Key Factors

1. Professional services organizations are torn between performing billable services, and developing their practices. By properly balancing these two activities, your professional team will increase profit and decrease stress levels.
2. Small changes can have great affects. For instance, saving 30 minutes a day managing email provides 26 additional billable hours per professional each year - without increasing workloads.
3. Professionals and support people are naturally driven toward activities that they are comfortable doing - like an electron follows the path of least resistance. If the individual doesn't feel comfortable reaching out for new business, he will not make it a priority.
4. Similarly, if you give a professional a tool (say, a database, word processor, or email) with which she is not comfortable, she will avoid using it - consciously or subconsciously.

Dealing With The Issues That Impact Profitability

1. Provide your professionals with the tools they need to become productive, and which will empower them in their activities that attract new or increased revenues. This will differ from organization to organization - some requiring advanced CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems; others requiring simpler, less expensive tools.
2. Enlighten them. Show them how to use the tools at their disposal. If they are savvy, reveal the more advanced features. If they are adverse, walk them through the simpler features that most impact their jobs. Provide the path of least resistance where you want them to go.
3. Update them continuously. Provide short refresher sessions, workshops to learn new skills, and individual coaching sessions. Make sure that each session is excellent. A single poor session will undermine your entire program, and will decrease the benefit to your organization.
4. Use small doses. When busy professionals are taken out of their field for full day sessions, they are distracted by what's not getting done, making the sessions less desirable.
5. Push the skills that will help them be of greatest value to their clients. Do not impose restrictions that impede their dealings with their clients.
6. Empower their administrative and support staffs. This will, in turn, make your professionals more productive.

For help putting together your action plan - or to implement activities that will help your professional staff and support personnel create higher profits, call David Radin at 412-531-4270. David's experience in business development of intangible products and professional services, combined with his background of sales management, technology, and training will provide you with a resource that your professional staff will understand and assimilate.