The simplest, and perhaps best, way to cross-sell your firm's other services to an existing client is a client meeting. This can be a lunch or just a client visit.
You can tell your client that the purpose of your meeting is to keep in touch. They'll be pleased to hear that you don't want to wait for a problem to arise to see them again.
If you visit the client's place of business, ask for the grand tour and to be introduced to staff members. Ask how business is going.
If you choose to have lunch instead, ask the client about family and community activities.
Don't use the client interview as an opportunity to go on about your firm's services or brag about how yours is a full-service firm. Use this opportunity to learn more about your client.
If you listen to the client's description of personal and community activities or business developments, you will hear clues to their legal needs. You can anticipate upcoming legal services needs and identify them for the client. Then it is a small step forward to say, "An associate of mine handles matters like that, can I get her to call you"?"
Thus an opportunity to cross-sell actually presents itself. And you would have missed it if you had not taken the time to stop, look, and listen.
The best cross-selling happens when you know so much about a client, you can anticipate their legal needs instead of guessing at what to sell them next.
Cheryl Stephens thanks Lisa Preble, Marketing Director at Gallagher & Kennedy in ---
lhp@gknet.com --- for sharing her thoughts and contributing her ideas to this article.
