Winning New Clients With Power Questions

The CEO of a $12 billion company summed it up neatly when he told me, “During a first meeting, I can always tell how experienced a banker or lawyer is by the quality of the questions they ask.” Many lawyers, however, prefer to tell rather than ask and listen.

While it's true that at the outset of a relationship the client wants to be reassured that you can deliver in your area of legal specialty, legal expertise by itself is a commodity. So in the very first meeting you must demonstrate your expertise to prospective clients while also exemplifying trusted adviser behaviors. It's not distinguishing enough to simply be another lawyer with solid expertise.

'Power Questions'

But how do you do this? It is largely through the quality and boldness of your questions. A good “power” question is usually open-ended and has one or more of several important qualities: It digs under the surface to uncover underlying causes; it draws out people's ambitions and aspirations; it reframes the problem; it helps clarify the issues; and it inspires commitment.

Broadly speaking, in a first meeting you're trying to develop trust and see if there is an issue of mutual interest that you can engage on. To do this, you need to focus on four specific goals:

1. Build rapport;
2. Establish your credibility;
3. Understand the client's issues; and
4. Get a next step.

Building rapport in the first few minutes of a meeting with a prospect is the easiest of these four goals ' it's a question of having an authentic exchange about people and things you have in common. So let's focus on the last three, which are tougher. Thought-provoking questions are your main tools for tackling these next three goals.

Establish Your Credibility

One of the main ways you build credibility is through the quality of your questions ' questions that implicitly demonstrate your experience while encouraging the client to talk about his or her issues. The exact questions will depend on the particular topic at hand, but they should sound like these:

• “In working with a number of clients on implementing e-discovery processes, I've noticed two distinct approaches that are being taken ' which is closest to your philosophy right now?”
• “How are you reacting to X (a trend, a new regulation, etc.)? Several of my clients are currently reexamining their contracts and classifying them according to risk … “
• “You chose to disclose this in your 10k ' can you share how you reached that decision?”

A credibility-boosting question, in short, explores the client's issues while implicitly demonstrating your knowledge, experience, and preparation for the meeting.

Understand the Client's Issues

I think of this process as agenda-setting. Every client has a business agenda of three to five critical priorities, needs, or goals. They also have a personal agenda ' this could be to get promoted, or it might have to do with a personal situation they are grappling with. Your job is to understand that agenda and eventually to help inform it and improve it. To be relevant to a client, you must connect with her agenda of essential priorities ' it's that simple.

Forget about common sales questions, like “What keeps you up at night?” Top executives tell me they view these types of questions as lazy and clich'd.

Depending on how much you know about the client, and how bold you are, there are many different types of agenda-setting questions you can ask. Again, each meeting is different ' these are simply illustrative of the format and framing:

• “Nearly all our pharmaceutical clients are grappling with three issues right now ' patent expirations, cost reduction, and building new business models for both clinical and commercial operations … how are these impacting your legal strategy and spend?”
• “How will you be evaluated at the end of the year by your leadership? What metrics will be used? (Note: The answer to this question will very quickly reveal your client's agenda!)
• “Given your new strategy, what changes do you anticipate in the way you allocate your legal spend?”
• “Can you share with me your biggest priorities for this year?” (but only ask this after demonstrating some credibility)
• “As you look ahead at the next year, what initiatives are you most excited about, and what issues most concern you?”

Get a Next Step

At the end of your conversation, you need to identify a next step that will continue the discussion and further build the relationship. The main way you get a next step is by inciting the client's curiosity and getting him to reach toward you instead of leaning away from you. If you've added value in the conversation and succeeded in uncovering the client's agenda, the next step will usually be obvious. You can approach this in two ways:

1. Actively: “Based on what you've said, I think you'd benefit from meeting my colleague who specializes in this area … would you be interested in having a cup of coffee?”
2. Passively: “I sense there are three potential issues we could follow up on … (list them) … from your perspective, which one is more urgent? What would be the most valuable follow-up for you?”

Here are just a few other power questions that I have found useful in building relationships with new clients:

1. When absolutely no agenda has been set: “From your perspective, what would the most valuable use of our time together?
2. When you sense the other person is disengaged or distracted: “What's the most important thing we should be talking about this morning?”
3. When you want to challenge the client's solution and understand the underlying issue or goal: “Why do you want to do that?”
4. When you're not sure if you're talking to the real economic buyer: “What will your decision-making process be to hire outside counsel for this issue?
5. When talking to a senior leader ( e.g., the general counsel): “How is your business strategy going to impact the type of support you need to provide the company over the next couple of years?” Or, “You've been so successful in your career … is there something else you'd like to accomplish?”

Conclusion

Good questions, in short, show you've prepared, showcase your expertise, and help you understand your client's most important aspirations and goals. Access a comprehensive set of free tools and checklists to help you ask better power questions at www.andrewsobel.com.

