By Natalie J. Armstrong,
www.MarketingMediation.com

Serve Before You Sell
If you’ve read my book then you know this is a major point I make. It’s such an important point, that it bears repeating.

We are a service industry. We are not the default (the courts). Conflict resolution professionals cannot afford to treat people as though they were still in the court system. People choose our processes and they choose us. We’re in a people industry. We’re in a service industry.

The people who hire us or for whom we volunteer expect from us not just service, but good service. That kind of service starts long before you’re hired for a hearing. Your view of people who hire you may have a powerful effect on the way you treat them and consequently whether or not you get the job.

Consider the definitions of these two words.

Customer: A person who purchases a commodity or service.
Client: A person who is under the protection of another.

Next time you’re at a networking event approach everyone you meet as though they are a client. Provide them the referrals they need, the research avenues you have at your disposal, or industry news that will benefit them. Likewise, the next time your phone rings remind yourself that the person on the other end is a client, not just a customer, and you’ll convene many more cases than ever before.

Serve before you sell. It should be the mantra of every businessperson.

Natalie J. Armstrong is the Founder and Managing Director of Golden Media, a marketing and consulting firm dedicated to promoting the resolution industry. She is the author of The Essential Guide to Marketing Your ADR Practice and speaks internationally on business development and the successful marketing strategies of the conflict resolution industry. More ADR Practice Development articles and information about Ms. Armstrong and Golden Media can be found at www.MarketingMediation.com.

By Natalie J. Armstrong,
www.MarketingMediation.com

Turning contacts into clients is the goal of networking. Follow these simply commandments and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

1. Have your networking tools with you at all times.
2. Set a goal for the number of people you’ll meet.
3. Act like a host, not a guest.
4. Listen, and ask the five “W “questions: who, what, where, when, and why.
5. Give a lead or referral whenever possible.
6. Describe your service in sixty seconds.
7. Exchange business cards with the people you meet.
8. Spend ten minutes or less with each person you meet.
9. Write comments on the backs of the business cards you collect
10. Follow up with the people you meet.

Quoted from Ivan Misner’s “The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret”
Natalie J. Armstrong is the Founder and Managing Director of Golden Media, a marketing and consulting firm dedicated to promoting the resolution industry. She is the author of The Essential Guide to Marketing Your ADR Practice and speaks internationally on business development and the successful marketing strategies of the conflict resolution industry. More ADR Practice Development articles and information about Ms. Armstrong and Golden Media can be found at www.MarketingMediation.com.

By Natalie J. Armstrong,
www.MarketingMediation.com

Whether you’re in a big city like San Francisco, CA or a small town like Center Lovell, ME (Hello Downeasters!) building a successful practice can depend on who you know. One seemingly universal truth about our industry is that people who know and like us hire us. When we survey the clients of ADR, they tell us that are not willing to gamble on a mediator or arbitrator. They hire a resolutionist with whom they have already worked, or who comes as a referral from a couple of sources.

So get out there - network, socialize, and let your target market get to know you.

Make sure they know you, your service specialty and that you will provide them a professional process. You can prove your credibility and authority through networking, writing, speaking or training. Essentially - anything that puts in front of your target market in such a way that they can “interview” you as a prospective resolutionist.

Natalie J. Armstrong is the Founder and Managing Director of Golden Media, a marketing and consulting firm dedicated to promoting the resolution industry. She is the author of The Essential Guide to Marketing Your ADR Practice and speaks internationally on business development and the successful marketing strategies of the conflict resolution industry. More ADR Practice Development articles and information about Ms. Armstrong and Golden Media can be found at www.MarketingMediation.com.

By Dr. Ivan Misner

“Good networking is about building relationships. And the people who you know and trust will most likely repeatedly refer you. This means you must build and maintain their trust.

That’s why “touch points” are critical to the networking process. Touch points relate to the occasions in which you “touch” one of your clients, potential clients, and/or referral partners. Touch points are communication mechanisms, such as a phone call, email, newsletter, correspondence, personal meeting, greeting card, etc.
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