Professional Services Leadership, Marketing & Rainmaking
From the monthly archives:
Oftentimes in professional services firms, marketing plans are created and never completely implemented. Or, when they are implemented but not given enough time to show results, the firm views the campaign as unsuccessful.
John Doerr, president of Wellesley Hills Group, founder of RainToday.com, and co-author of Professional Services Marketing, explains what it takes for firms to implement a strategy.
(Time: 11:26)
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I just had the most disturbing conversation with one of the CEOs with whom I work.
CEO: “Our largest client just told us that they want a 20% cut in our fees.”
Me: “What services don’t they want you to provide anymore?”
CEO: “Oh, they still want everything we’ve always done. Just for less money.”
Me: “So, let’s figure out the strategy to deal with this.”
CEO: “Ah, a little late. I already told them we would do it. But once the economy bounces back…”
Random act of seller-on-buyer violence? I think not. This frightening trend has exploded into a full-fledged social epidemic. But why?
Maybe it is because so many professional services firms are struggling for new clients or simply trying to hang on to existing ones. Maybe it is a seismic shift in the dynamics of the client / service provider power matrix (i.e., the economy). Or maybe we have all lost confidence in the true value we provide for our clients. Whatever the case, we shouldn’t allow it to come down to this humorous (yet, sadly, very close to the mark for professional service firms) depiction I came across recently:
Every consultant wants to form solid business partnerships with their clients, but a lot can get in the way. Obstacles emerge like:
Andrew Sobel, author of All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships, explains how to address common challenges consultants face when trying to partner with their clients.
(Time: 11:26)
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Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, and I were talking a few weeks ago about the sorry state of unemployment. Folks that have had solid, good paying jobs and career success in the past are, for the first time in their lives, facing unemployment.
Many of these folks now need to make a big sale (i.e. get a job), and they’re struggling.
Let’s say you know there’s a big client out there that’s looking to hire a firm like yours. You’d love to get that deal, and you hear that while the client knows that you exist, their short list of possible providers doesn’t include you.
Forget about it, right? Probably would be a lot of effort and leave you with the goose egg to show for it anyway.
Many professional services firms see their competition winning new business by blogging, connecting on social networks, and launching podcasts and online videos. And they want to know, “How can I do the same?”
Dana VanDen Heuvel, founder of the Marketing Savant Group, explains how firms can create a social media marketing strategy. Topics he addresses include what questions firms need to ask themselves and how firms should integrate a CRM system into their plans.
(Time: 10:54)
Interested in hearing more? An extended version of this audio interview is available to RainToday.com members.
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With the recent passing of Billy Mays, the world has lost a marketing genius. He didn’t follow the crowd and do things like everyone else, and he might have taken some flak for that. But how can you not respect someone who successfully translated knowledge of consumer behavior into a lucrative business with intelligent marketing at its core?
I’m not sure if a professional service firm ever approached Billy to be their advocate in the market, but that got me to thinking…what would that have looked like? Without further ado, here’s my tribute to Billy.
Millions of business professionals have a profile on LinkedIn and LinkedIn is consistently ranked as one of the top social networking websites out there. So, how does a marketer tactfully and effectively use this resource?
Jason Alba, author of I’m on LinkedIn — Now What? and the DVD LinkedIn for Job Seekers, explains the finer points of netiquette (Internet etiquette), the best way to build a list from your connections, and what your personal profile should look like.
(Time: 8:32)
Interested in hearing more? An extended version of this audio interview is available to RainToday.com members.
Click here to subscribe to the series via iTunes.
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