āGet me Will Smith!ā āWe need Sandra Bullock!ā āCall George Clooney!ā
These mega-stars are known throughout the world. Fans love them for their big personalities and their blockbuster movies, but in Hollywood, theyāre known for the cha-ching! sound studio executives and investors hear whenever theyāre cast in a new film. In the movie industry, the Will Smiths, Sandra Bullocks, and George Clooneys of the world are known as āBankable Stars,ā a term used to describe an actor who can give investors utter confidence that they will achieve a return on their money by ensuring a large box-office draw. They are rare, highly sought after, and earn the highest fees in the industry.
The truth is there are Bankable Stars in almost every industry, notes Andrew Sobel. And when you can become the George Clooney of your market, it will be great for business.
āJust like the Bankable Stars you see in Hollywood, there are advisors and service providers in every market, who like their West Coast brethren are highly sought after and bring in very high fees,ā says Sobel, coauthor along with Jerold Panas of Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others (Wiley, February 2012, ISBN: 978-11181196-3-1, $22.95). āI call them āBankable Advisors.ā Some are individuals and some are firms. Regardless, clients love them.ā
Sobel notes that examples of famous individual Bankable Advisors would include Alan Dershowitz (law), Ram Charan (board consulting), Jim Collins (CEO consulting), Marshall Goldsmith (CEO coaching), and so on. Examples of firms that historically have been Bankable Advisors could include Goldman Sachs (initial public offerings), McKinsey (strategy consulting), and IBM (computing). There are also individual Bankable Advisors who work inside Bankable Firmsāa good example is Bainās loyalty expert Fred Reichheld.
āFortunately, you donāt have to be a global eminence to achieve bankable status,ā says Sobel. āRegardless of your profession, in your particular market niche, you can become a Bankable Advisor without the galactic notoriety of Good to Great author Jim Collins. In fact, I can give you two great examples from my own network.
āOne is a sales executive who is considered the āmost connectedā individual in the industry he serves. Heās seen to be at the crossroads of market informationāhe always knows who is up, who is down, and what the latest market trends are. Executives eagerly await his calls and visits. Another is a friend of mine who runs an upscale travel agencyāyes, they still exist!āthat caters to a demanding New York clientele. He knows the best, hottest places to go virtually anywhere in the world and is the go-to luxury travel advisor for many wealthy businesspeople. You might be surprised to learn he owns and rents out four luxury apartments in Manhattan right now.ā
So how do you become a Bankable Advisor who is sought after, earns high fees, and rarely has to go searching for clients because great clients come to you? Here are seven power questions you must ask and answer to move yourself towards bankability in the business world:
1. Do you offer clients utterly consistent quality, again and again? You must build a reputation for consistent delivery, year in and year out. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lead the IPO market because they are perceived to have reliably procured capital, at the right price, to hundreds of newly listed companies. āOn the other hand, Iāve had clients who had so many historic quality issues that they struggled to come up with reliable references when asked for their names by prospects,ā notes Sobel. āAs a result, their margins have been cut, and they face endless āRequests for Proposal.ā They are not bankable! Iāve heard this quality message from dozens of top executives as theyāve talked about their most trusted advisors: āYou have to deliver, deliver, deliver; and over time, my trust in you builds up.āā
2. Are you a thought leader in your market? Some Bankable Advisors earn their stripes through writing books. āBut there are other ways of building a reputation as a thought leader,ā says Sobel. āYou can achieve this through deep industry focus, for exampleāby speaking at industry forums, writing articles for professional publications, and being known as the consultant to industry leaders. A good example of this is Ernst & Youngās āEntrepreneur of the Yearā award. Because the company has run the program every year for over 25 years, they own that space now. You must consistently engage in thought leadership activities over timeāyou canāt just write one article or hold one breakfast event and then declare victory. If you can produce, every year, a slow but steady stream of thoughtful perspectives on your chosen niche, you will notice a powerful āflywheelā effect that grows every year.ā
3. Is your name clearly associated with a powerful value proposition? Like movie stars, Bankable Advisors have a specific value proposition that people associate with them. For actor Liam Neeson, itās delivering an āintelligentā action film, whereas for author Jim Collins, itās helping companies become great. āYour public value proposition may not define everything you do with clients, but itās the tip of the spear that youāre best known for,ā explains Sobel. āMine, for example, is āHelping companies and individuals develop their clients for life.ā Without a recognizable value proposition, you risk becoming a commodityājust another tradable expert for hire.ā
4. Do you have strong name recognition in your market? Bankable Advisors are well known! And in truth, most of them work very hard at getting their name out in the marketplace. When youāre bankable and potential clients in your geographic area, market niche, or industry segment think of your specialty, they think of YOU. āThere is a multitude of ways to achieve this type of āmarketing gravity,ā ranging from publishing to speaking to getting known as the advisor to top leaders in your industry,ā says Sobel. āGoogle your own nameāhow many citations does it get? However known or unknown you are today, start planning two or three key activities that will increase your name recognition over the next 6-12 months.ā
5. Are you selective about the clients you will take on? Bankable Advisors are scarce. When you work for everyone, it dilutes your brand. This has been the downfall of some fashion designersāremember Pierre Cardin, who put his name on everything in sight? However, attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Barry Scheck (the āDNA guyā) understand the scarcity principle and wonāt take on just any client.
