{"id":113036,"date":"2023-06-23t11:55:06","date_gmt":"2023-06-23t15:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=113036"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:46","slug":"how-to-build-a-marketing-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2023\/06\/23\/how-to-build-a-marketing-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"how to build a marketing culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>and the role it plays in client retention.<\/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 how do a firm and its people become part of professional services marketing 3.0?<\/p>\n more: <\/b>professional services marketing requires flexibility<\/a> | what your marketing program can and can\u2019t do<\/a> | have you planned how to service your new revenue?<\/a> | how to set marketing objectives<\/a> | nine reasons that prospects say yes<\/a> | how marketing evolved to 3.0<\/a> | accountants don\u2019t sell soap.<\/a> | why competition matters most<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n it means that professionals have an attitude that grants enthusiastic hospitality to marketing. a firm may be said to have a marketing culture when its professional staff \u2026<\/p>\n a firm that meets these criteria is one that will compete successfully, function profitably, and grow.<\/p>\n building a marketing culture is a process that requires \u2026<\/p>\n merely to have the managing partner say, \u201cok, let\u2019s do it\u201d is not enough. whatever the management style \u2013 lead by example, exhort, mandate \u2013 it\u2019s not the same thing as being able to understand and then explain why marketing activities are essential for the growth of the firm; that people will be rewarded for marketing activities; that a measure of non-billable hours applied to marketing is not only acceptable but cherished; that marketing activity is a factor that contributes to measuring partners, associates and other professional staff compensation. top management support means inculcating into the firm the concept that in all professional activities, the client is at the core. top management support means more than acceptance of marketing \u2013 it means leadership.<\/p>\n someone once said that if you\u2019re smart enough to be a lawyer or an accountant, you\u2019re smart enough to do your own marketing. sure. and you\u2019re probably smart enough to be a nuclear physicist \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t make you one.<\/p>\n marketing may not be nuclear physics, but it is a profession with its own practices, experiences, skills and techniques. the good marketing professional is trained in the tools and mechanics of marketing, in its ideas and concepts, in its highly focused point of view. experience tells the marketing professional what may work and what may not work. if the marketer is imaginative and deft in using imagination, you get a program that\u2019s thoughtful and specifically relevant to your needs. and the good marketer understands your profession and its needs.<\/p>\n the good marketer understands the distinctive nature of lawyers and accountants, and is capable of working well with them. he or she has more than a passing understanding of the legal or accounting profession \u2013 how it functions, how it serves clients, how the firm is structured, and the professional wishes of the partners and staff. and understands as well the character and personality of the lawyer or the accountant. as a professional, the good marketer belongs to, and is active in, the aam \u2013 association of accounting marketers \u2013 benefiting from the experience of peers, and contributing as well.<\/p>\n the good marketing professional is also a teacher, who knows how to impart the meaning and techniques of marketing skills to lawyers and accountants who are not themselves trained marketers. the good marketer is a leader, capable of leading professionals in marketing activities and concepts, and of managing marketing staff. as a communicator, the marketer must establish and maintain a good working relationship with the partners and staff, and keep them informed of marketing activities and aware of each professional\u2019s responsibilities in the marketing program.<\/p>\n remember, the tools of marketing are available to everyone. what counts, then, is the experience and imagination the marketer brings to those skills. it\u2019s more than the sum of the skills and mechanics, it\u2019s the artistry with which they\u2019re used. when you\u2019re hiring a marketing professional, then, don\u2019t hire the mechanic \u2013 hire the artist.<\/p>\n the marketing professional can build the marketing program that enhances name recognition and reputation, and that can project the lawyer or accountants\u2019 skills and special capabilities, but ultimately, the client has to meet the person or people who are going to perform the legal or accounting service. the bond between client and practitioner \u2013 the trust needed in a professional relationship \u2013 is a personal relationship that no salesperson can engender for a professional.<\/p>\n but the marketing activities that the lawyer or accountant can do, particularly under the aegis of the marketing professional, are essential. for example \u2026<\/p>\n these are things that merely broaden individual intelligence and education for the lawyer or accountant at no cost to professionalism.<\/p>\n when a firm\u2019s professionals participate in these activities, and each participant accepts responsibility for performance, you have three things \u2013 involvement, motivation and a firm marketing culture.<\/p>\n while there are many approaches to structuring a firm for marketing and improving client service, perhaps the most successful, as defined by patrick mckenna and david maister in their masterful book, \u201cfirst among equals,\u201d is the practice group. for any firm with more than a few lawyers or professionals, the practice group is proving to be the most effective way to manage a practice. it recognizes that each practice area has a different target audience. the practice group allows the professionals in that group to address the specific practice and marketing problems of the practice, and to manage them effectively. among the advantages of the practice group are \u2026<\/p>\n if, on the other hand, the nature of your firm doesn\u2019t lend itself to practice groups, you might consider designating a partner as the marketing partner, with the responsibility to oversee the program, coordinate the efforts of marketing professionals with the partnership, and act as a monitor and motivator to oversee participation in the program by individuals in the firm.