However, many retail businesses continue to flourish whilst charging premium prices, so what is the secret? Well Apple supply things that people want and John Lewis provide the necessary levels of customer service. Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton supply both and are enjoying record sales. At the lower end Primark thrive on filling a certain market segment with 'value' product without much service. The retail sector, like many others, is polarising at both ends. Those retailers stuck in the middle with no point of difference are in a world of hurt. Think of HMV who sell products available cheaper on the internet via stores staffed with average staff to a target audience who prefer to shop online! Ouch.

Remember only 15% of people only buy on price. That means 85% of customers do not. But they still demand value, so what is yours? If you think I am wrong and there is no money to be had in the economy go to a high end retailer and see what occurrs. I can assure you there is no lack of money. 90% of people who were in a job in 2008 are still in one. There are still hundreds of thousands of wealthy potential clients out there with significant disposable income. How are you going to reach them and convey your value message?

The winners will successfully deliver their marketing message and have trained staff who don't just pay lip service to customer service. How will you fare?

1. Ideas come from everywhere and everybody. Senior staff do not have a monopoly on idea creation.How often do you actively encourage and reward all members of staff to contribute to the forward strategy of the business?
2. Share everything you can. Open forums for free information. Credit is given where it is due. Free from politics. £100 Peer bonuses available monthly to all staff to be given to any fellow team member they consider worthy of receiving recognition on a customer service or profit generating work. Many staff awards programmes in addition to this.
3. Get brilliant people when recruiting. Look for long term retention. Friday perks such as free beer or wine given in the afternoon around 4pm. 3 Free meals per day. Breakfast from 7am, lunch and dinner at 6.30pm. Many staff stay and work 12 hour days as a result. Free micro kitchens including Coca Cola and M&Ms at various sites around the offices! Staff go through up to a dozen interviews to ensure they are a good fit with the company culture as well as having the necessary academic credentials.
4. Choose your dreams. 20% time is available to undertake creative projects for the good of the firm. Wide licence to play fuels innovation. Time for product innovation and incubation.
5. Innovation not instant perfection. Launch it even if it’s imperfect and let it evolve. Just ship it. Madonna theory of constant change.
6. Data is Apolitical. Judge ideas by facts. Use research data then “eat your own dog food”. In other words try before you launch.
7. Creativity loves constraint. Adapt a problem solving culture.
8. Always prioritise users over money as money follows users. This is huge as many firms try to make cash from day one of a product or service launch which in many cases is totally unrealistic. Following their purchase of YouTube they drove users well before they tried to monetise the service.
9. Don’t kill projects, just morph them. Regroup and rethink. If it was worth investing all the time and effort to get it to this stage then it must be worth something.
10. Finally, remember anything is possible - think like an American! Forget British negativity and always look for a positive angle.

Whilst Alex confirmed that they do have an office full of lava lamps and travel to internal meetings on a segway, more importantly there is very little heirarchy involved and board members share communal office and dining space with junior staff which promotes cross functional knowledge and ideas throughout the organisation. The attitude is one of there is no such word as 'can't'. How does this compare with your organisation?

Our latest in depth interview with leading Professional Firms and their approach to Business Development sees us arrive in the Criminal Law area with Regional Heavyweights Burton Copeland and their Practice Development Director Harry Ward. As ever, this is just a snapshot from a larger piece intended for future publication in a book covering the top 'Rainmakers' in the Region and a full version can be seen on request.

AM: What do you attribute your success to?

HW: Superior client service, integrity in business and financial dealings, and striving, with some success, to be better than the rest. We have a solid management base and are able to take opportunities as they arise. We have excellent brand recognition and often appear at number one in the leading legal directories. Our culture and reputation precedes us as we have won a number of high-profile cases.

AM: Can you share an example of your entrepreneurial approach?

HW: Recognising that private road traffic work was distinct from the general crime side of the practice and needing a more consumer-based approach. We realised we needed to create a brand and a new marketing strategy involving a new website and the promotion of the individuals within the Department. The result is www.drivingoffence.com, which has been hugely successful.  We look on this as bringing a ‘product’ to the consumer rather than a legal service especially now the market appears to be saturated. Clearly the domain name is key.

AM: What differentiates Burton Copeland from other firms? 

HW: We have an outstanding reputation for integrity and results within our field. We also benefit from having some ‘rock star’ lawyers among our successful team.

AM: What are the largest challenges that you currently face?

