{"id":33179,"date":"2014-02-16t20:26:13","date_gmt":"2014-02-17t01:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=33179"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:55","slug":"marcus-bury-the-non-billable-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2014\/02\/16\/marcus-bury-the-non-billable-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"bury the non-billable hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

call it “the investment hour” and go hunting for business.
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by bruce w. marcus
\nprofessional services marketing 3.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

if the accounting firm’s management hasn\u2019t 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 can be helpful if the non-billable hour is renamed the investment hour, because if those hours are spent on marketing, investment hours are exactly what they are.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

delineating expectations, as part of defining objectives, serves another purpose, albeit one just as useful.<\/p>\n

if the prospect doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t anyone expect a rush of clients, for example, from a single ad \u2014 unless that person has been educated very specifically in what an ad can and can\u2019t do? why shouldn\u2019t a marketing campaign produce a rapid return of inquiries from a well-developed ad campaign?<\/p>\n

there are too many cases of partners expecting that news 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.<\/p>\n

what you should expect from an effective marketing campaign is:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. name recognition.<\/li>\n
  2. that a great deal is known about your firm and its capabilities.<\/li>\n
  3. that the market will view your firm favorably and will retain a sufficient measure of the campaign\u2019s message to remember the firm when the need for its services arises.<\/li>\n
  4. that the market will identify a problem or a need that it has or expects to have, within the context of your firm\u2019s capabilities and skills.<\/li>\n
  5. that the market will believe that your firm has the capability to understand and solve the problem.<\/li>\n
  6. that some action, such as an inquiry, be taken (if appropriate), or that the reader be receptive to a followup call.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    measuring marketing results is one of the discipline\u2019s thorniest problems. there is simply no tangible measure that offers any valuable information that goes beyond the pragmatic or subjective.<\/p>\n

    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\u2019ve identified and understand. but don\u2019t expect anybody to call and say \u201ci liked your letter (or ad, or blog). start monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

    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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n