Moving Up the Value Chain

Why Professionals Must be Seen as Strategic

For lawyers, accountants, consultants, and other professionals, business development isn’t optional. It’s a requirement. Without new clients and deeper relationships, your practice won’t sustain itself — and certainly won’t grow. But too many professionals approach business development with the wrong lens. They think about selling services. In reality, what determines your success is where clients place you on their value chain .

What Is the Value Chain?

You’ve heard the term before, but here’s what it really means in the client context: The value chain is the internal ranking every client — consciously or unconsciously — applies to the people and firms they engage.