Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Chris, I'd first like to direct you to a book I'm re-reading as it is in its second edition -- that is Marketing Professional Services by Philip Kotler. It provides a lot of basic information on marketing practices and is easy to read. It starts at the "soup" and goes through the "dessert." What is of particular impact is that it is often difficult for professional services orgs like CPA and law firms to allocate time to legitimate marketing activities -- or to hire a marketing director. This is well discussed in this book.

As for a personal success story, here goes:

My company is a professional services company. We started about four years ago. We did not come out of "big business" with contracts in hand. No, no, we worked, and networked, and worked more, and became aggressive seminar, luncheon, conference, and meeting attendees. Again, we WORKED. We met people. We followed up and sent emails and personal notes. We attended the best ones over and over. We didn't keep talking to those we knew -- we gritted our teeth and became key participants at every event, and joined the ones that maximized our exposure.

(NOTE: We also began producing what has become a highly regarded newsletter on marketing strategy [more on this later], and we solicited speaking opportunities.]

Getting back to networking, we did more than attend, we selectively joined groups and started "working" -- participating in carefully chosen committees where we could show our discipline, our perseverance, and our model of adding value.

For the growing professional services company, I believe a focus on these types of efforts can gain (and has gained for us!) positive notoriety over time (the last four years – after two hard years, things started clicking – we were seen as survivors and serious about what we did).

Everything else should be built to enhance or support this primary lead and relationship-building effort, WHICH never ends, even as you get busy with business!! Therefore:

* Go to association meetings, MIT forums, conferences, chambers of commerce luncheons, AMA, ABA and other trade meetings, VC forums, and other places where your target market is.

* So, understand WHO your target market is and go where they are. New ventures? Public companies? Retail owners? Physicians? Biotech start-ups? Whatever and wherever they are, BE THERE.

* Talk to them about their business. Ask good questions that uncover problems directly related to your solution.

* Have your pitch down (“I help (business owners do this....). Tell me about (your business OR how you approach …).” Have a story to tell about a client with problems and how you and your services were the solution.

* Get their business card – this is MUCH more important than handing out yours! Why? Because YOU will actually contact them while they won't. Do so within 48 hours via email or letter and make an impression. Mentioned what you discussed with time and begin to cement a connection.

* Participate – as I said above, this is a BIG part of networking! Do not fail to join an organization and a specific committee where you can add value, meet potential contacts, and referrals, and showcase your professionalism first hand. You’ll get to know people and they’ll get to see your work ethic. This works – I know from experience the power of this. But you MUST work it (that's why they call it netWORKing!). Go places every single week and get your face known!


As I mentioned earlier, we publish a newsletter that is well received -- we hit on an executive interview formula and write well-researched marketing articles and provide other insightful information. This is NOT "marketing lite." We provide impactful content that takes about 15-20 hours a month between us to produce, edit, code it, and email it to our growth email list (Yes, we work nights and weekends – don’t you?! ). But you know what?? IT WORKS. We have barely marketed the newsletter and it is growing by word of mouth. Why? Because it has substance that is vital to our constituency.

A final big push for us was public speaking. In the first two years, we spoke more than 20 times -- at local chambers, business groups, the Small Business Association, and more. We wanted to educate and help people understand the value and necessity of marketing at the strategic level -- that is, understanding the customer. We approached it as a win-win. And from almost every seminar, we got business and referrals.

Does this take work? YES. (That's why they call it net-WORKing, right?) Did it work? For us, yes.

Service businesses have different characteristics than "hard good" businesses -- the need to build trust in an intangible deliverable that is consumed as it is produced is very high (see my explanation in this KHE answer -- https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=8976#57292)

Therefore, to build trust (and relationships) you DO have to be there. But taking people out to dinner, sporting events, theater, etc. begins to smack of a buy-off after a while. In this day and age, people are savvy to being sold, and they don't like to feel needlessly obligated. They prefer to BUY. Let them see your worth as you attend and participate and add value to the organization and do what you say you will do, and put effort out, not just words.

It doesn't take that much more time. But it is MUCH more effective.

So, you might ask, where is our company as a business? We’ve more than doubled our revenue every year. I say this not to brag, but to let you know that it can be done.

So pull a “Nike” – JUST DO IT. ( I LOVE my job!)

Good luck.

Truly great response by ccoldren.

I relied for years on referrals from satisfied clients. That let me rationalize that the best way for me to get new clients was to do a great job for current clients and let them tell their contacts how great I am.

I built a practice on that strategy, and I was fortunate that it worked for many years. But lately I've learned that I was the exception to the rule, and the "rule" is that you also need to be an active and purposeful networker.