āNot just any small company can hire Morgan Stanley to do their IPO,ā notes Sobel. āThink about the extreme case of Bruce Lee, the famed martial artist. He died right after his first Hollywood film was completed (Enter the Dragon), but he is still one of the most recognizable stars in the action flick genre. Most likely because he was extraordinaryāprobably the best in historyāand also because his untimely death left us all wanting more. But letās face it, after the tenth Jet Li movie, the fascination wears off…Bottom line: Bankable Advisors understand they shouldnāt spread themselves too thin. They turn down business that isnāt just right for them and their brand in the marketplace.ā
6. Are your fees at the top of your field? As a result of (1) through (5), Bankable Advisors are able to charge high fees. But there is more to it than that. āMany researchers have demonstrated that high prices lead to high perceived value,ā says Sobel. āMost people think that itās the other way aroundāthat you deliver high value and then you get high fees. But consider this: When you buy a luxury BMW, you EXPECT it to be fabulous. So on the road to becoming bankable, you enter into a virtuous circle of ever-higher perceived value and fees, with clients experiencing what they expect. One other thing happens: Part of your value comes from the fact that hiring you reduces risk for the person who has retained you. That was IBMās huge advantage in the early days of the computer industry: No one ever got fired for buying IBM! In other words, you add value just by virtue of your bankable status.ā
7. Do you ask the questions? Or are you āgrilledā by potential clients who donāt really know who you are? When a film director calls George Clooney to discuss a potential movie project, who do you think is asking the tough questions? The star is. āThe same applies in business,ā notes Sobel. āWhen a CEO calls management guru and author Jim Collins, itās Collins who is asking the questions about the CEOās issues, his strategy, his organization, and so on. And hereās the good news: You donāt have to wait until youāre famous to put yourself in this positionāyou can do it right now, regardless of where you are in your career. When youāre the one with the thought-provoking, engaging questions in the conversationābe it with a brand new prospect or a longtime clientāyou immediately move yourself up a notch and gain control of the discussion. You quickly move from being a vendor who takes orders to a proactive, thoughtful advisor who is focused on helping clients achieve their most important goals.ā
āKnow this: Thereās a natural progression of fame that you should expect and enjoy as you strive to become a Bankable Advisor,ā says Sobel. āIn fact, my coauthor, Jerry Panas, is the perfect example of what happens on this progression. Jerry is the undisputed Bankable Advisor in the field of philanthropy and fundraising. Heās written 13 books. Once, on behalf of a major non-profit client, he even solicited a major gift from the Duchess of Windsor. There is almost no one in the non-profit sector who hasnāt heard of Jerry. No board of trustees will ever be criticized for hiring Jerry and his firm.
āHereās how the progression of Jerryās career went:
āWhoās Jerry Panas?ā
āGet me Jerry Panas!ā
āGet me a Jerry Panas-type!ā
āGet me a young Jerry Panas!ā
And somedayā¦āWhoās Jerry Panas?ā
āHow far along are you on the progression from unknown expert-for-hire to Bankable Advisor?ā asks Sobel. āRegardless of the answer, start thinking about the steps you need to take to move closer to being renowned in your particular market.ā
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About the Authors:
Andrew Sobel is the most widely published author in the world on client loyalty and the capabilities required to build trusted business relationships. His first book, the bestselling Clients for Life, defined an entire genre of business literature about client loyalty. In addition to Power Questions, his other books include Making Rain and the award-winning All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships.
For 30 years, Andrew has worked as both a consultant to senior management and as an executive educator and coach. His clients have included leading corporations such as Citigroup, Xerox, and Cognizant; as well as professional service firms such as Ernst & Young, Booz Allen Hamilton, Towers Watson, and many others. His articles and work have been featured in a variety of publications such as the New York Times, Business Week, and the Harvard Business Review. Andrew is a graduate of Middlebury College and earned his MBA at Dartmouthās Tuck School.
Andrew is an acclaimed keynote speaker who delivers idea-rich, high-energy speeches and seminars at major conferences and events. His topics include Developing Clients for Life; Creating a Rainmaking Organization; Collaborating to Grow Revenue; The Beatles Principles; and Power Questions That Win New Business. He can be reached at http://andrewsobel.com.
Jerry Panas is executive partner of Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners, one of the worldās most highly regarded firms in the field of fundraising services and financial resource development. His firm has served over 2,500 client-institutions since its founding in 1968. Jerryās clients comprise many of the foremost not-for-profit institutions in the world. They include every major university, museum, and healthcare center in the United States. Internationally, Jerry has advised organizations as diverse as the University of Oxford, The American Hospital in Paris, and Nuestros PequeƱos Hermanos in Mexico, the largest orphanage in the world.
Jerry is the author of 13 popular books, including Power Questions and the all-time bestsellers Asking and Mega Gifts. He is founder and chairman of the board of the Institute for Charitable Giving, one of the most significant providers of training in philanthropy.
Because of the prominence of the firm and the impact of Jerryās writing, few have had a greater influence in the history of the profession. He is a favorite speaker at conferences and workshops across the nation and internationally. He can be reached at http://panaslinzy.com.
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