HW: Managing a law firm dependent to a large extent on public funding regimes is a constant challenge. Government policy also means constantly moving goalposts, which makes it really difficult to create long-term strategic plans. We will have to deal with cuts to Legal Aid as part of the reforms recently implemented by the Ministry of Justice. Again dealing with the effects of these reforms on profitability whilst at the same time attempting to cope with increased regulation and quality requirements given the fact that there will be little likelihood of an increase in support staff.

AM: Who has inspired you along the way? Any mentors?

HW: Mike Mackey who is the managing partner here, is a good lawyer but also has business brain, I’ve not come across many in my career. I also have a lot to thank Ivan Lee for; he was my MD when I was in the dental industry. He got me involved and gave me opportunities despite my lack of formal qualifications at the time.

AM: What role do you see technology playing in the future? 

HW: Technology has been a significant factor in the development of the firm over the years. We are committed, as a strategy, to employing the most up-to-date infrastructure and systems, without doing that in the legal aid market you would not survive. Increasingly, consumers are buying goods and services electronically and there will be some expectation from them that law firms will do business to some extent in the same way. Whilst that may not always be practical, firms need to ensure that technology can at least match their client’s perceptions and expectations. As rates are between £48 and £95 per hour compared to corporate law rates, we clearly need to have good case management software in place. Our other back-office systems allow us to also have a ratio of only one secretary to six fee earners to keep our overheads down. We are also currently looking at introducing an iPhone application for the practice. 

AM: What advice would you give to other firms looking to bring about change? 

HW: Forget the past, the legal market is changing and you have to change with it by developing a good business model, having a plan and sticking to it. Too many people in the profession said the Carter changes would never happen and are now paying the price.

The window of opportunity is short and you have to take full advantage. By the third week of November many prospects and customers go into holiday mode. We begin to hear that all too common phrase, "call me in the new year." This response can be a winner or a killer. If you work really hard through these next 30 days with tons of prospect appointments, your schedule will be packed through the end of the year, so prospects who put you off until next year won't negatively impact your success. In fact, you have two possible scenarios with these people. Either they genuinely have no interest, or they have a legitimate reason to buy in January, February, or March.

The next 30 days can determine your success for up to the next 6 months! Use this time to give everything you've got—where you feel like you've got nothing left to give—knowing that when the holidays come around, you'll have time to rest, recharge, and have a powerful pipeline awaiting your return in January!

The 3 most common reasons given for choosing one supplier over another are price, quality of staff or product and the ubiquitous claim about superior customer service which in most cases is nonsense. Taking the pricing issue first it seems that there is always some idiot prepared to do it cheaper than you. Proving the quality of staff or product is difficult without third part testimony via case studies and testimonials or guarantees. As for claiming 'good service', well just try and write down on a piece of paper what you think you do that none of your competitors do. Not easy if your honest with yourself is it?

I cannot tell you how much easier your lives will be if you work with your colleagues to answer the following questions:

Why do I need your products or services at all? Why should I buy from you rather than someone else? and finally, Why should I buy it now? Let me know how you get on.

Attendees will learn 10 "Must Have" Business Development Strategies to implement in their businesses to ensure financial success. Remember the science of buying & selling has changed over the decades and so must you. You can no longer just tell people that you are different or better and expect them to believe you. Often the real differential is the performance of your staff before the purchase decision is made and so the challenge is how you can improve your sales and marketing processes. Time for you to learn some new ideas?

As companies of all sizes claim to be putting the customer first, why is it we have so few delighted customer satisfaction experiences in any given day? Did you feel warm and cuddly the last time you rang your lawyer/accountant and got the gatekeeper or feel particularly valued or appreciated the last time you queued up for ages at your bank? No....I didn't think so.

In larger businesses this can often be blamed on head count reduction where the obsession for cutting costs far outweighs the need to provide quality customer service.

Many senior figures would do well to remember that business is essentially all about relationships and human interaction and not everybody wants to deal exclusively with a machine for all their transactions or have to deal with the frustration of a foreign call centre. So....where do we start.

Firstly, it is my belief that many firms, particularly those in the service sector, do not know what good service looks like because they have never taken the time out to ask their clients what this might represent. As a result, it becomes difficult to deliver it to clients. When is the last time you asked your top customers what they like most and want more of and like least and want less of?

Few include customer service as part of the interviewing process, induction programme or ongoing training regime. This is a mystery to me as it is relatively inexpensive to teach staff what is expected of them in any given situation and to then reward them for good performance which helps the overall motivation of the team.

