The Seven Elements framework presented in "How Clients Buy" represents a list of ingredients essential for business development success. As such, they can be used to conduct a self-assessment of relative strengths and weaknesses at the firm, practice,

When researching "How Clients Buy," Doug Fletcher and Tom McMakin interviewed dozens of successful rainmakers. Their subjects ranged from solo practitioners to managing partners of global consulting firms. Doug and Tom’s goal was to field test their bu...

By all means, create content. Share the good stuff. Use inbound marketing and marketing automation—mindfully—to build awareness and understanding of your firm and its capabilities. Just don’t neglect the importance of relationships and trust.

When it comes to professional services, Tom McMakin believes trust is everything. That's because information asymmetries are inherent in professional services. The service provider diagnoses the disease and provides the cure,

Which is more important to professional service providers: marketing or selling skills? The answer is both, contrary to common assumptions about the value of division of labor. Solutions providers conduct research and product development (marketing fun...

Doug Fletcher is one of the most likable people you'll meet. His easy-going manner puts one at ease. So, it's a bit jarring to hear Doug advise, "Forget about being likable." Instead, Doug encourages us to do great work and take really good care of our...

When it comes to content marketing, if you hold back your “good stuff,” your efforts will be less effective. Your good stuff is, by definition, the most interesting stuff. If you hold back and offer up only your not-so-good-stuff,

Playing golf at the country club used to be an effective way to cultivate business relationships. That's no longer true. Globalization and specialization have made selling professional services more difficult.

Even if the primary purpose of your practice isn’t to make money, making money is a requirement for sustaining your practice. By definition, a sale is the exchange of a service for money. So why isn’t selling featured in the curricula of business schoo...

Andi Baldwin of Profitable Ideas Exchange speaks with "How Clients Buy" co-authors Tom McMakin and Doug Fletcher about the framework they call, "The Seven Elements."