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Consultants: FYI
This Month in Management Consulting News
Interview: Andrew Sobel
Andrew Sobel is an authority on the skills and strategies for building enduring client relationships and the author of All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnership.
We asked Sobel how we can use his market-tested strategies to deliver extraordinary value to clients and achieve personal satisfaction and profitability for our practices.
We're also featuring articles on how to handle a difficult client, overcoming the challenges of building client relationships, and why many common business ideas should be ignored.
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The
Guerrilla Consultant -
a newsletter dedicated to applying the principles
of Guerrilla Marketing to the work and lives of
consultants.
Is Thought Leadership Necessary?
Read almost any article about marketing professional services and chances are good that you'll be advised to build your market profile with techniques like public speaking and publishing. The reason for that advice is simple--it works. But that strategy is not the only way to market your business.
This month, we'll talk about how some create successful practices without using these tried and true methods.
Enjoy the article, and
let
me know what you think.
Mike
McLaughlin
Coauthor, Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants Principal, MindShare Consulting LLC
Rethinking Thought Leadership
As I wrapped up a workshop on the five essential strategies for marketing professional services, I knew one person in the audience was having none of it. You've probably seen someone like this, or know how he felt. After I made each major point in my presentation, he shook his head in obvious disagreement, or frowned at the ceiling.
When the meeting ended, he made straight for me and launched into a rant that went something like this:
Too much marketing advice is just plain wrong. I don't publish articles, white papers, or books. I gave one speech twelve years ago and it bombed. I don't have a blog, or a LinkedIn account, and I never heard of Twitter until now. I put up my first web site just a year ago, and I'll never publish a newsletter.
In spite of all the marketing I don't do, I still have a seven-figure practice. This whole notion that you have to be a 'thought leader' to build marketplace eminence is nonsense.
I understood his perspective. On the other hand, there is a good reason that so much of the advice about marketing services focuses on traditional strategies such as publishing and making presentations: no matter how strongly someone objects to those methods, research tells us that they work.
| "All professionals and firms must find their own marketing path--one that sparks the interest of their prospective clients and is sustainable over the long term." |
What's also true, though, is that thought leadership strategies don't work for everyone. All professionals and firms must find their own marketing path--one that sparks the interest of their prospective clients and is sustainable over the long term. Remember, if you don't enjoy working on the marketing strategies you've chosen, don't expect stellar results.
The Aim of Marketing
Whatever marketing methods you pick, your ultimate goal is clear: to create issue-based conversations with prospective clients. In a perfect world, those conversations lead to interest in your services and, eventually, to sales.
When my objector paused to take a breath, I asked what he does to initiate conversations with prospective clients. He answered without hesitation, "I have a group of influential colleagues who help me identify new business on a regular basis, and my reputation among other service providers brings me sales leads."
After a few questions, I discovered just how much marketing this non-marketer actually does. In addition to cultivating his network of contacts, he contributes his time and expertise to community organizations and to his targeted industry associations.
For a long time, he's had a leadership role on the board of a prominent local charity, and he serves as an adviser to an influential civic organization. He also offers his skills to his trade association by serving on the board of that group and leading special projects.
With this combination of activities, he stays in touch with the people he already knows, establishes new relationships, and generates referrals. Most importantly, he creates opportunities for conversations with colleagues and clients, and that fuels his sales efforts.
If you think that is a time-intensive way to market a professional practice, you're right. But keep in mind that the success of this strategy is well-documented. According to RainToday's report, How Client Buy, the two most frequently cited ways that clients learn about service providers are referrals from colleagues and referrals from other service providers. This individual's marketing efforts fit perfectly with that reality.
Play to Your Strengths--Not Someone Else's
When I asked why he chose to market his business in this way, he replied that he enjoys the work and finds it personally rewarding. Along the way, he found that his passion for the causes he believes in led others to seek him out for help with their own business issues.
In short, this professional chose a marketing strategy that suits him and produces results. Why? Because he is excited about the activities he chose and wants to pursue them.
Make no mistake, though. This individual is regarded as a leading authority by many in his field. He is not out on the lecture circuit, but when he creates a client conversation, you can bet he listens well, grasps the client's issues, and offers relevant insights.
He has earned a reputation as a trusted resource for clients. But he came to that reputation by a different path than others.
The Only "Rule" of Services Marketing
Any successful services marketing strategy boils down to this essential point: to generate productive client conversations, you must have something to say and someone who wants to hear it.
| "Until you have something substantive to say, don't bother trying to market your services." |
Your first job is to develop a compelling point of view on the issues your prospective clients face. Until you have something substantive to say, don't bother trying to market your services. Once you have a valuable point of view, then you should search for the clients who want to hear your perspectives.
You have dozens of choices for reaching those clients, from advertising to webcasts--and everything in between. Some marketing strategies work more effectively than others, but what matters most is whether your approach will create the client conversations you want. You may find that options such as direct mail and phone solicitation work great for you. If so, use those communication channels and stick with them.
Some people swear by the power of their blogs or LinkedIn contacts. If these tools work for you, it doesn't matter what others think about the strategy. You should keep at it. And if you're not interested in public speaking or writing, then find another route to your goals.
You can easily miss the boat if you adopt conventional wisdom about marketing. Before you undertake any marketing program, ask yourself three questions. First, will this marketing approach help me reach my target market? Second, can I effectively execute this program or tactic (or quickly learn how to)? And third, is it something I really want to spend my time and energy doing?
If you answer yes to all three questions, you are well on your way to the ideal strategy for marketing your practice.
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