<\/p>\n in the firm with a strong marketing culture, getting the client is only half the battle. the other half is keeping the client. it\u2019s done with more than just doing good work. in fact, most clients, surveys tell us, don\u2019t really know how good or how bad your work is. why should they? it\u2019s not the business they\u2019re in. they have to trust the professional.<\/p>\n independent studies also show that a large percentage of professional firm clients are dissatisfied with the levels of service from their accountants and lawyers. clients are given no foundation for understanding what\u2019s being done for them, nor are reasonable expectations defined. what basis do clients have, then, for being satisfied?<\/p>\n the reality is that this new world is competitive in ways that it\u2019s never been before. ask your clients how many times they\u2019ve been approached by your competitors, and pursued aggressively. and then ask yourself if you can continue to be sanguine about keeping your clients happy, on a day-by-day basis.<\/p>\n there are, of course, some things that are clearly necessary in client retention. getting the right client in the first place is important. doing good work, obviously. being responsive, obviously. being timely in delivering promised reports and material. being polite to clients.<\/p>\n but these are things that are inherent in the meaning of professional<\/strong>. it\u2019s what the client is paying for. you get no credit for doing them, but you lose clients for not doing them.<\/p>\n sophisticated marketers, as well as the firm\u2019s professionals, have a strong handle on who the client company is, what the company does, what its needs are and how to address those needs in marketing approaches. which means that if you don\u2019t have that same knowledge, and the kind of relationship that means total involvement in the client\u2019s concerns, then you\u2019re in imminent danger of losing the client. staying in touch with clients is not \u2013 and cannot be \u2013 a casual matter. today\u2019s business is too dynamic, and things change constantly. at the same time, your competitors aren\u2019t resting from pursuing your clients, so you may not rest.<\/p>\n client retention, then, requires more than the obvious factors of doing good work and delivering it on time. and in fact, in a dynamic business world, it\u2019s often more than a personal relationship. it\u2019s at least …<\/p>\n the client-driven<\/strong> rather than the practice-driven<\/strong> firm is the only safe way to compete in today\u2019s market. the price of ignoring this concept? a major professional firm took a highly conservative position on a matter pertaining to a client\u2019s matter. the problem was not the position, but that the position was taken for the firm\u2019s protection, and not the client\u2019s \u2013 and the client became aware of this. there went the client.<\/p>\n keeping in touch with your client is crucial because needs change. your services change. by constantly reviewing the client\u2019s needs, you not only assure that you\u2019re giving the client the best service, and that you\u2019re maximizing the relationship, but you\u2019re also telling the client that you\u2019re concerned. and the best part is that you can identify new client concerns that require your services.<\/p>\n regular client surveys also help, particularly if they are professionally done. new york\u2019s former mayor koch used to walk the streets of the city, asking people, \u201chow\u2019m i doing?\u201d he didn\u2019t always like what he heard, but he always knew. anybody who doesn\u2019t take active steps to keep aware of client attitudes toward the firm is somebody who likes unpleasant surprises. thoughtful surveys are helpful. frequent personal conversations between the client and the managing partner are even better.<\/p>\n successful professionals are those who\u2019ve learned the difference between client relations<\/strong> and client service<\/strong>. both are important, but one is not the substitute for the other. in client retention, you have to have both.<\/p>\n it\u2019s the peculiar nature of professional services that quality plays little or no role in getting new business, except perhaps in terms of reputation. it plays a crucial role in client retention, on the other hand, if you define quality as giving the client what the client needs, wants and expects. most frequently, in order to know what the client needs, wants and expects, you have to be immersed in the relationship. and you have to ask. here, quality is not an abstraction or a hollow boast \u2013 it\u2019s a reality.<\/p>\n those who are most successful at client retention are those who actively work at it. they have programs and checklists. even small firms that are aware of the need for it have programs that focus on paying attention. they listen. they contact. they understand the economics, and know what kind of return they\u2019re getting on their investment in it.<\/p>\n and they know, at first hand, why it\u2019s true that keeping a client is still cheaper than getting a new one.<\/p>\n some quarter of a century since the bates <\/em>decision breathed life into professional services marketing, the professions have gone from an arcane, firm-centered, elitist culture to the beginnings of an understanding that at the core of every successful practice is the client. we\u2019ve gone from groping to sophistication in marketing, which was as new to the professions in those early days as were the first live pictures from mars.<\/p>\n we\u2019ve learned a lot about marketing the modern professional firm. but we\u2019ve learned nothing with greater certainty than that the firm with the best marketing culture is the firm most likely to thrive in the coming decades.<\/p>\n that\u2019s what professional services marketing 3.0 is about.<\/p>\n
\nprofessional services marketing 3.0<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
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\nfirms may have their rainmakers<\/strong> \u2013 the partner who could go into a revolving door alone and come out arm in arm with a new client \u2013 but in today\u2019s competitive marketplace, one or two rainmakers are not enough, if only because the competitive firms have three or more rainmakers going after the same prospective clients that you want. the firms that want to grow and thrive must be turned into marketing machines \u2013 to have a culture that understands and supports a marketing effort.<\/p>\ndefining a marketing culture<\/h3>\n
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building a marketing culture<\/h3>\n
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management support<\/h3>\n
good marketing professionals<\/h3>\n
the professional\u2019s role<\/h3>\n
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the practice group<\/h3>\n
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client retention<\/h3>\n
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living with the marketing culture<\/h3>\n