Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants and Service Providers

Jay Conrad LevinsonMichael McLaughlin

Tom Sant

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Today’s Speakers

Jay Conrad LevinsonAuthor of Guerrilla Marketing and 28 other booksMore than 1 million copies soldTranslated into 37 languagesRequired reading in MBA programs worldwideChairman of Guerrilla Marketing InternationalFormer vice president and creative director at J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett Advertising.

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Today’s Speakers

Mike McLaughlinCo-author of Guerrilla Marketing for ConsultantsPublisher of Management Consulting News, www.ManagementConsultingNews.comPrincipal with Deloitte Consulting LLPOver twenty years of consulting experienceFormer leader of Deloitte Consulting ChicagoServes clients of every size, from start-ups to the world’s highest-profile companies. Sold and delivered more than $300 million in consulting services

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Today’s Speakers

• Dr. Tom SantAuthor of Persuasive Business Proposals

World’s largest selling book on proposal writingNamed one of the top 10 sales trainers in the world by Selling Power, 2004More than $20 billion in successful proposalsNamed the first Fellow of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, 2001Clients include Accenture, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Booz Allen, Parson Consulting, HSBC, Cisco, Tektronix, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, and hundreds of smaller firms

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Today’s Subjects

• Why Guerrilla Marketing?

• Five Rules of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

• The Difference Between Success and Failure

• Your Guerrilla Arsenal

• Client Marketing

• Tips You Can Bank On

Why Guerrilla Marketing?

Jay Conrad Levinson

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Why Guerrilla Marketing?

• Oversupply

• Guerrilla Clients

• Few Barriers to entry

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Guerrilla Marketing Defined

Everything you do to promote your practice, from the moment you conceive of it to the point at which clients are doing business with you on a regular basis.

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The Guerrilla Marketing Difference

Guerrilla Marketing

Is the business

Insight-based

Invest time, effort, energy

Listen and serve

Grow profit

One size fits none

Traditional Marketing

Important to the business

Consultant-focused

Invest money

Show up and throw up

Grow revenue

One size fits all

Five Rules of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

Jay Conrad Levinson Mike McLaughlin

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Be Safe and You’ll Be Sorry

• Too much “sameness”

• “Safe” differentiators fail

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Seven Differentiators to Drop Now

Quality serviceBest priceMethods and toolsResponsivenessCredentialsClient importanceTestimonials

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Nine Differentiators that Do Work

• Category authority• Simplicity• A real guarantee• Give something away• Honesty• Highly recognized third-party testimonials• Being first (at something)• Innovation• Defy conventional wisdom

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60/30/10 Rule Current clients - Existing clients should generate the largest percentage of your profits. Devote 60 percent of your marketing efforts here.

Prospective clients - Your goal is to convert prospective clients into clients—if they fit your targeted client profile. Commit 30 percent of your marketing resources to win work from this group.

The broader market - This includes everybody in the business world not represented in the first two groups. Invest 10 percent of your marketing resources in the broad market.

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A Marketing Plan in Seven Sentences

• Explain the purpose of your marketing• Explain how you achieve that purpose by describing the

benefits you provide to clients• Describe your target market• Describe your niche in that market• Outline the marketing weapons you will use• Focus on the identity of your business• Establish your marketing budget

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Your Most Potent Marketing Weapon

• Mastery

• Top-notch service

• Speed, competence, lack of disruption

• Create an environment of trust

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Dump the BullIf your material says… Try this instead…

Deliverables ResultsEnterprise-wide CompanyHuman capital PeopleInfrastructure FoundationKnowledge transfer Train/EducateThought-ware IdeaTransformation Change

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Get to the Destination – The Road Map

• What • When• How• Who• How Much

The Guerrilla’s Arsenal

Mike McLaughlin

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The Guerrilla Consultant’s Arsenal

• Publicity• Advertising • Public speaking• Book and articles• Surveys and research reports• Charitable work and pro bono projects• Web-based marketing• Blogs and Zines• Satisfied clients• Alliances

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Master the WebTypical Site Guerrilla Web Site

“Yellow Pages” Value

Stagnant content Content-rich

Us/Our/We focused Client-focused

Jargon-laden Simple, fast, action-oriented

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Does a Zine or Blog Make Sense?

The 5 Question Test

Do you really have something to say?

Do you want to be a publisher?

Is your market interested?

Do you like to write?

Do you have time?

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Making a Zine Work

• Trust• Promotions• Length• Format• Frequency• Content• Professionalism• Administrative

Client Level Marketing

Tom Sant

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The “Seven Deadly Sins” of proposal writing

1. Failing to focus on the client’s business problems and payoffs—sound “canned,” generic

2. No persuasive structure—the “information dump” syndrome

3. No differentiation 4. No compelling value proposition5. No focus on the customer’s business,

no orientation to their industry6. Hard to read--full of jargon, no

highlights, too long, too technical7. Credibility killers--misspellings,

grammar errors, wrong client name, inconsistent formats, etc.

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Characteristics of Consultative Proposals

Client centeredPersonalized throughout—high level of specificity to the client and opportunityFocused on the customer, not the vendor or the product

Value basedClear value propositionBased on meaningful, substantiated differentiators

Decision orientedPersuasive structureEmphasis on customer’s key decision criteriaCompliance is made obvious

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Structure of a Formal Proposal• Solutions and Substantiation

– Solution in detail• Pricing• ROI• Value-added components

– Scope of work• Project plan/master schedule• Project team, resumes, org chart• Subcontractors

– Validation• References• Case studies• Uniqueness factors

– RFP response• Compliance matrix• Question and Answer section

• The Business Case– Cover letter– Title page– Table of Contents– Executive Summary

• Customer needs• Customer desired

outcomes• High-level presentation of

solution• Key evidence of

competence and value added elements

– ROI, payback analysis

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The Most Important Part….• Solutions and Substantiation

– Solution in detail• Pricing• ROI• Value-added components

– Scope of work• Project plan/master schedule• Project team, resumes, org chart• Subcontractors

– Validation• References• Case studies• Uniqueness factors

– RFP response• Compliance matrix• Question and Answer section

• The Business Case– Cover letter– Title page– Table of Contents– Executive Summary

• Customer needs• Customer desired

outcomes• High-level presentation of

solution• Key evidence of

competence and value added elements

– ROI, payback analysis

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The Persuasive Paradigm: The Structural Pattern for Persuasion

• Needs: Demonstrate an understanding of the customer’s key business needs or issues

• Outcomes: Identify meaningful outcomes or results from meeting those needs

• Solution: Recommend a specific solution

• Evidence: Build credibility by providing substantiating details

Hitting it on the

N-O-S-E

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A Few Final Tips

• Include a compliance matrix• Use focused case studies

– Recent, relevant, same kind of industry– Problem/Action/Results

• Always present pricing in conjunction with your value proposition

• Avoid “information dump” RFP responses• Graphics increase persuasiveness

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Looking for More?

For more information:www.HydeParkPartnersCal.com

For more information:www.gmarketing.comwww.ManagementConsultingNews.comwww.GuerrillaConsulting.com

Good Luck in Your Guerrilla Marketing Efforts

Thank You