The playwright Oscar Wilde defined a gentleman as someone who “is never unintentionally rude.” Likewise, you never want to have a good client relationship end unintentionally and without a sound reason. Unfortunately, relationships often avoidably come to an end. Clients usually just…

The Beatles sold over one billion records and forever changed the face of pop music. As a team, they were able to create a whole that was greater than the sum of the parts. Together, they composed better music than they…

The new wisdom is: Become a visible expert in a niche. If you do you’ll command high fees and be sought after. You’ll get noticed. You’ll out-compete generalists. All true. But even more true is this: Add some breadth to…

Regardless of what stage you’ve reached in a client relationship, you need to look for and seize what I call breakthrough moments. In examining the careers of great professionals, I have found there are always notable moments when they perform…

So you have a strong brand. Congratulations. You walk into a prospective client’s office feeling confident and self-assured. You bask in the trust and respect that a good brand confers. But wait—this particular meeting may not be the bowl of…

Monday was Memorial Day, which is a day of remembrance for those who have died while serving in the armed forces. It has also become a day to express gratitude to everyone who is serving or has served in the…

Meet Ellen and Peter. They are both partners with large, well-known public accounting firms. They both went to good schools. They each have years of experience in auditing the financial statements of Fortune-500 companies. Consummate professionals. But that’s where the…

Many executives tell me, “Of course we listen to our clients—we see them every week!” But those day-to-day interactions, while important, do not yield the kinds of in-depth information and feedback you need about your clients’ evolving needs and their…

I was having breakfast one morning with the CEO of a large professional firm. He was stepping down after nearly 10 years in the role. He had a busy morning coming up, and after we had chatted for a while,…

The other day a client called me for advice about an important sale he was involved with. His firm was making its final presentation that very week. I did my best, but the problem was that he and his team…