here’s what you’re looking for: bruce w. marcus

in a sound strategic plan it’s the clientele, not the firm, that’s primary.

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. 

it has long been the accepted tradition, in accounting and law firms, that what’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine. in other words, “i love you charlie. you’re a great guy and a great partner. but keep your hands off my clients.” and thus was the lie put to the myth of cross-selling.

more: when clients think they know marketing | internal communications are underrated | four things better than a company song | let’s lose the word ‘image’ | the risk in not understanding risk | what your marketing program can and can’t do | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0 | accountants don’t sell soap.
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

but things change. for example, frank competition, once anathema to the professions, is now well woven into the fabric of professional practice. the nature of the clientele has changed, somewhat drastically. today’s client rarely uses just one law or accounting firm, rarely accepts advice unquestioningly, rarely accepts non-detailed bills (and so will go, eventually, the billable hour). the day of the naïve client is now in its twilight.
read more →

… but don’t. what they should know.

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.

there’s a wonderful cartoon in which a guy in a business suit is looking over the shoulder of an artist at his canvas. the caption, spoken by the artist, is “i used to dabble a bit in accounting, too.”

then there’s the guy who said to me, “if you’re smart enough to be a lawyer, then you’re smart enough to do your own advertising.” to which i replied, “yes that’s true. you’re also smart enough to be a nuclear physicist – but it doesn’t make you one.”

more: internal communications are underrated | manage knowledge as a marketing tool | secret marketing formula: get one client at a time | marketing a fixed position in a moving world | how to build a marketing culture | have you planned how to service your new revenue? | why is change so hard for firms? | why value pricing works | why competition matters most
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

there’s the guy who read a book about tightrope walking. he knew everything about tightrope walking – except how to do it.

the point is that while marketing may not be nuclear physics, it does have its craft, its artistry, its techniques, its experiences and its history. and if you’re not within the realm of all those things and more, you don’t know much about marketing. marketing mythology doesn’t count for much.
read more →

what do we know when we say know?

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 road to knowledge management, now well-traveled, seems to end with the science of acquiring and retrieving data. the end of that road, which was built mostly by the brilliance of computer scientists, stops where a clear understanding of the meaning of useful knowledge begins.

more: how to put target marketing into context | four things better than a company song | let’s lose the word ‘image’ | the risk in not understanding risk | what your marketing program can and can’t do | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0 | accountants don’t sell soap. | why competition matters most
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

but with the growth of knowledge management as a discipline in many aspects of professional practice, some definitions may help forge a new direction for knowledge management that not only move the subject to a new realm of discovery, but may help find ways to make knowledge more useful as a management and marketing tool. we now seem to know a lot about gathering data, and are learning to turn data into knowledge. knowledge must now be adapted to work for the firm, and especially for the firm’s marketers.
read more →

combine the best parts of two approaches.

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.

there is much ado, these days, about niche marketing and target marketing and using mailing lists and knowledge management. how does it all come together to make sense for the smaller accounting or law firm, particularly when there’s a limited marketing budget, and a limited opportunity to reach out to the marketplace?

more: how to build a marketing culture | professional services marketing requires flexibility | how to set marketing objectives | accounting marketing 3.0: new rules | nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

niche marketing is a valid concept, but unfortunately, it is inflated and distorted by suppliers of niche marketing materials. marketing niche marketing material doesn’t make the concept any less valid, although certainly, a distinction should be made between the products of different suppliers. some are clearly better and more relevant than others.

read more →

how to nurture motivation.

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.

at microsoft, they worry about motivation. when everybody who holds any kind of a responsible job is making more money than any of them ever dreamed they would, and when they’re in an industry that would pay anything to hire them away, how do you motivate people? how do you get them to stay, and to produce at the high levels demanded by microsoft and other high-tech companies?

more: secret marketing formula: get one client at a time | everyone in your firm is marketing | accountants vs. lawyers: who wins the marketing battle? | professional services marketing requires flexibility | 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
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

two ways. first, microsoft appeals to what creative people crave most – the opportunity to do great work, and then recognition for it by seeing it used. then they build a culture and a business to sustain that creativity. second, they hire the right people. they hire only those people who are motivated by what they have to offer. and it works. it’s one of the things that makes microsoft a great and successful company.
read more →

think of reputation-building and name recognition as pre-selling.

