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Are You Slow To Change & What Does That Mean For Your Personal Brand? 0

In personal brand management, a big key to success is your ability to adapt to circumstances and change.  If you aren’t flexible and dynamic, then there’s no room for you to grow, develop an effective and genuine personal brand and succeed.

Many industries are perceived as static and slow to change and grow.  One in particular is the legal industry and lawyers.  I work with plenty of fabulous lawyers and law firms up for the challenge of developing a personal brand that is dynamic and flexible.  However, the legal industry as a whole is not viewed as such.  For those of you who remember, think about the show, “Paper Chase”.  Not sure that perception has changed over the decades since that show aired.

I was just at the American Bar Association (ABA) Law Practice Management (LPM) conference in Napa, California.  We were working on developing a program for lawyers, when this topic came up again.   As we work hard on bringing new concepts and trends to lawyers and working on helping younger lawyers see the need to be outgoing, dynamic and brand-oriented, we always keep in mind a few thing.  Lawyers can be slower to change, more risk-averse and more security-oriented.

If you think about it, these generalized traits make sense.  The law is about precedent and following what came before to get to a new place in the future. Legal educational institutions and firms have been around for centuries and take pride in having this longevity.  I remember my international law professor had been teaching at my law school for something like 30 years by the time I took his class- and the running joke was that there hadn’t been many changes to the curriculum since he started at the law school.

However, with the longevity and prestige there is always the danger of stagnation.  This stagnation comes from following precedent, becoming comfortable with “what has always work in the past” and a general fear of trying new things, growing or following new trends.  Fear of the unknown is common and something I appreciate.

The way to grow and succeed, though, is via a shift in perspective.   Appreciate your tried and true ways, but always keep your eyes and ears open for a new method and process.  Your personal brand will thank you for it and so will your family and clientele.

Posted on: 05-7-2012
Posted in: American Bar Association, Careers, Personal branding, Poor Image, Uncategorized

Treat Your Clients/Customers/Prospects Like You Treat Your Pet 0

When we work with clients on developing their natural talents as part of their personal brand, we see trends.  Personal branding is about the emotional quotient you trigger to get clients/prospects in action to get to know you and work with you.   The best emotion to trigger is joy.  We ask clients what daily activities bring about that sense of joy for themselves.  We ask for two reasons:  1)  so that they can do the activity over and over again for their own benefit AND 2) by doing this activity and having joy/happiness, you develop a strong personal brand and attract people who want to be around you, be like you and do business with you.

One common trend in responding to this question is that most clients really find being with their pets (ie, walking their dog, playing with their pets) brings them joy and peace. You should see the look on their faces as they describe the activities they love to do with their pets- their faces light up and they relax and have a sense of ease and grace about them.  Clients don’t often make the connection regarding what the joy they have with their pets has to do with their business and personal brand.

I also have a dog.  The sense of innocence and love and joy my dog has when I come home is indescribable.  Not only does she make my day, she resonates from a very genuine, pure and innocent state of being herself- no agenda, no plan of action, no thought for what’s to come. She is just being present to being with me and happy to see me.

So, what if you related to your clients and prospects from the same place you relate to your pets?  Now, please don’t take me too literally. I obviously don’t mean to treat people like animals.  But I do mean to view all clients and prospects as if they:

- have no agenda when they see you;

-are truly happy to see you, even if their actions don’t resonate this;

-have true intentions to be with you and give their best to you.

In return, relate to your clients like you do your pets, by:

- being completely present to them;

-not reading too much “meaning”  into their words and actions;

-accepting them as they are- the good, the bad and the ugly.  Just as you do with your pet.

Posted on: 03-5-2012
Posted in: Behavior, Business Brand, natural talent, Personal branding, prospects

How Unique Are You? Differentiating Your Personal Brand NOT on Price! 0

I think the hardest part of our work with clients is on the topic of unique selling proposition. Clients have a very difficult time believing they are unique.  Sadly, not many people ever really believe they are truly unique and can stand out and be memorable in the sea of sameness of their profession.  Once we convince them they are unique the problem becomes how we communicate that uniqueness to our target market and how we sell that differentiation.

Most people tend to want to differentiate based on price.  Price differentiation rarely works.   People tend to buy a product or service based on price only when there is nothing else to help them make their buying decision- ie, there is no differentiating factor that grabs them emotionally. At that point, they settle for the cheapest. Is that what you want for your personal and business brand- to be settled on because you are the cheapest, but not necessarily the best?  I hope not.

Here’s a good example of this price differentiation at work.  I know of a regional CPA firm.  One of their employees was telling me one day how the CPA firm keeps losing bids for services when they go into meeting to present their proposal.  He said they often lower their prices to come in cheaper and get the business and guess what- they rarely do.  This person was extremely frustrated and upset.

I explained to him that the prospects shopping for CPA firms were not looking at cheaper to be better.  However the CPA firm was coming across in the proposal meetings was not an optimal personal brand. I told him that the CPA firm needed to find their unique-ness when they go into these proposal meetings and stop making it about price. By coming in so cheap, odds are the prospects are thinking the CPA firm is either: a) desperate or b) not very good at what they claim to do.  None of which are good personal brand builders that lead to long lasting relationships with a strong referral base.

So ask yourself- do you really differentiate on your unique-ness or are you just following the crowd by saying something like, “we are prompt” or “we are reliable” or “we are knowledgeable”.  All I have to say about the latter three statements is that every business better be prompt, reliable and knowledgeable….!

 

Posted on: 02-13-2012
Posted in: Business Brand, differentiation, Fees/Pricing, Personal branding, price
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