If you currently do not undertake a client satisfaction survey, can I suggest you make it an absolute priority to do so. This can form an integral part of your marketing process to attract new clients, as specific percentages and quotes from clients who say you provide five star service when it comes to turnaround times, transparency of billing, quality of work, value for money etc is very powerful in the eyes of prospects. When someone fills in good scores it is also the perfect time to ask for referrals and testimonials, also hugely powerful in the quest for new revenue streams and the cheapest way to gain new work.

Beware of the silent customer. It does not mean they are satisfied just because they haven't complained. Put yourself through a client experience at your company. How long does it take to get through on the phone, be greeted by a smiling face at reception or find what your looking for on your website?

The larger the company the worse the service ethic appears to be with banking and utilities being particularly culpable. This is where you are most likely to hear the classic 'That goes against our company policy' or be told that your call IS important to them as you wait for twenty minutes for someone to answer. If it is that important, they should have employed someone to answer it. Service faux pas at their best!

Going forward into an uncertain economic period, it is those businesses that do not pay lip service but can actually deliver on customer service combined with staff who can sell who will win long term mutually beneficial relationships. What is your service culture like? Score out of 10?

My guess is that for many of you the answer is no and therefore you have a great opportunity to unlock a huge amount of additional revenue from the clients you are already working with. Try creating a spreadsheet, listing clients down the left and all your services across the top, and put a cross in the spaces applicable to what they currently use, it should quickly highlight to you the size and scale of the financial rewards you currently may be missing out on.

Professional services firms usually have at least 4 or 5 different departments where clients only buy into one particular area. IT companies offer, hardware, software, maintenence packages, peripherals etc yet many clients have only spent money in one given area. Opportunity knocks.

As the economic climate shows no immediate sign of improvement, I recommend you invest the time to analyse the undiscovered wealth in your current client book before investing in finding new ones which can be ten times more expensive than getting more from the people you already know.

Cross selling is part of customer service as it prevents people having to shop around to find additional suppiers. It may also involve promoting other Joint Venture partners products and services as long as they are relevant. Remember that ideally, each area of expertise you offer should enjoy focus on a separate page of your website where possible.

Do all members of your staff have the knowledge necessary to cross sell your other products and services? Maybe it's time for some additional training. Over to you.

2. Find "No" fast and celebrate the fact. Don't waste your time and effort chasing people who either have no need or cannot afford what you have to offer. Ask yourself some qualifying questions such as are they of an ideal client profile? Is there a realistic opportunity to do business? Can you beat the competition? and can you fit into the process of the decision maker?

3. Find out the reason why they need your product or service at all and more specifically why now? What are the consequences of non-action on their behalf?

4. Answer the question: Why should I buy from you? I cannot stress how much easier your life will become if you master this difficult question.

5. Find your prospects before your competition. Get those who are about to start looking for solutions. If you have no past contact you have limited credibility. Build yourself a TRAC record with your customers. Trust, Relationship, Awareness & Credibility.

6. Only highlight relevant features and benefits. Don't give every fact or solution available.

7. Prepare the business case and Return on Investment.

8. Sell to decision makers, those who have the authority to say yes as well as no.They will be interested in the What not the How.

9. Stop Selling - Be a problem solver rather than a stereo typical salesperson. What is in it for them NOT you. Remember that selling IS part of a comprehensive customer service ethic.

10. Get valuable evidence of what you do. Case studies, testimonials referrals and so on that verbalise why people use you. They are your unpaid sales team.

On a Professional Basis

Preferred ways of communication(email,phone,letter etc)

Work ethic(early,late,weekend etc)

Name of secretary or personal assistant

Strengths and weaknesses as an individual

Mentors & role models

Career history, positions held, major accomplishments

Career goals and ambitions

Current business targets

Most concerning issues in the business Today

Quality of relationship with line manager

Relationships with key reporting staff

Professional associations & memberships

Networks & groups

Awards won

Websites visited regularly/trade magazines read

On a Personal Level

Spouse or partner

Family, hobbies and interests

Educational background

Formative life experiences

Geography

Favourite book, holiday, film, sports team, restaurant, pastime etc

Personal issues they may be grappling with

Charities Supported

Religious/political beliefs

Personal style, introvert/extrovert, safety first versus risk taker

Once you have collected all this information be sure to save it in a file where others can access it if necessary. If you do this you will be in the top 10% of achievers as this essential discipline is often overlooked.