Using firm governance and management to gain competitive (and other) advantages
When leading and large clients determine their professional service relationships, one factor influencing their decision is how well prospective service providers fit with their own values, culture, and aspirations. Evidence of strong governance and responsible management goes a long way to demonstrating this fit and becomes especially important in competitive bids, tender and proposal processes with […]
Continue ReadingWhy you need a good LinkedIn profile, and where to start
Have you ever used Google to find out more about someone you met at a networking event or conference? Chances are that their LinkedIn profile showed up somewhere near the top of search results, and probably higher than their firm website bio. If someone Googled you, what would they find? LinkedIn is the most popular […]
Continue ReadingWhat do you really know about your competition?
In contracting and mature professional services markets, it’s more important than ever to know how your firm stacks up against the competition. This applies generally to firms, but it is also really important in competitive tender, bid and proposal situations. Even basic information about your competitors can be a powerful tool for your decision-making – […]
Continue ReadingHow easy is it to do business with your professional services firm?
How is easy it for prospective clients to become clients of your professional services firm? Are you or your team inadvertently putting up barriers that are turning off prospective clients? Firms often work long and hard on the marketing and positioning side of business development so the prospective lead or referred client is primed and […]
Continue Reading5 steps to a successful marketing strategy
The most profitable professional services firms understand that a successful marketing strategy is part of everything they do; it’s a coordinated process, not just a series of campaigns. Just like politicians who stay on message, the most successful firms have focus: from cultivating referral relationships to tweeting, each activity is aligned to the overall goals […]
Continue ReadingSelling professional services? Not my job!
When selling professional services, you can’t simply leave it all to the marketing manager. For any marketing program to work properly, it needs to be supported by an appropriate business development, practical marketing, or sales program (call it what you will). Converting a prospective client into a new client, and potential work into actual business, […]
Continue ReadingPerceived advantage in professional services
Maybe you’re one of those fortunate professionals who has such a stand out service to offer that it’s clearly technically superior, demonstrably better, and so reported by objective analysts and high-profile “industry authorities”. You and your firm have no trouble attracting, winning, growing and retaining right-fit clients. More likely, the professional services you offer – […]
Continue ReadingPricing lessons from a Big Six pricing specialist
With the ever-increasing debate around hourly billing and alternatives, and savvier and more demanding clients, professional services firms – and in particular, law firms – need to get smarter about how to manage pricing if they are to remain profitable. It seems inevitable in some areas of law (insurance, property) that it’s simply a race […]
Continue ReadingBetter business development conversations
Hard sells simply don’t work in professional services; most of us don’t like being “sold” to. As we’ve discussed before, building brand and marketing activities are only the backdrop to real business development conversations and interactions. Unfortunately, when it comes to winning work from prospective clients, many professionals open business development conversations using material unlikely to […]
Continue ReadingHow to get more work from existing clients
When trying to develop new business in professional services, always go to your existing clients first. Why? Because they already have a relationship with you and they believe in your service. Many firms mistakenly overlook existing clients when they try to source new work. The return on investment from targeting your existing clients who know […]
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Feature article
And the winner is…Environmental scanning
And the winner is… ‘Sid-an-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!’ Juan Antonio Samaranch annoucing Sydney’s winning bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. The exhilaration from winning a tender, bid or proposal is hard to beat and the benefits are many! But what about lost bids, tenders and proposals? An infamous proposal failure was Australia’s lost bid for the 2022 Soccer […]