When I was researching Rasputin For Hire : An inside look at management consulting between jobs or as a second career, I interviewed a few dozen consultants (and former consultants) from different functional specialties.

Virtually ALL of them said the same thing: Networking and research are the keys to selling professional services.

The "research" was always learning what a company's problems are, how they deal with important issues, what the likely objections would be, who influences major decisions, etc.

And the way they did this research was by networking and mining the social contacts (without being obnoxious about it, of course).

Net: I think your friend may want to follow the guidance his company has given him, and think of his mission as being to listen and learn about the needs and attitudes of prospective clients ... while enjoying the social settings and projecting the right professional image to set the stage for a possible future relationship.

I don't know if there's ever been a traditional ROI calculation for this kind of marketing, but it seems to have worked in a macro sense for a lot of people. Especially on a local basis, it's the way business is done.

Chris --

You've uncorked a key question and some outstanding replies!

I work with exactly the kind of people you're describing. My typical prospect is someone whose spouse, mother and/or significant other asks, "Honey, if you're so smart, why aren't you more rich?". ;-)

The 'professional service provider' challenge is converting their competence into compensation. Unless they gain access to the quantity and quality of opportunities where that can take place, they're going to be frustrated financially.

OK, all that said, let me provide some insights to your question.

The conventional wisdom of many CPA's and JD's -- two of my favorite groups -- is what you describe: go out often enough, play enough golf, do social events and Voila! . . . business will (magically) happen. Sorry, ain't necessarily so.

Many of the professionals I work with erroneously confuse the correlation of doing these kinds of things with the outcomes they seek. They're often independent events!

So, what does work? Well, awareness is essential. But not enough. A professional needs ENDORSEMENT as well. The phone book is full of legally licensed, fully degreed professionals, right? But how does one pick one? They usually ask the advice of someone they know, like and trust! In short, after awareness, it's usually endorsement by a trusted source -- often another advisor -- that makes the 'sale' of the advisor and their related services.

So the admonition to engage in networking is 'right on'. But that's easier said than done. The 'art' of networking is, in my experience, woefully misunderstood and performed poorly by most of the advisors you've identified. Most would consider the 'golf, opera, and other 'events' as the essence of being a networker or 'Rainmaker'. Again, these events may correlate but don't substantially cause the results the professional's firm is seeking from them.

The success (and, rate of same) of a given advisor is a function of their EXPOSURE to members of the marketplace they're seeking to attract, and ENDORSEMENT by others who are trusted sources of information by the marketplace the advisor is seeking to atttract to their practice. Think of it as follows: "E x E <---- Market Members"

Basically, the more effective and extensive the relationships an advisor develops with others who are visible, mobile and highly regarded, the more likely the advisor is going to attract new clients. So learning how to build and maintain relationships with people who are able to direct and influence others to the advisor . . . is the critical capability the advisor must develop and deploy. Networking and relationship building are the means to that end.

One other thing. ALIGNMENT. The more closely an advisor and/or firm is operating in a manner that reflects, harmonically, the expectations of the marketplace they seek to attract and serve, the more likely they are to do so. Call it management if you wish.

I've done exit interviews with clients of CPA, DVM and JD adviors and you'd be blown away at how simple things can cause a relationship to break down and a valued client to slip away. The behavior of a professional or firm toward the client speaks so loudly the printed collateral is never heard. What an advisor SAYS and DOES is KEY to managing the client's experience. And, if that experience is what they expect or, closer to what they want than any other advisor or firm is offering . . . guess what? That is where they're going to go!

My fellow advisors above have provided you with some incredibly candid and excellent insights (as usual!). I hope you find what we've said to have been of value and practical use as well.

All the best,

Bill

Hospitality most definitely works, in my experience, it can be one of the most responsive and personal promotional tools available, and as marketing people, we all know that marketing must get more personal and quickly respond to business or customer needs. Hospitality does just that.

The downsides are that its only suitable for small numbers of customers and can be very expensive, but when you are seen to lavish a large amount of money on one or two important clients on exactly the thing they are interested in, then these weaknesses become strengths!

As long as the hospitality is done in the right way, for the right reasons, then it can build long-term relationships with customers, bring prospects onboard, or help to get that vital contract.

It must be incorporated into a CRM system (no matter how basic) so the ROI can be tracked.


MOST IMPORTANT: Hospitality is not a "jolly" anymore, its a fullt grown up marketing tactic, and MUST pay its way.

Chris, what insightful, rich comments you're receiving. My colleagues' responses as well as yours prompt me to review a few points.