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.

here’s a little secret about professional services marketing.

it always comes down to selling the individual clients – one by one.

more: everyone in your firm is marketing | let’s lose the word ‘image’ | the risk in not understanding risk | what your marketing program can and can’t do | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

you can talk about strategies, and image, and niche marketing and branding. you can talk about articles, and brochures, and media releases and seminars. but it always comes down to selling the individual clients – one by one.

well … if you’re going to have to do that anyway, why not start with target marketing to begin with?
read more →

every activity performed in an accounting firm is visible and of concern to prospective clientele.

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 following article appeared in the september 1980 issue of the virginia accountant. it is probably the first – or at least one of the first – articles on post-bates professional services marketing.

when, a few years ago, the codes of ethics were changed to allow straightforward marketing by professionals, there came into play a new configuration of circumstances and activities that will reverberate throughout the accounting profession for years to come.

more: let’s lose the word ‘image’ | marketing a fixed position in a moving world | how to build a marketing culture | have you planned how to service your new revenue? | why is change so hard for firms? | why value pricing works | why competition matters most
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

for generations, concepts of probity have pervaded public accounting. accountants were to be not merely independent, but well beyond the fray of public quarrel or exposure. the sword of the cpa has always been independence and, it was long felt, independence is compromised by public debate. and now comes marketing, the crux of which is visibility.
read more →

it projects an infernal and involuted picture of things manipulated, unreal and untrue.

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.

some years ago, in a remarkably successful marketing move, a graphic designer specializing in logos, letterheads and the like came up with the concept of the corporate image. a brilliant concept, but more mirage than image.

more: marketing a fixed position in a moving world | accountants vs. lawyers: who wins the marketing battle? | professional services marketing requires flexibility | how to set marketing objectives | accounting marketing 3.0: new rules | nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

now one of the most successful operations in the marketing business, this company has managed to persuade its clients that corporate image is the key to corporate success. “image,” it seems, is the magic elixir. at many thousands of dollars a dose.
read more →

three things to keep in mind.

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.

there is no great mystique to the marketing concept of positioning. while it’s not as simple as some would make it seem, nor as complex as others would have you believe, it’s still very real.

more: accountants vs. lawyers: who wins the marketing battle? | the risk in not understanding risk | what your marketing program can and can’t do | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0 | nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

like so many words used in marketing, positioning has come to be shorthand for some ideas that have come a long way in the pursuit of sound marketing practice. first popularized by ries and trout in their 1981 book, “positioning,” the concept took a basic advertising practice and codified it in a way that made it possible for other marketers to think differently about approaches to the market.
read more →

does one size fit all? a slate of experts weighs in.

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.

it’s not a race, nor are there prizes for the winner. but it has been suggested that the lawyers are light years ahead of the accounting profession in marketing.

more: the risk in not understanding risk | how to build a marketing culture | have you planned how to service your new revenue? | why is change so hard for firms? | why value pricing works | why competition matters most
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

it’s nonsense, of course. is one profession indeed better at marketing than the other? well, no. each profession is different, and to try to make the comparison would be an apples and oranges game. but silly as the idea may be, it opens a vast and intriguing question. are there significant differences between the professions that affect marketing? indeed there are.
read more →

five steps for better protection.

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.

risk. it’s amazing that so simple a four-letter word can be so complicated. there are risks with dire consequences and risks with negligible consequences. there is risk in every human enterprise; in every trade or endeavor.

more: how to build a marketing culture | professional services marketing requires flexibility | how to set marketing objectives | accounting marketing 3.0: new rules | nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we take risks, in varying degrees (and sometimes unwittingly) every day of our lives. there is even risk inherent in getting out of bed in the morning. but what – on any level – does risk really mean? can risk be tamed?
read more →

and the role it plays in client retention.

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.

how do a firm and its people become part of professional services marketing 3.0?

more: professional services marketing requires flexibility | what your marketing program can and can’t do | have you planned how to service your new revenue? | how to set marketing objectives | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0 | accountants don’t sell soap. | why competition matters most
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

part of the answer resides in building a marketing culture within a firm, which means that everyone in the firm understands that he or she has an active role in marketing and practice development and understands what that role entails.

it means that professionals have an attitude that grants enthusiastic hospitality to marketing.
read more →