During ABLE conversations, we talk about “doing small well.”
Our hypothesis is that professionals actually accomplish more by narrowing their focus and approach to growth.
With up to 65 percent of time dedicated to billable hours, a practitioner spends more time working in the business, not on the business.
Have you settled on getting the current work done at the expense of a greater strategic vision? How has that helped or hindered your growth curve?
The 80/20 Rule
The Pareto Principle suggests that 80 percent of a business’s revenues come from 20 percent of its clients. More details on the theory can be found here.
After looking further into this principle, we started to see a trend emerge. If each member in a firm focused on the top 12 accounts they had stewardship for, in most cases, the result would account for more than 90 percent of firm revenue. That’s it–12 key client relationships.
But what about Prospects and Referral opportunities?
The currency of an effective referral relationship is referral quid pro quo. Most professional service providers focus on building several peer relationships expecting the law of averages to eventually result in referred business.
We suggest an alternative approach where the quality of the relationship is more important than the total number of relationships.
Cognizant of the time restraint dynamic, less is more. You should strive to establish no more than 10 multi-disciplinary referral relationships.
As far as new business is concerned, the premise of “doing small well” applies. There may be many deals that you are pursuing. While important, do not confuse them with your true “Prospects” – the 14 coveted organizations you want to win.
Many times, your 14 Prospects will share a similar demographic as your 12 key clients in terms of size, complexity and prestige. Aim high and target those accounts. Once identified, begin the process of establishing and nurturing those relationships.
In any given year, only a small number of these Prospects may become clients. That’s fine because you are committed to winning the business of each of these accounts.
Your 36 CRoPs
Do Small Well. Drive the growth and profitability of your firm on 36 critical relationships – your 36 CRoPs: 12 key Clients, 10 Referral opportunities, and 14 coveted Prospects. To find out more about the rationale behind the number 36, check out this video from Jeff Pawlow, ABLE CEO.
Did You Know ABLE makes tracking interactions with your 36 most important business relationships easy? Contact us for no-obligation demo to find out how.