{"id":110355,"date":"2023-04-14t11:56:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-14t15:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=110355"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:47","slug":"how-to-set-marketing-objectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2023\/04\/14\/how-to-set-marketing-objectives\/","title":{"rendered":"how to set marketing objectives"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>firm and marketing plans must be intertwined. <\/strong><\/p>\n by bruce marcus<\/i> editor\u2019s 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\u2019s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.<\/i><\/p>\n because a professional services marketing program must do more than accumulate clients, and because it must function in a dynamic world that\u2019s constantly in flux, an effective marketing program can\u2019t be a static list of activities that use a static list of marketing tools. it must have clear objectives that are flexible enough to accommodate the dynamic nature of the market. it must focus specific aspects of a practice, predicated on the distinctive needs of each aspect of the prospective clientele.<\/p>\n more: <\/b>nine reasons that prospects say yes<\/a> | why is change so hard for firms?<\/a> | why value pricing works<\/a> | why competition matters most<\/a> for example, a marketing program to attract high-asset individuals is different from one to attract corporations. a program to attract real estate developers is different than one to attract builders. in other words, no one-size marketing program fits all. how, then, recognizing the foregoing differences, can marketing programs be devised that are focused, effective and competitive?<\/p>\n the answer resides in formulating objectives for each program, based on the distinctive characteristics of each market.<\/p>\n if you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going, how do you know how to get there? absent clear goals, marketing efforts become random, diverse and expensive. with clearly delineated objectives, marketing programs and marketing activities become relevant and focused. they offer a test against which all activities are measured. if a marketing activity doesn\u2019t clearly serve to meet a specific objective, it\u2019s usually wasteful, inept and not cost-effective.<\/p>\n two things about planning that are immutable \u2026<\/p>\n it\u2019s important that objectives be realistic and achievable, and not just wishful thinking. setting objectives, then, even for the smallest firms, is not an abstract exercise. and therefore, all firm plans and their objectives must begin with a clear understanding of the market to be served. not to recognize this is to court meaninglessness and irrelevancy in all planning.<\/strong><\/p>\n firm objectives<\/strong><\/p>\n practically, a firm\u2019s plan should be in two parts \u2013 near-term and long-term. near-term should be no longer than two or three years. beyond that, there are too many variables in the economy, in law, in regulations, etc. to be valid even with the flexibility that should be part of any plan. longer than that, it becomes a wish list \u2013 not to be ignored, but seen for what it is \u2013 a long-term goal. the short-term goal, on the other hand, should be action-oriented, with an action plan for each goal, including who does it.<\/p>\n within the context of the market and the firm\u2019s skills, there then follows a readily defined understanding of what the firm and its partners want, both in the near and the far term, and what they hope to have the marketing program and action plan accomplish in pursuit of those goals. an overriding consideration is your decision as to the nature of your practice. what are your growth parameters? how do you mean the firm to serve the personal and professional needs of you and your partners (and not to be overlooked, your staff)? how do you want to be perceived by your clientele? what skills do you have that are marketable and which do you need to acquire? how? what will you demand of your partners and staff? do you mean to change the firm\u2019s structure or form of governance to be more responsive to the needs of your market? do you foresee changing from hourly to value billing? what are your target dates, and what is your budget?<\/p>\n perspective is important. in all cases, the objective may be to recast a firm to be more relevant to the changing social and economic environment. objectives, clearly defined as they should be, should not be overwhelming. nor should they be adhered to slavishly. it\u2019s often enough to know what you want to do, why you want to do it and how you plan to get it done.<\/p>\n and as gerald a. riskin and patrick j. mckenna remind us in their excellent book, \u201cpractice development,\u201d objectives should be consistent with a firm\u2019s comfort level, and should certainly be ethically acceptable to both the firm and the profession practiced by the firm.<\/p>\n in defining firm objectives, some specific factors must be considered:<\/p>\n firm environment. <\/strong>nothing \u2013 not even profitability \u2013 is more important than the kind of firm you are or want to be. without a firm environment that\u2019s satisfying and fulfilling to its partners and staff, there will be no growth, no profitability, no future.<\/p>\n size. <\/strong>businesses usually don\u2019t grow substantially by accident. it\u2019s almost invariably a conscious decision by its partners or owners, who then take steps to implement that decision. however, some professional firms may feel that they want to limit their growth, fully cognizant of the implications of growing and managing a large firm. growth alone may not be of the essence \u2013 even a firm that chooses to stay at its current size must make that a conscious decision. but it should face the fact that in order to contain growth, it must take steps to sustain its size; it must perform marketing functions to overcome loss by attrition.