If you’ve seen a newspaper, television or held aconversation in the last 24 months it won’t come as asurprise to hear the economy is not in the best financialshape at the moment. The traditional response for anybusiness, let alone a professional service firm, is totighten its belt, cut back on ‘unnecessary’ expenditureand generally trim the fat.

DOUGLAS MCPHERSONSize 10 1/2 Boots

douglas@tenandahalf.co.uk

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Can smaller law firmsget a better returnfrom their investment inbusiness development?

If you’ve seen a newspaper, televisionor held a conversation in the last 24months it won’t come as a surprise

to hear the economy is not in the bestfinancial shape at the moment. Thetraditional response for any business,let alone a professional service firm, is totighten its belt, cut back on ‘unnecessary’expenditure and generally trim the fat.

Often the first cut is to reducemarketing expenditure. Traditionally,and especially in smaller firms, marketingefforts are too often viewed as an expensiveand time consuming add-on that gets inthe way of the real work. To a certain

point this is true. Throwing money at thedefault marketing activities - advertising,sponsorship, hospitality – is expensiveand is certainly not a guarantee thatyou’ll create an automatic customer base.In fact very often the opposite is true.

But that doesn’t mean marketing orbusiness development doesn’t work or thatno marketing or business developmentneeds to be done.

Having started by stating the obvious,here’s a statement that may surprise you –business development doesn’t need to beexpensive. Better still, if you implementthe right activities systematically and withthe right mind-set, business developmentwill deliver an almost immediate return.

The following suggestions are thingsyour fee earners (the most powerfulpromotional tools your firm has available)can put into practice with no majorfinancial input. However, in the sevenyears we’ve been working with theprofessional services, we know they’re allapproaches proven to deliver a significantreturn – whether that’s in terms of newclient acquisition or generating more feeincome from the clients you already have.

The cornerstone of any effectivebusiness development is preparation.Before you look at specific strategies youneed to be sure you know what you’re doingand why you’re doing it. That’s why tips 1,2 and 3 refer not to marketing activities perse but to moving into the best start point. >

Finding the right consultant canmakethe difference between the recruitmentprocess working successfully or not.

As the most experiencedconsultancy team across the entiresector, we know the industry best.

Use our exceptional professional servicesknowledge to help cultivate yours.

The perfectpartner makesall the difference

For further information on how we will help you find the right jobor recruit the right person, please contact: Colette Norfolk orGiles Taylor on 0844 335 6452, email info@leightontaylor.co.ukor visit us at www.leightontaylor.co.uk.

C O N S U L T I N G

January/February 2012 PSMG 17

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18 IPSMG I January/February 2012

Make intelligent decisions –analytical tools in professionalservices marketing

Magdalena Suder of Hadef & Partners shares herthoughts on some of the more useful decision supporttools available to marketing professionals.

MAGDALENA SUDERHadef & Partners

m.suder@hadefpartners.com

1. ConfidenceIf you’re going to be successful you have tobe confident about what you want to achievethen commit to those goals. You also needto have absolute confidence in what you sayand do and that can only come from havingconfidence in your and your firm’s abilities -if you don’t have total confidence in anypart of your offering, you need to eitherimprove your proposition or your in-houseBD capabilities before you start.

Success won’t happen overnight; it’llinvolve many small steps, not big leaps.Make that phone call you have been puttingoff, go to the event you’ve been avoiding,knock that point of view into the articleyou’re always meaning to write, volunteerto speak at that upcoming seminar.

2. FocusFocus is about really knowing who yourclients and prospects are so you can pursuethem intelligently and cost-effectively.That involves tightly defining thegeography, sectors and industries theywork in when it comes to a commercialpractice or where they live and work andwho they know when it comes to privateclient work.

Once you have that information it’seasier to work out where they go, whatthey read and how to meet them. Focus isabout cutting out meaningless activitiesthat generate no return and investing thetime and budget you have in activitiesthat will deliver.

3. ActionEven the best planned plans achievenothing if you don’t put them into action!It sounds daft but it’s true. Assignresponsibilities to individuals and measuretheir progress – communicating theirsuccesses across the firm. And a word ofwarning - this stage will involve makingphone calls, sending emails and going outto meet people!

Now you’re confident about what needsto be done, focused on where to do it andcommitted to taking action, what actionshould you take?

4. Referral strategyPeople in smaller firms often say ‘mostof our business comes from referrals’but how many actually ask for referrals?More importantly, how many actually courtreferrals between their commercial andprivate client service lines? And, once inplace, how many have a systematic way ofmanaging their referral network to makesure they consistently deliver?

Designing and implementing a referralstrategy is a simple task that generates

immediate results for even the smallestfirm and, managed correctly, will continueto deliver for years to come. And remember,referrers aren’t just your colleagues withinthe other professional services, your clientscan become the most enthusiastic andproductive ambassadors as long as you lookafter them properly.

