eight proven methods for accurately targeting new business

by defining the target audience first, you can devise the strategy to address that audience, with eight tried-and-true techniques:

1. defining the needs and opportunities of that market segment
2. designing collateral material addressed to that audience
3. writing articles and developing other media activities for media that serve that market
4. networking through organizations that serve that market
5. running seminars for companies in that segment
6. creating specialized newsletters
7. using social media effectively
8. using carefully targeted direct mail

there is an important difference between telling a target audience what you want them to think (“we have great skills, so hire us”), and leading that audience to that conclusion on its own. (”our real estate partners not only have three decades of experience, but…”). the first statement may gratify your ego, but it’s self-serving and has no credibility. the second statement gives a reason to consider – and maybe trust – the firm, and says a lot about the firm itself.

the major strategy should be to market practice by practice, and service by service.

you can’t say, “we have great skills, so hire us.” that kind of statement doesn’t distinguish you from your competitors, nor is it credible. you can’t say, “we believe in client satisfaction” for the same reasons. and that’s why you can’t expect any strategy to market your skills and ability to serve clients by marketing the entire firm. each practice, each skill set, should have its own marketing program.

positioning

positioning is one of the most important aspects of a marketing program. it defines in the greatest detail possible what the prospective clientele most needs, demonstrates that you understand those needs and explains why you’re most capable of serving those needs. the position thus defined becomes the thrust of your marketing program. it focuses your marketing program like a laser beam.

realities to consider

in formulating marketing objectives, as in firm objectives, there are at least nine basic realities to consider:

1. how realistic are the objectives?
2. can they be achieved as marketing objectives?
3. is the market really there for what you want to offer?
4. can the firm really deliver what it plans to market?
5. does the firm really understand the cost of meeting those marketing objectives, in terms of staff?
6. dollars available?
7. professional staff time?
8. risk of failing in any particular marketing effort or activity?
9. has the firm realistically assessed its commitment to marketing, in terms of supporting the creative effort, the staff and the program?

not facing these realities, and not understanding what’s involved in moving into the marketing arena, can be wasteful and expensive.

and the major objective of the well-designed marketing program?

to get the opportunity to meet the prospect face to face, in order to sell. the ultimate objective, and the only ultimate objective, is to get the client.

when the marketing objectives are clear, then there can be a clear view of the program itself. only then can there be a valid assessment of the marketing mix – those several tools of marketing that, together, move the program forward, and the blueprint to accomplish it.

but professional services offer a different environment from product marketing, defined both in the nature of the professional service and in the way that service is delivered. moreover, generations of tradition in the professions have shifted the focus from the customer – the client – to the professional, in large measure for artificial – if sustaining – reasons. rarely can a consumer of professional services be persuaded of the need for a professional until the need for a professional’s services emerges. an audit is demanded of a company by either the government or a source of finance. one needs a contract to seal an agreement.

and this, then, is the element that drives the singular nature of marketing professional services – the constantly changing relationship between the professional and the client. it is tempered not by a manufacturing process, but by changing personalities, changing circumstances, changing rules and regulations beyond the control of either professionals or clients, the infusion of new and different economic or social elements. it is further complicated by the fact that in today’s dynamic economy, where all commerce is affected by new technology, new interplays, new relationships and new intercultural demands, the relationship between the client and the professional is rarely the same from one day to the next. nor are tomorrow’s demands of the professional likely to be satisfied by yesterday’s solutions.

the tools

is advertising part of it? how will public relations fit in? what about publications – newsletters, brochures, etc.? how will social media be used? what’s the role of networking? and so on.

the tools of marketing – public relations, publications, social media, brochures and websites, networking – are finite. even as they change (the role of the internet and social media to diminish the hard-copy press, for example) they are available to everybody. this means that the better competitor is the one who uses the tools most imaginatively, most relevantly to the needs of his or her market, most effectively.

the skills of a competent marketer are multifarious. he or she must be a market planner, a writer in several media, a public relations expert, knowledgeable about advertising and social media and, in a larger firm, a good manager. in view of the relative newness of marketing for the professions, the competent marketer must have the skills to educate the firm and communicate internally as well as externally. the competent marketer must know how to hire not only staff, but outside suppliers, such as public relations firms, art directors and advertising agencies. above all, the professional marketer is imaginative in using the tools, without which the program is simple mechanics, and not competitive.

selling, of all parts of marketing, has always been an integral part of the process, but never until recently has the word or concept of selling been popular in the professional’s lexicon. to most professionals, it has always been inimical to the loftiness of professional practice. “if my mother wanted me to be a salesman she wouldn’t have sent me to accounting school,” was a commonly heard statement in the early days of marketing. but ultimately, it must be recognized that all the marketing effort in the world for professional services will rarely – rarely – produce a client. i can only produce a receptive prospect. the prospect buys only when an  accountant makes the sale, face to face. while this has always been the case, selling is only recently recognized as a part of marketing, albeit a separate skill. now known as practice development, the practice itself has been pioneered by such thoughtful and experienced marketers as silvia coulter and suzanne lowe, through both their excellent writing and well-attended conferences and seminars.

“practice development” recognizes that the marketing program is the backdrop for actually producing a client. it goes beyond the marketing program, then beyond the standard selling techniques, by dwelling heavily on understanding complex client needs, listening carefully to client concerns and relating appropriate firm services to prospective client needs. it’s distinctive now because the concept of selling, in professional services, has for so long been anathema to the professions. it’s acceptable now because it’s rooted in relationship with need, and predicated on solving client problems, and goes well beyond merely hawking firm services.

the tools, then, must be managed. the public relations and direct mail and networking and other efforts must be put into play, in a proper framework, so that they are effective and relevant to the objectives.

this is marketing. it’s how a practice is built and shaped, by both sole practitioners and multinational firms.