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February, 2004 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark Maraia's tip of the month: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taking notes while meeting with someone conveys respect to the speaker. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEATURE ARTICLE - Taking Notes Can Make You Stand Out ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many professionals fail to take a single note during conversations they have with prospective clients. Making a mental note of what someone says is nice, but it won't last as long as a written note. Not only can going "noteless" put you at a huge disadvantage, you miss a great opportunity to make a great impression in your next call or meeting. If you were meeting with a client to discuss their case, and didn't take a single note, what do you think the client would think about you as a lawyer? It's hard to imagine the situation where a lawyer would have a client conference without taking notes. Why should meetings with prospective clients be any different? If you don't take notes, you're missing a great opportunity to make an impression on the potential client. Obviously there might be situations where note taking wouldn't be important, but a lot less than most lawyers think. If you are meeting someone in a conference room where it's easy to take notes, then do so. If you're not sure how the client will react simply ask for permission. Something like, "you are making some very interesting points, would you mind if I make some notes?" Almost everyone will be flattered that you thought enough of what they are saying to take notes. Many professionals assume they shouldn't take notes while sharing a meal with a prospective client. There are others who want to know if they should take notes during meals. My answer is: It depends. You must rely heavily on your common sense. If the amount of space available at your table doesn't permit it, then don't attempt it. If the table is big enough, or you can manage to take notes in your lap, then go for it. In my view, keeping electronic notes is better than handwritten ones because it's harder to misplace electronic notes. And, you can usually retrieve, manipulate and annotate electronic notes easier than written notes. However, using a paper based note taking system is far better than nothing. The value of taking notes during meetings is unimpeachable. There are many things said by your clients and prospects that are worth writing down. If you don't write them down as you hear them you will eventually forget them. Research shows that within a short period of time we forget up to 90% of what we hear. The level of detail on what you remember is limited when all you have is your memory. The old adage applies: the weakest ink is stronger than the mightiest memory. Note taking also allows you to pick up a conversation where you left off even if there has been a 6 month span of time between your contact. For example, the prospect might tell you that he plans on putting this work out for bid next year. Four months later you can ask if he's done so. Or he might tell you he is going on vacation to Fiji. Your first question might be: "How was your vacation in Fiji?" If taking notes wasn't an option during your meeting be sure to budget 10-15 minutes AFTER the meeting (or as soon as possible) to write down the salient facts discussed. Be particularly alert to making note of what NEEDS were mentioned. Noting, and helping meet personal needs is more likely to swing the sale in your direction. If you really want to zoom to the top, annotate your notes. This involves going back through your notes to flag the needs you wrote down. Either way, make sure you go back over your notes and identify what kind of needs you jotted down on paper. When taking notes be particularly alert to writing down any statements about needs. For really important meetings, I like to annotate my previous notes by marking which needs are implied and which are explicit. Implied needs are statements of dissatisfaction with no stated desire for solutions, e.g., "I'm not happy with my current lawyer," while explicit needs are statements of dissatisfaction and a stated desire for solutions, e.g., "We are looking for new counsel because my current firm isn't getting the job done." I don't want you to take notes for the sake of taking notes. If getting the client has minimal appeal, then don't bother. Just take notes for the clients you want to get or keep. So few people take notes that you will stand out in the mind of prospective clients. Even fewer make those notes an integral part of their relationship building strategy. If done well, you can gain an enormous competitive advantage. Most professionals wouldn't dare conduct an initial client meeting without taking good notes. In my view, that practice ought to extend to note taking in meetings with prospects. All professionals are well served to do so. Taking notes goes hand in hand with a relationship orientation to marketing. What taking notes says non verbally is: "you are important enough to me that I am writing down what you say." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN THE NEXT ISSUE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My next issue will keep you guessing. :) Copyright 2004 Mark M. Maraia Associates The Maraia Minutes newsletter library
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