Overall, at "high-service” firms (e.g., accounting, legal, architectural, etc.), the concept of marketing in a more traditional sense is frowned upon. There are "ways to do things" that are accepted in each firm to ensure the overall brand image is not tarnished -- or at least is on par with other high-service competitors.

Social networking is a preferred method -- but is mere social exposure enough? Our colleagues even point out this trap --

From Kathleen... "As far as the Audit Partners were concerned, the firm was not about to market their services. They just wanted to have someone walk up to them on the 8th tee and ask to have the firm audit their books."

And Bill... "The conventional wisdom of many CPA's and JD's -- two of my favorite groups -- is what you describe: go out often enough, play enough golf, do social events and Voila! . . . business will (magically) happen. Sorry, ain't necessarily so."

The truth is, however, that even in "stealth" mode (the "do it and they will come" way of thinking, to slightly revised phase), many high-service firms are doing rather well.

So the issue changes from "what's wrong with the club" model?" to this: "How can we make the club model more effective?"

This is at the heart of your two questions: "Assuming my friend has a couple of strong prospects arriving at the golf course on Saturday morning, how can he best prepare for the round of golf, and the lunch or dinner afterwards? How do you go from a ‘good walk spoiled’ to a serious appointment for a business meeting to talk about getting the account, the following week or so?"

Because, as you point out, many professionals are reluctant marketers, the answer I believe becomes one of selling finesse.

* Can these professionals be coached on selling?
* Can their attitudes be shifted about the networking process?
* Are they willing to learn how to do basic pre-engagement client research to understand client issues that are relevant to their practice, and then learn how to broach the subject during a social encounter?

Yes, high-service firms have restrictions on marketing, but that does not negate the need for every partner to bring in business. Consequently, learning how to become better at marketing (or selling, cross-selling, and up-selling) your own firm as you relate to the customer in a social setting becomes a training issue.

High-service firms that want to leap ahead of their competitors should actively pursue sales training for their partners – to help them market their firms in a way that is both acceptable to their culture and more effective as in acquiring or up-selling customers.

Clients seldom want a business partner as much as they need a close friend to rely on and trust.
Trust is the key word. You play golf and do all that needs to be done in order to build on and create an air of trust around you and who you represent.
You have been given some great points here but what is the ROI on trust? Answer: Priceless and incalculable.
Try to open your eyes and look beyond the green grass of the golf course and the brown leather of your client's wallet.
Trust goes a long way while sitting in Business board rooms and when closing a deal with a handshake.
Trust is difficult to earn while being stuck in a business setting, that is why you break away from the mold of the office and show your client that you are trust worthy elsewhere besides the controlled environment of an office. It shows that you are aware of the real world around you and that you can function in different settings. I guess it is the factor that distinguishes a nerd at school from a smart person in class. Smart people are smart everywhere –regardless of the setting, however nerds are smart only when in put a test situation –controlled and predictable setting. Put a nerd on the street and he will not last long, put a smart person on the street and they may last long. Nothing is guaranteed.

I really have nothing more to add than what the "gurus" have already told you above.

Chris, this is a "pointless" remark, if you get my meaning.

Are you feeling the love here? I suspect that you could have made this a 150-er and you'd still get the quantity and quality of responses that I've read so far. This KHE community does a great job of rallying around fellow Experts. (Someone, please pass me a Kleenex, I'm gushing sentimental emotions.)

Trying to think... what advice can I add...

Okay, here's a tidbit from personal experience. On the receiving end of professional services, I couldn't help but take notice of the emails I got from a couple of people (lawyers, CPAs, marketers) who forwarded something newsworthy that related directly to ME and MY business. WAY cheaper than lunch or a round of golf. But it made me realize that even though I wasn't a paying client (yet), that guy was thinking of me and seemed to have my best interests at heart. It was a stepping stone toward the profitable relationship, if you will.

Shelley ;]

As a professional cold caller, my position has long been that unique services can we promoted and sold by the phone and other marketing methods, while more generic "me-too" services are best sold through networking.

Ask yourself, how many competitors do I have? If you have thousands of relatively undifferentiated competitors, business will be sold thru relationships, and networking is best.

Also ask, "In addition to our generic services, do we have any particular areas of specialty?" If you or your friend has a unique particular skill in one area, that particular expertise can be promoted by telemarketing and other means.

I would therefore suggest a two pronged approach: networking for generic service offerings, targeted marketing for specific niches.

There is a second question you did not ask. As a marketing professional, possibly you wonder how you might best provide a valuable service to your friend and client. I would suggest that networking efforts by the firm could not only be enhanced by training and CRM as described above, but also thru the preparation of some limited but very professional marketing materials.

Good luck.