Return to article list

Strategic Planning and Practical Wisdom for '09

The drone of negativism is astonishing. The press rambles on—and it’s worse at the water cooler! Frankly, it is an excuse, driven by fear. I would be in good company, notably investor Warren Buffett, in saying that down markets are just like up markets; they are an opportunity.

Contradicting prevailing wisdom seems to be a core principle for Buffett. Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy. Simple advice if you have the ability to run counter to those around you.

The same contrarian logic applies to selling and marketing. The good years—with huge growth and easy money—made salesmen out of everybody. But these are troubled times; selling is not as easy anymore. Only the true sales and marketing pros will be left standing. And right now, the good ones see enormous opportunities to win new business. They see opportunities with existing clients.

Professional services firms should be using this time to do five things:

1. Teach your professionals how to sell. Lawyers, bankers, accountants, construction professionals, software developers…professionals who are not trained sales people but are required to sell, are in a quandary because the job of recruiting new clients is harder. By training your people, you give them the confidence to be more successful. Consider an in-house series of training sessions?

2. Stay on position. Experts are confident. Selling a specialized expertise allows you to expand regionally, while beating the generalists in local markets for business. Reinforcing your position as an expert in a specialized market is imperative. Do you know how to articulate whom you can best serve? Are there particular skills that you offer that others can not touch?

3. Demonstrate your business savvy and have empathy with your best clients. Get in the car and visit your clients. Make sure they feel appreciated. Be ready to talk about their business so that they know you are paying attention. (Don’t fake this; be ready to have meaningful conversation.) Show them how you can help. Offer a special plan or rate. Take a partnership approach with the client who “brung ya to the dance.” They will take notice and appreciate it. Translated, they will be more likely to turn down the dozens of other firms who are calling on them and more likely to be with you for the long run. Have you taken this step?

4. Take your marketing budget to zero. Before your management team comes to you and cuts your budget without understanding what or where to cut, go to the management team and tell them you are going to do a zero-based budget this year. Of every dollar you spend, ask what you expect in return—will it help you add new clients or keep the ones you have?

   Stopping your marketing is a too-often-fatal mistake many companies make. Continuing to market when others stop is a chance to become more visible to your prospects. It’s been proven in past recessions that continuing to market in a downturn helps during the downturn and for years after it ends. So don’t stop.

   But ask hard questions about what you’re doing, and be sure that the money you spend is working toward actually adding clients.

5. Stop “branding,” but get the word out about your firm! Doublespeak maybe, but it underscores a point. Branding is a nebulous term that is often misinterpreted by non-marketing management people. They perceive branding as a fuzzy-minded waste of money. Stop branding. Call it sales and marketing. Why the term sales first? Well, it’s the only word they really care about.

That’s all great, but now, what do statistics show?

The Strategic Planning Institute, an information database of real world data originated by GE and furthered by Harvard, in a study stated: “As awareness increases, preference increases.” Based on input from 23,341 business during the 2001 economic dip, the survey sought to correlate preference (likely buyers) to levels of awareness (have or have not heard of your firm). As awareness increases from 25% to 35%, the preference increases from 10% to 15%. As awareness grows from 35% to 45%, the leap in preference is greater from 15% to 23%. And the largest jump occurs when awareness is 85% to 95%: preference rises from 56% to 71%.

Such awareness can only be “driven” by the communication discipline of marketing: advertising and public relations. In the same 2001 study, the marketing expenditures of the surveyed companies are channeled to the following: print advertising 33%; sales/promotion materials 22%; television 11%; trade shows 10%; and others, which include Web advertising, direct mail (print and e-mail), seminars, newsletters and billboards.

This is not a magic mix but evidence of the corollary between marketing and making money! Prospects only become customers after moving through a series of steps. Unaware to aware. Then evaluating, planning, acting and so on. Each step requires communication designed to specifically help a prospect move closer to becoming a customer. Awareness and preference only address the first step! How can your firm NOT justify investing in the process of taking a prospect, someone who could and should use your services, from being unaware of you to being a client…and then being a client who is an advocate on your behalf!

Sean
sean@fitzmartin.com