It Starts With Clients

Week 3 Find Your Clients

When my old firm appointed me as the country CEO for Italy, the business there had shrunk to just $500,000 dollars in revenue and a couple of consultants. It was underwater.

My mandate was to grow the practice and integrate it with the rest of our company. The situation was dire, however. If I didn't quickly build up the client base and get some revenues, we would drown under the weight of fixed costs for offices and staff.

Within two years we had grown the business to $6 million, and after four years it reached $12 million and 45 staff—over $20 million in today's dollars. As a comeback challenge, it went well.

While there were many dimensions to the turnaround, it boiled down to five strategies that my team and I intentionally pursued.

Use multiple channels to reach clients

There was no “one way” that we used to find new clients. I started by assessing the current but rather limited list of clients. First, we held client account planning sessions to look at opportunities to sell additional services and expand these relationships—those were our best, short-term opportunities for new revenue. Second, I built or strengthened relationships with what I call collaborators, who could introduce us to new clients—in this case, well-known business school professors and other university faculty the firm had a connection to in Italy. Third, I looked at opportunities ...