<\/p>\n profitability. <\/strong>profitability, of course, is as much a function of margins as it is of volume, and so it\u2019s useful to know your costs as precisely as possible \u2013 a particularly difficult task in a professional firm, particularly because an accounting practice is an intellectual product, which is difficult to measure. profitability becomes, as well, a function of the kind of service you\u2019re offering, and the kind of market you want to reach.<\/p>\n corporate work, for example, may have higher margins than working for not-for-profit organizations.<\/p>\n time frame. <\/strong>the ability of a car to accelerate \u2013 to go from zero to a hundred miles an hour \u2013 is measured in seconds. the ability of a firm to meet its firm objectives is measured in a larger time frame. but two things are necessary. first there must be a time frame for the objectives to be met, and second, that time frame must be realistic.<\/p>\n it can, however, be flexible. it can allow, for example, five years for the firm to double in size, if that\u2019s what it wants, but only two years to expand its market geographically.<\/p>\n pricing. <\/strong>pricing is as much an element of marketing as is advertising or promotion. aside from the fact that it affects revenues and profitability, it also affects positioning. the classic question, for example, is do i charge less and go for volume, or do i charge more and go for a more affluent clientele? this is a function of conscious choice, although often, the choice is dictated by such other factors as access to affluent clients, the ability to supply the kind of service needed, or in some cases, simply the ability to ask for and sustain a high fee schedule. value billing is on its way to superseding hourly billing, which raises the complex question of defining value<\/strong>. but the consideration is value to the client before value to the firm \u2013 or there will quickly be no value to the firm.<\/p>\n not to be overlooked is that in today\u2019s competitive climate, pricing has become a tool of marketing, in ways that it had not been before. as in other forms of marketing, pricing is sometimes set by competition, where before it had been relatively arbitrary. a price war, however tends to ignore value, and is often disastrous.<\/p>\n market. <\/strong>there are three aspects of a market that must be considered \u2013 its size, its needs and its location \u2013 and all three must be viewed carefully in formulating objectives. how large a market can you realistically serve? what are the parameters of the market\u2019s needs that you\u2019re prepared to serve effectively? what geographical limitations are realistic? do we have the skills to succeed in a particular market?<\/p>\n share of market. <\/strong>when a firm is in a rapidly growing market, or functioning in an era of rapid growth, share of market is not significant. growth will come with the market. but when that market or industry slows its growth, and competition for existing business is the only possibility for growth, then share of market is crucial. if the only way to grow is to capture your competitor\u2019s clients, then obviously, your share of market grows as your competitor\u2019s diminishes.<\/p>\n share of market is an equally important consideration in an industrially mature market area, where industry is either stagnating or declining, and where a substantial part of a practice is in the mature industry.<\/p>\n still, within those strictures that dictate strong competition or static markets, growth can come by offering new services to existing clients, or by offering new services to clients of other firms. if market share is meaningful, it\u2019s measured not only in terms of the total practice, but for specific services as well. a major accounting firm, for example, may be only the fifth largest firm in town, but it may have 70 percent of the market in small business services.<\/p>\n and of course, the two classic approaches to increasing market share are price cutting, which is now more complex than merely lowering prices, and is therefore fraught with danger, and improved marketing efforts, which is infinitely preferable.<\/p>\n service concept. <\/strong>as a professional service, your relations with your clients dictate that they are served personally. one major accounting firm opened a second office in the wall street area of new york, ostensibly to serve the needs of its financial clients (and to expand its financial clientele). another accounting firm opened a branch office in suburban dallas, to better serve the growing number of smaller businesses located there. the service option, of course, is the firm\u2019s, but it should be made a specific choice. if it\u2019s not, if it\u2019s arrived at arbitrarily, it sends a diverse message to clients, and is counterproductive to a firm\u2019s growth and success.<\/p>\n but in the final analysis, the tools and strategies of marketing serve to enhance the practice development process.<\/p>\n it\u2019s always wise, also, to consider those elements that are beyond individual control. one can\u2019t control, for example, the economy, which can throw the best formulated objectives awry. an accounting practice can be made or broken by a new tax law, or a new fasb change. opportunities for professionals are generated or obliterated regularly. this is why objectives are never more than guidelines that serve to define a course of action, whether in marketing or otherwise.<\/p>\n there\u2019s always the danger, too, of successfully achieving marketing objectives too soon, and thereby outrunning your ability to serve a new or growing clientele. it makes little sense to do a successful job of increasing your tax business if you can\u2019t find a sufficient number of tax specialists to serve your new clientele.<\/p>\n
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\nand while it\u2019s commonly assumed that the idea is to sell the firm, experience shows that marketing professional services works best when it focuses on individual market segments. a program that does that well results in projecting a capable firm in all its parts. obviously, then, a clear understanding of each market served is essential.<\/p>\nsetting objectives<\/h3>\n
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specific factors<\/h3>\n