Building Business Relationships - Personal contact still matters

Despite an increase in using social media to develop relationships, face-t0-face contact remains the best way to establish and maintain relationships. The Fall brings its own season of annual meetings, fall conferences and legislative events for you to get up and get out to meet new contacts. Here are a few tips in building business relationships: 1. Create a plan for yourself -- Who do you want to reach; Who do you want to meet; and, Who do you want to represent? Now figure out what they read and subscribe to it. Figure out what conferences or events they attend and register. Find out what organizations they are members of and join them. And find out where they eat and eat there. Regardless, developing and nurturing relationships should become part of your daily routine.

2. Get out from behind the desk and get out of your office -- No matter what size firm you work in, walk the floors of your firm. Introduce yourself to attorneys new and old. Learn about them and their practice, ask them for advice and find ways to collaborate. Extend that relationship beyond the office and use part of your marketing budget to take them and other referral sources out to lunch.

3. Don't just attend events -- Plan them. Get involved with the organizations planning the events you want to attend. By joining committees you are developing stronger relationships with other professionals with similar interests. By assuming leadership roles you are also showcasing your expertise and passion and showing potential clients and referral sources your work ethic. It is also important to get out of Michigan. Move beyond our borders to expand your network and get in front of new referral sources. Get involved in national organizations such as the ABA but also in front of industry trade groups outside the legal industry.

4. Speak up. But first listen. When attending events, listen to the conversation and find a way to participate in the discussion, to stand above the crowd and showcase your knowledge, concern for the issues and interest in the discussion.

5. Find a mentor or become one.  By identifying with someone you admire and reaching out to them to seek professional counsel you are developing a vital relationship that will lead to a successful practice. If you are a seasoned professional, become a mentor to a younger professional. It will help you stay fresh and help you transition your practice to free up time for other pursuits.

6. Stay involved with a bar association or legal committee to another organization. It is important for you to remain on top of emerging trends, new cases and regulations and emerging leaders in your chosen profession so that you can leverage that knowledge to not only advance your client's interests but help you reach out to others for new business opportunities with the information you now have.

7. Don't just get involved in professional things, join a board of a non-profit and involve your family, join a sports league, coach a youth league and find other opportunities to develop relationships outside your law practice. Business will come once you develop lasting relationships around trust.

8. S.I.T.  Just don't sit around after you attend events or meet someone, Stay In Touch with them. That evening send them a personal note on personal stationary, that is not electronic and then link to them on LinkedIn. Every now and then send them something -- a news article, recent case of interest, or just a note to touch base to let them know you are still thinking about them.

9. Personal contract is still important but so is social media. In regards to social media, set up a profile on Twitter and LinkedIn. Set goals for yourself and create a system to remain consistently active using social media and begin to follow people who are leaders in the industry or people you want to meet. For Twitter, Tweet or re-Tweet at least twice a day. It could be something that piqued your interest, a recent decision or opinion or perhaps something that one of your colleagues wrote. And on LinkedIn, participate in the discussion, respond to questions and ask people to endorse you.

10.  Use your firms marketing resources. If you firm has a Marketing Director use them. Tap their knowledge and resources and tell them you want to represent the firm at outside events, you want to organize a seminar and partner with a bank or association in presenting it.

11. It's personal, not business.  As a consumer of legal services I want the best service my money can buy and yet at the same time, I want someone who I can trust and who I have a personal relationship with. Today, all business is personal.  I like knowing something about my CPA, my dentist, my broker and financial advisor and my lawyer and having a unique relationship with them. There may be some that want your firm's reputation, but often more times than not, they want you for who you are. Either you have a pre-existing personal relationship with that client, they heard you speak or read an article or blog post, another trusted resource referred them to you or they found you some other way. It is your reputation now on the line. So work hard to develop new relationships, nurture old ones and begin to build positive name ID in your community.

Daniel Cherrin is the founder of North Coast Strategies, a public affairs + relations firm centered around strategic communications, litigation communications and crisis management. An attorney, Daniel served as the Communications Director for the City of Detroit and Press Secretary to Detroit Mayor, Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr.

Some of these tips also appear in the October 7, 2013 issue of Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Creating the infrastructure in developing stratregic relationships

Is it really true that it is not what we know, it is who we know?  When I became the Communications Director for the City of Detroit and Press Secretary to the Mayor, a client warned me, "Remember, people don't respect you in this role for who you are, they respond to you because of your title." He was right. I was the spokesperson not just for the Mayor but for the City and calls were returned immediately and action always resulted from those calls. But as a very public and senior government official I did not always know who was calling or why, so I approached each call cautiously, yet listened to see what needed to happen next. I also was accessible and responsive.

Back in the private sector, I built my practice and my reputation around relationships -- not necessarily the number of people I know, but around the quality I know them from. In the end, relationships are built around trust. In cultivating and foster relationships, it is important to create the infrastructure to support an external relations effort.  This includes:

• Creating an agenda -- What is your goal for reaching out to certain people and what do you hope to gain or offer when you talk with them?
• Set the organization's priorities - Based on your agenda, what is a priority and what issues can wait.
• Who do you know? -- Based on those priorities who do we need to know and who should we get to know....Are they running for election? If so, you need to familiarize yourself with the political landscape as well.
• Build the support -- Once you know what  you will talk about and to whom, you now need the supporting materials to help make your case. Therefore, you should develop the talking points and support materials to help you make your point.
• Know the politics -- In engaging elected officials, it is important to become familiar with the legislative, political and regulatory landscape....become familiar with their agendas and create a constant contact system to remain top-of-mind program for board members to engage your key targets.

A company also should continue to develop an ongoing media relations and PR strategy that engages its' core market in ways that positions the organization as thought leaders in the industry, trend setters and a go to organization for fulfilling a void in the community. Therefore, approach a variety of media, such as your local daily, The Huffington Post (which also covers more local issues), industry/trade publications and other media, while creating a blog through their channels or your own, to talk about your core issues. Based on your agenda and who you need to meet with, I would then create a calendar of must attend events or organizations to become familiar with and dedicate the resources for attending and perhaps sponsoring a few of those events.

Depending on your priorities and goals and the immediacy of both, in 2012, I would spend my time creating the infrastructure in developing relationships, while getting engaged in specific areas where appropriate. I also suggest joining relevant organizations where you can take an active role to learn the ropes and eventually take the lead.  Then in 2013, you will be more comfortable and confident in a more active and involved engagement strategy and help further your organization's goals. In 2012, business will continue to be built around relationships and trust. So it is important that you start today in identifying those relationships you want to build.