all the marketing effort in the world will rarely produce a client. it can only produce a receptive prospect.
by bruce marcus
professional services marketing 3.0
editor’s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 was privileged to have a long relationship with bruce w. marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. we are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.
the tools of marketing are not a program – they are simply tools.
more: have you planned how to service your new revenue? | how to set marketing objectives | how marketing in accounting has evolved | accounting marketing 3.0: new rules | nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm
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a marketing program, then, is not simply a catalogue of tools. it’s a plan – a strategy and a tactical plan. it’s the sum total of all relevant activities, supporting one another, and not just random activities designed without objective nor relevance to the needs of the prospective client.
it begins with a realistic understanding of the needs and opportunities of the markets you serve. it defines your abilities to meet those needs. it develops a strategy to persuade your market that you can serve its needs. and it formulates the tactics needed to make that strategy functional.
by defining the target audience first, you can devise the strategy to address that audience, by …
- defining the needs and opportunities of that market segment
- designing collateral material addressed to that audience
- writing articles and developing other media activities for media that serve that market
- networking through organizations that serve that market
- running seminars for companies in that segment
- doing specialized newsletters
- using social media effectively
- 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 some basic realities to consider, such as …
- how realistic are the objectives? can they be achieved as marketing objectives? is the market really there for what you want to offer? can the firm really deliver what it plans to market?
- does the firm really understand the cost of meeting those marketing objectives, in terms of staff? dollars available? professional staff time? risk of failing in any particular marketing effort or activity?
- 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 than does 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 emerge. one is sued. 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 laws 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. which 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 law or 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. it can only produce a receptive prospect. the prospect buys only when a lawyer or 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.
tactics
tactics are the most difficult part of a professional firm marketing program, because so much of what must be done depends upon the scarce, non-billable time of partners and professional staff. if the firm management hasn’t made clear that participation by every professional in the firm is an integral part of recognition and growth within the firm, you can scrap the marketing program. it could be helpful if the non-billable hour were renamed the investment hour, because if those hours are spent on marketing, investment hours are exactly what they are.
the marketing professional can do a great deal. he or she may be able to write an article or a brochure, but needs the input of the practitioner. the marketing professional may be able to design and run a seminar, or arrange for a speech, but the practitioner must supply the content. the marketing professional may be able to place the story in the media, but the practitioner must supply the story.
and all of these activities must be managed. they must be prioritized.
they must be made to happen, whether at the behest of a marketing professional or a partner in charge of marketing. they must be timed, and coordinated.
expectations
delineating expectations, as part of defining objectives, serves another purpose, albeit one just as useful.
if the prospect doesn’t have vast experience in marketing, or in any of its parts, it has no way of knowing what to expect from marketing efforts. why shouldn’t anyone expect a rush of clients, for example, from a single ad – unless that person has been educated very specifically in what an ad can and can’t do? why shouldn’t a marketing campaign produce a rapid return of inquires from a well developed ad campaign?
there are too many cases of partners expecting that press releases will be printed verbatim, that interviews will be reported accurately, that a three-day sales training course will double the size of the clientele within weeks. this is why expectations must be precisely delineated, and why marketers must be educators.
what you should expect from an effective marketing campaign is …
- name recognition
- that a great deal is known about your firm and its capabilities
- that the market will view your firm favorably and will retain a sufficient measure of the campaign’s message to remember the firm when the need for its services arises
- that the market will identify a problem or a need that it has or expects to have, within the context of your firm’s capabilities and skills
- that the market will believe that your firm has the capability to understand and solve the problem
- that some action, such as an inquiry, be taken (if appropriate), or that the reader be receptive to a followup call
measuring marketing results is one of the discipline’s thorniest problems.
there is simply no tangible measure that offers any valuable information that goes beyond the pragmatic or subjective.
the best that can be expected of it is to serve as a red carpet to develop a personal meeting. it does it by pre-selling; by educating; by whetting the appetite for a solution to a problem that you’ve identified and understand. but don’t expect anybody to call and say, “i liked your letter (or ad, or blog). start monday.”
in other words, the expectations are tempered by the quality of the way in which the medium is used. poor advertising, poor public relations, poor direct mail – all mean sharply diminished performance. to ask more than the medium is capable of producing, or that level of quality can deliver, is a vast self-deception.