The CEO of a $12 billion company summed it up neatly when he told me, “During a first meeting, I can always tell how experienced a banker or lawyer is by the quality of the questions they ask.” Many lawyers, however, prefer to tell rather than ask and listen.

While it's true that at the outset of a relationship the client wants to be reassured that you can deliver in your area of legal specialty, legal expertise by itself is a commodity. So in the very first meeting you must demonstrate your expertise to prospective clients while also exemplifying trusted adviser behaviors. It's not distinguishing enough to simply be another lawyer with solid expertise.

'Power Questions'

But how do you do this? It is largely through the quality and boldness of your questions. A good “power” question is usually open-ended and has one or more of several important qualities: It digs under the surface to uncover underlying causes; it draws out people's ambitions and aspirations; it reframes the problem; it helps clarify the issues; and it inspires commitment.

Broadly speaking, in a first meeting you're trying to develop trust and see if there is an issue of mutual interest that you can engage on. To do this, you need to focus on four specific goals:

1. Build rapport;
2. Establish your credibility;
3. Understand the client's issues; and
4. Get a next step.

Building rapport in the first few minutes of a meeting with a prospect is the easiest of these four goals ' it's a question of having an authentic exchange about people and things you have in common. So let's focus on the last three, which are tougher. Thought-provoking questions are your main tools for tackling these next three goals.

Establish Your Credibility

One of the main ways you build credibility is through the quality of your questions ' questions that implicitly demonstrate your experience while encouraging the client to talk about his or her issues. The exact questions will depend on the particular topic at hand, but they should sound like these:

• “In working with a number of clients on implementing e-discovery processes, I've noticed two distinct approaches that are being taken ' which is closest to your philosophy right now?”
• “How are you reacting to X (a trend, a new regulation, etc.)? Several of my clients are currently reexamining their contracts and classifying them according to risk … “
• “You chose to disclose this in your 10k ' can you share how you reached that decision?”

A credibility-boosting question, in short, explores the client's issues while implicitly demonstrating your knowledge, experience, and preparation for the meeting.

Understand the Client's Issues

I think of this process as agenda-setting. Every client has a business agenda of three to five critical priorities, needs, or goals. They also have a personal agenda ' this could be to get promoted, or it might have to do with a personal situation they are grappling with. Your job is to understand that agenda and eventually to help inform it and improve it. To be relevant to a client, you must connect with her agenda of essential priorities ' it's that simple.

Forget about common sales questions, like “What keeps you up at night?” Top executives tell me they view these types of questions as lazy and clich'd.

Depending on how much you know about the client, and how bold you are, there are many different types of agenda-setting questions you can ask. Again, each meeting is different ' these are simply illustrative of the format and framing:

• “Nearly all our pharmaceutical clients are grappling with three issues right now ' patent expirations, cost reduction, and building new business models for both clinical and commercial operations … how are these impacting your legal strategy and spend?”
• “How will you be evaluated at the end of the year by your leadership? What metrics will be used? (Note: The answer to this question will very quickly reveal your client's agenda!)
• “Given your new strategy, what changes do you anticipate in the way you allocate your legal spend?”
• “Can you share with me your biggest priorities for this year?” (but only ask this after demonstrating some credibility)
• “As you look ahead at the next year, what initiatives are you most excited about, and what issues most concern you?”

Get a Next Step

At the end of your conversation, you need to identify a next step that will continue the discussion and further build the relationship. The main way you get a next step is by inciting the client's curiosity and getting him to reach toward you instead of leaning away from you. If you've added value in the conversation and succeeded in uncovering the client's agenda, the next step will usually be obvious. You can approach this in two ways:

1. Actively: “Based on what you've said, I think you'd benefit from meeting my colleague who specializes in this area … would you be interested in having a cup of coffee?”
2. Passively: “I sense there are three potential issues we could follow up on … (list them) … from your perspective, which one is more urgent? What would be the most valuable follow-up for you?”

Here are just a few other power questions that I have found useful in building relationships with new clients:

1. When absolutely no agenda has been set: “From your perspective, what would the most valuable use of our time together?
2. When you sense the other person is disengaged or distracted: “What's the most important thing we should be talking about this morning?”
3. When you want to challenge the client's solution and understand the underlying issue or goal: “Why do you want to do that?”
4. When you're not sure if you're talking to the real economic buyer: “What will your decision-making process be to hire outside counsel for this issue?
5. When talking to a senior leader ( e.g., the general counsel): “How is your business strategy going to impact the type of support you need to provide the company over the next couple of years?” Or, “You've been so successful in your career … is there something else you'd like to accomplish?”

Conclusion

Good questions, in short, show you've prepared, showcase your expertise, and help you understand your client's most important aspirations and goals. Access a comprehensive set of free tools and checklists to help you ask better power questions at www.andrewsobel.com.