View from the audience…....
30 August 2011
How Smarter Patent Attorneys Win More Profitable Work - 30 June 2011
Bernard started by asking how many of us have changed our GP, dentist or accountant in the last five years. A large number of hands went up, illustrating that we live in a world where people are increasingly willing to change their suppliers. Moreover, when choosing suppliers of profession services, technical competence will rarely be the critical reason for the decision. Therefore, we cannot simply rely on our technical expertise to retain or gain work: we also need to be comfortable with the idea of promoting ourselves.
Bernard emphasised that our efforts should be directed to generating leads and building relationships, leaving the cash coming out at the end of the process to look after itself. Important attributes include energy and enthusiasm, confidence and the ability to listen to your potential customer. Encouragingly, Bernard thought that more reflective characters (perhaps not unlike the typical patent or trade mark attorney?) often make better "sales people" because they are more able to listen to contacts and find out what drives them.
Speaking at trade events, following up quickly after networking activities, getting articles published and sending postcards (for example to people you may have missed at a conference) were all discussed as useful lead-generation techniques. The "saw this and thought of you" strategy was also highlighted- forwarding published articles and other material to people who will be interested, without being asked. We should bear in mind why we are doing any of these things. For instance, if we are speaking at a conference and our aim is simply to encourage people to come and talk to us afterwards, this aim will be best met by delivering the presentation in a friendly and approachable style and keeping the heavy technical material to a handout.
Bernard recommended having a system to monitor these activities: what gets measured gets done. Effective marketing takes elbow grease (intelligently applied), and a system creates a commitment to take action little and often.
Bernard also pointed out that most of us can make better use of our existing contacts. This may be by promoting our firm's other services (e.g., discussing trade marks with an existing patent client) or by asking for referrals or testimonials. In his experience, good contacts approached at the right time will very rarely refuse to give a testimonial.
The key message of the presentation was in fact not to worry about "selling" but rather to focus on actions which ensure visibility and create an emotional connection with people.
Following some questions from the floor, discussions continued with Bernard and his co-director Douglas McPherson over drinks and canapés.
Rebecca Tollervey, Partner, Mewburn Ellis LLP
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