - an important detail) at the client's premises (another important detail). He managed to improve his client's reception, win a direct referral and find out they were dissatisfied with their advisers in another practice area leaving the door open for a colleague to come in and win some work.

How did he do it? By going out and having a chat, by demonstrating a high enough level of interest in his client to visit his premises and by adding a bit of value by pointing out a few necessary improvements outside his usual brief.

Can-do attitude

When it comes to marketing private client work, it is sometimes hard to maintain as high a level of personal contact as it is in commercial practice. Fee-earning responsibility and deadlines preclude a high volume of home visits and the majority of work is now conducted by email. That doesn't mean that the whole concept of 'getting out there' is irrelevant though.

In fact, I would argue it is even more important.

Having spent years working with private client professionals in all walks, one thing I have heard more times than I care to remember is that you can't market private client. Clients make frequent reference to the fact that while you can target specific organisations when you're selling commercial services, it is impossible to know who will need tax advice, a divorce, a will or an improved investment portfolio. On that last point we're agreed, but my argument is by 'getting out there' you will dramatically increase the likelihood of people who need those services finding you.

Simple solutions

So, what do I mean by getting out there? I'd suggest there are three things you need to do:

1. Switch your marketing priorities

Rather than looking at winning work, make increasing your visibility your main priority. You can't make anyone instruct you, but simply by being more visible in the right places, you will stack the odds of being instructed massively in your favour.

2. Think about the work you want and define your target market

Your segmentation may be geographical or it may be sector-based (for example, non-dom property owners, entrepreneurs or young professionals). Once you know who you want, you can work backwards to identify where to meet them. One of our clients calls this 'target rich environments'.

And remember, you are looking for referrals as much as direct work. When you start conversations it's not about selling, it's about leaving those you speak to with a positive impression so they mention you to their friends and colleagues. Referrals will probably be your most likely source of return.

3. Add a bit of RRM to your CRM

In the private client industry, you have two main sources of new work: client referrals and your professional contacts. Both groups need to share equal billing in your marketing plan, and both groups need to be managed as systematically as each other.

Take time to identify which are your most productive referrers and assign your time and budget accordingly. These are the ones who you need to get out and see regularly and expend a bit of love on.

Below those will be a group you need to see but not quite as often. Local business groups and other social settings may provide a way to see a few in one hit to help with time management. Even then it's important you get to spend time one on one with them if you're going to generate referral opportunities.

The tier under those is where LinkedIn, CRM and Twitter come in. They will help you stay visible without taking up the 'getting out there time' you need to reserve for your key contacts.

Douglas McPherson is director at Size 10 1/2 Boots