5. Public speakingThe perfect way to engage with a varietyof local targets at once and underline yourexpertise at the same time (without havingto openly sell) is to find good speakingopportunities. The fact you’re on stagewill establish your credibility … as longas you’re interesting/opinionated/entertaining/ animated!

Also remember you’re there to engageyour audience so please use highly visualslides and talk to the audience, not theprojection screen!

6. Press articlesIf you’re uncomfortable with the notion ofpublic speaking an equally effective wayto showcase your technical expertise is toproduce articles and get them publishedin the titles your prospective clients(not your peers) would read. Never payfor advertorials (they’re expensive and seenfor what they are), instead seek out writingopportunities based upon areas of currentinterest and present a fresh take on themor be open and share best practice -better still be contentious! Does it work?Well, what are you currently reading?

7. PostcardsFor some reason maintaining visibility issometimes a little uncomfortable for somewithin the professional services who (quiterightly) aren’t by definition sales people.Brochures are impersonal, boring and

invariably get put in the bin; they’re alsobeginning to be viewed as un-ecofriendly.A highly cost-effective alternative is tocreate a branded but interesting postcardand hand-write your message on the backto underline it’s a personal touch not partof a wider campaign.

8. INTERESTING andINFORMATIVE e-marketingI’ve used capitals for a reason. LikePowerPoint, e-marketing garners bad pressbecause so many people do it so badly.Newsletters are pretty much finished asa promotional tool unless you have a hugeloyal circulation already. Instead adopt a'from me to you' approach and send outcontent that’s relevant to your audienceand include something they can use andwon’t get anywhere else. Measure whoopens what and how often – then followup on the interested parties!

9. Turn seminars intoworkshopsEveryone does seminars. Speakers get upand tell their audience what they think theyshould know about new legislation or a newgovernment initiative, but guess what?They’re dull and nd have been done todeath. Change the format and insteaddeliver a shorter, punchier interactiveworkshop that’ll really engage youraudience and actually leave them wantingto talk to you.

10. TestimonialsWhen a client is evaluating whether to buyyour services they are really weighing uprisk. They are thinking 'can this person orservice really deliver?' If you can explainhow you’ve delivered a similar solutionfor someone similar in the past, you willmitigate (if not negate) any lingering risk.

And, as marketing professionals, I’d bedoing the Tenandahalf brand a disserviceif I missed tip 10_ so here goes – rememberwhatever marketing or BD activities youengage in, everything is negotiable soplease, never pay list price for anything!

Douglas McPherson is Directorat Size 10 _ Boots, a businessdevelopment agency that workssolely with professional service firms.Tenandahalf help their clients growby winning more new clients and bygenerating higher fees from theirexisting clients. Due to theirpractical and innovative methods,the marketing of firms of between10 and 30 partners is now an area inwhich Tenandahalf lead the market.

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Taking the guesswork out of planningcan sometimes be easier said thandone. But with a few simple tools,

professional services marketers can notonly assist their firms to make betterdecisions but sometimes drive the strategicplanning process.

Hands up if this sounds familiar: “I knowmy clients and I know my markets, let’sjust get on with the work.” For planningto work, it must be fit for purpose andstrike the right balance between clientand market needs versus undertakingimmediate client work.

Using decision support tools can assistyou, your partners and your firm to manageincreasingly complex markets and serviceofferings, analyse current and futurepotential services and markets, and maximizeopportunities whilst minimizing risk.

Analytical tools however are not asubstitute for sound management judgmentand users need to be careful with the datathat goes in and the quality of the analysisthat results.

I hope to share some of the more usefuldecision support tools I and others haveused in the past and explain how these canbe adapted to suit your professional servicesenvironment.

Let’s start of with a simple one we areall familiar with – the SWOT.

A SWOT analysis is a useful tool forinternal planning purposes. You canapply the strengths, weaknesses to yourcurrent firm, practice or apply them toa fee earner, and identify the externalthreats and opportunities. But for SWOTto be effective, the additional step ofadding “this means” and “therefore wemust” into the discussion is essential.For each item, consider what this meansfor the subject at hand and what responsethe firm, practice or the individual needsto take.

Our external competitive pressures forceus to constantly be weary of traditional andnon-traditional competitors. A competitiveanalysis such as Porter’s 5 competitiveforces analysis asks firms to assess not onlythe competitive rivalry within an industrybut also the bargaining power of suppliers,bargaining power of clients, threat of newcompetitors, and threat of substitute services.The assessment can be undertaken with thepresent context but adding an element of“what might the future hold” questioningmay prove to be quite enlightening in termsof identifying opportunities and risks.>

If you implementthe right activitiessystematicallyand with the rightmind-set, businessdevelopment willdeliver an almostimmediate return.

January/February 2012 PSMG 19