Developing knowledge-based client relationships: Chapter 1

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The second edition of Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships was released 18 months ago now. The first edition, launched in January 2000, was on several Amazon.com bestseller lists, including ranking at #1 from Australia for the two months after its release, and on the top 20 sellers list for Deloitte & Touche for over two years, and sold through five printings. When the time finally came to update the book, it ended up as half new material, including a couple of entirely new chapters. I wanted to include what I’d seen in my work with major organizations, and what did and didn’t work in practice. The response to the second edition has also been very pleasing, with a good presence in the market, and getting named one of the Best Books of 2005 by BOSS magazine.

From the outset two of the book’s chapters have been available online for free download, but sometimes these kinds of things get overlooked. I thought it was worth pointing to the free chapters here.

Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships: Chapter 1: Leading Your Clients

To provide some context for the chapter and the changes I made, here’s a snippet from the preface to the second edition.

The first key lesson is that even if you are brilliant at engaging in knowledge-based relationships with your clients, that doesn’t help you if your clients don’t recognize the value you can create for them through this deeper level of engagement. Professionals must lead their clients into knowledge-based relationships by demonstrating the value of collaboration. On every front, the future success of professional services firms will depend absolutely on the leadership capabilities within the firm. They must lead their clients into new ways of working, they must lead their professionals into combining their expertise collaboratively, and they must lead their industries by showing that new business models and approaches to value creation are possible and desirable. Thus the new subtitle of this book: “Leadership in Professional Services.” The subtitle of the original edition, “The Future of Professional Services,” still applies, as knowledge-based relationships are indeed the future of the professions. However the essence of this second edition is how to develop the leadership that will brings these kinds of professional relationships to reality.

Here is an overview and link to Chapter 6, which is on implementing key client programs and enhancing client relationship capabilities.