WHATS MISSING FROM SERVICE FIRM MARKETING STRATEGIES
WHATS MISSING FROM SERVICE FIRM MARKETING STRATEGIES
Ask 10 professional service firms to see their marketing strategies and you will get an interesting mix of answers. You might get a 50 page document that would get an “A” in any business school class. Some firms might give you a few pages on the tactics they plan to implement by month or quarter. Many firms would say, “Marketing strategy? We're working on getting it down on paper this year.”
Regardless of the length, when I look at a marketing strategy for a service firm I always ask myself five questions:
Does this plan make good business sense?
Do I know where you are spending time and money, and why you have chosen various components?
Is there enough information to guide actions and implementation?
Are all of the contents useful, or are the pages just filled with off-target and misleading information?
What's missing?
Unfortunately, I am not always happy with what I see. Most of all, I'm disappointed that these service firms have spent valuable time, whether it's a day or a year, on a marketing strategy that is not yielding them all it can and should be.
If you, as a service firm leader or marketer, are about to build your marketing plan (or if you've just built it), ask yourself the following high-level questions to help craft the best plan for your business.
What are our revenue goals?
How and when do we plan to achieve them?
What is our realistic potential for improvement in our current marketing and sales process?
Where does all of our current business come from? Where did it originally come from?
How should we go about improving our marketing and sales results?
How much should (or must) we invest to reach or exceed our expected results?
Which tactical activities are likely to provide the best results?
What has and has not worked for us in the past?
What are our competitors doing? What has and has not worked for them in the past?
What are companies outside of our specific service industry doing for marketing and sales, and what has and has not worked for them?
What is the best mix of tactics for our firm to use specifically for lead generation? For lead nurturing? For branding? For client retention?
How do the tactics in our marketing mix each contribute to us reaching our revenue goals?
What kind of tactics and campaigns should we engage first, and what tactics should we test over a period of time?
With the tactics we choose, how do we make sure we implement them as well as we can? What implementation pitfalls must we avoid?
How do we set up a process to make sure we nurture demand within our target markets so we gain the most effectiveness over the long-term for our investments in marketing and sales?
Which marketing and sales tactics should we avoid altogether because they are unlikely to produce results?
How long might it take for results to materialize based on what assumptions?
How will we measure and improve results continuously over time?
Are our marketing and sales (or business development…or rainmaking) processes working together to produce the best results?
How do we get the most out of our internal staff regarding sales – tapping their energy and potential and helping them to be successful for themselves and for the firm?
Is there any low hanging fruit that we should immediately address to either fix glaring problems or get fast results?
If we achieve our revenue goals, how will it affect our business operations and ability to deliver at or above our current quality levels?
Finally, and possibly most important, “Does everyone agree that we are headed to our revenue goal, and do we have commitment (vs. either compliance or lip-service agreement) from the team to do whatever they can to help us get there?”
These are not the only questions you should ask when building a marketing strategy. Indeed, by asking each question you will spur others from yourself and your colleagues. If you first ask the questions, and then do the research you need to get the answers, you'll have a compelling, implementable, and well-researched marketing strategy.
WHATS MISSING FROM SERVICE FIRM MARKETING STRATEGIES - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Stafinski's Website.
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By Mike Schultz
Ask 10 professional service firms to see their marketing strategies and you will get an interesting mix of answers. You might get a 50 page document that would get an “A” in any business school class. Some firms might give you a few pages on the tactics they plan to implement by month or quarter. Many firms would say, “Marketing strategy? We're working on getting it down on paper this year.”
Regardless of the length, when I look at a marketing strategy for a service firm I always ask myself five questions:
Does this plan make good business sense?
Do I know where you are spending time and money, and why you have chosen various components?
Is there enough information to guide actions and implementation?
Are all of the contents useful, or are the pages just filled with off-target and misleading information?
What's missing?
Unfortunately, I am not always happy with what I see. Most of all, I'm disappointed that these service firms have spent valuable time, whether it's a day or a year, on a marketing strategy that is not yielding them all it can and should be.
If you, as a service firm leader or marketer, are about to build your marketing plan (or if you've just built it), ask yourself the following high-level questions to help craft the best plan for your business.
What are our revenue goals?
How and when do we plan to achieve them?
What is our realistic potential for improvement in our current marketing and sales process?
Where does all of our current business come from? Where did it originally come from?
How should we go about improving our marketing and sales results?
How much should (or must) we invest to reach or exceed our expected results?
Which tactical activities are likely to provide the best results?
What has and has not worked for us in the past?
What are our competitors doing? What has and has not worked for them in the past?
What are companies outside of our specific service industry doing for marketing and sales, and what has and has not worked for them?
What is the best mix of tactics for our firm to use specifically for lead generation? For lead nurturing? For branding? For client retention?
How do the tactics in our marketing mix each contribute to us reaching our revenue goals?
What kind of tactics and campaigns should we engage first, and what tactics should we test over a period of time?
With the tactics we choose, how do we make sure we implement them as well as we can? What implementation pitfalls must we avoid?
How do we set up a process to make sure we nurture demand within our target markets so we gain the most effectiveness over the long-term for our investments in marketing and sales?
Which marketing and sales tactics should we avoid altogether because they are unlikely to produce results?
How long might it take for results to materialize based on what assumptions?
How will we measure and improve results continuously over time?
Are our marketing and sales (or business development…or rainmaking) processes working together to produce the best results?
How do we get the most out of our internal staff regarding sales – tapping their energy and potential and helping them to be successful for themselves and for the firm?
Is there any low hanging fruit that we should immediately address to either fix glaring problems or get fast results?
If we achieve our revenue goals, how will it affect our business operations and ability to deliver at or above our current quality levels?
Finally, and possibly most important, “Does everyone agree that we are headed to our revenue goal, and do we have commitment (vs. either compliance or lip-service agreement) from the team to do whatever they can to help us get there?”
These are not the only questions you should ask when building a marketing strategy. Indeed, by asking each question you will spur others from yourself and your colleagues. If you first ask the questions, and then do the research you need to get the answers, you'll have a compelling, implementable, and well-researched marketing strategy.
WHATS MISSING FROM SERVICE FIRM MARKETING STRATEGIES - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Stafinski's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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