No matter the type of professional services firm that you are running, you will realise that time is against you quickly. There is never enough time to do it all; you don’t want to let anything slide despite this. However, more often than not, things do slide, and these are usually things that relate to the growth, development and change of your business.  

Business development may seem like the easiest of things to lack focus on; after all, everything else is vital for your day to day running. However, without giving absolute priority to business development, you are likely never to get where you want to be.  

Whilst you cannot make more hours in the day to find time to focus on everything, what you can do is try out business development hacks for your professional services firm.   

These hacks can help you think about ways to improve, grow, and streamline your law firm and drive yourself even closer to the success you crave. But, what are they? I have put together some of the best business development hacks for professional service firms to show you the way forward.   

Be organised  

You should never underestimate the power of being organised; organisation means that everything is in the right place and that you can find it when you need it. Business development and growth are more based around the digital world than physical organisation when it comes to business development and growth.   

Look at your databases and your client management systems and see how you can ensure that this information is as organised as possible.   

Say goodbye to later   

One of the worst things that you can do is postpone things because, for the most part, later will prove just as tricky as now. When you have something in your mind and focus, you need to say goodbye to later.   

Pushing something to the back of the pile means that you will find it even harder to do, and it could even put you in a negative light as you are letting someone down or postponing a lead that could improve your business or help you to secure more work.   

Do a little business development every day  

If your to-do list is looking somewhat overwhelming, then it is a much better idea to try and break it down as much as you can. Sometimes you can get more done by simply doing a little bit every single day.   

You will not only get to tick things off of your list, rather than letting them build-up, but it won’t take too much time up, meaning that you can get on with the other things that you need to do.   

Learn new skills  

Even though I am talking about how it can be hard to find time for your business development, I feel that learning new skills is something that you should try and focus on as much as you can. Learning new skills will take time, but they can help you grow your business and find new ways of doing things.   

You don’t have to tackle huge differences; you need to think about the things that you could improve on and that you feel would be most beneficial for your business. Not only in the short-term but in the long-term too.   

Focus on those easy wins with business development  

Easy wins are those that not only are quick and simple to do but that can have a maximum impact on your business too. This means that you need to think about what will fit into this category.  

Identify the tasks that will give you the highest potential and focus on them. They might take you away from other things, of course, but they will help grow your business and see the reward of your time.   

Utilise your resources  

One thing that is so often overlooked in business is the resources that we have around us. This could be your staff members or your technology. However, using these resources to the best of their ability could make or break your business efforts.   

Delegation is a key part of this, which means that you need to find other people within your business who could take on the tasks that need doing with relative ease. This means that you do need to take the chance to learn more about what your team can do and place trust in them that they will be able to do a good job.   

You can also utilise the technological resources that you have too. Think about ways to automate the systems and processes you use. You may be surprised by how much time this can help you save, allowing you to focus elsewhere.   

Rather than keep putting business development on the back burner, make sure that it is a part of the business you focus on. Grow your professional firm in a variety of ways, and I can promise you that you will feel the benefit of doing so and feel that it was time well-spent.   

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If you would like help with your marketing then bringing on a marketing consultant with a fresh pair of eyes can make all the difference. I work with B2B businesses and professional service firms in London, Kent, UK and Europe as well as specialising as a Legal Marketing Consultant. Please get in touch or book a free 30-minute consultation.