I’ve lost track of how often I have flagged this fundamental point during networking talks or in the context of mentoring and business coaching assigments.
Obviously there are many factors that will determine a prospective client’s decision making process. However, everything else being equal, you will secure more work if you make it easy for people to get to know you, to like you and to trust you.
When was the last time you heard of someone who appointed a new adviser and told their friends that “I’ve got this strange new accountant. I don’t like him or trust him”? Too often? 
Seriously – although there will always be exceptions to the rule, I am positive that ambitious professionals will secure more work if they make it easy for prospective clients to get to know them, to like them and to turst them.
The question is – how do you do that?
“The question is – how do you do that?”
Depends a little on what type of business you’re in.
For us marketing requires cold calling in person. This gives a chance to be someone they LIKE. Today we tried the idea you mentioned in an earlier posting – we have something that would be useful and we’ll drop it into them in a few days time (no hurry in December in our industry). That means we get to go back and become someone they KNOW and by keeping a promise we have the TRUST covered too.
Marketing formulas can seem a little corny but we know from experience that they do work.