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Product Description
Product Description
A proven, experience–tested, research–based approach to marketing for professional services firms
Professional Services Marketing is a field–tested and research–based approach to marketing and client development for professional services firms. Based on insight from firms that succeed and the science of how clients buy, it′s the perfect book for consultants, attorneys, accountants, engineers, and other professional service providers. The book covers five key areas that are critical for firms that want to grow their revenues and themselves–creating a marketing and growth strategy; establishing a brand and reputation; implementing a marketing communications program; lead generation strategies; and developing business by winning new clients. It includes case studies that illustrate major points and quotes and stories from well–respected professionals in the industry.
Mike Schultz (Framingham, MA) is Co–President of Wellesley Hills Group, where he works as a consultant and expert in professional services marketing. John E. Doerr (Framingham, MA) is Co–President of Wellesley Hills Groups and has spent 30 years in professional services.
From the Inside Flap
Professional Services Marketing gives you the field–tested, research–based approaches and tactics your organization needs to succeed. It helps you sort the wheat from the chaff among the many and varied marketing strategies and tactics, allowing you to make the best possible decisions for you and your business while avoiding the common mistakes unique to professional services firms.
The book covers five key areas your firm can′t grow without:
- Creating a customized marketing and growth strategy based on what will really work for your firm
- Establishing a brand and reputation that leads to market leadership, frustrated competitors, and happy clients (and more of them)
- Implementing a marketing communications program that will keep your firm front and center in decision–makers′ minds
- Developing a lead generation strategy that brings in more new clients than you will know what to do with
- Winning new clients by developing rainmakers and a culture of business–development hustle, passion, intensity, and success
Professional Services Marketing includes case studies that illustrate the successes and failures of other firms, as well as firsthand stories from well–respected industry professionals. It helps you make the right decisions about what to do, what to spend, and how to place key people in the right roles to maximize their time and energy. Plus, it will help you avoid dreaded mistakes that lead to unproductive marketing efforts and keep you up to date on the latest thinking in the industry.
Centered around primary research on the way clients buy and reliable insight from successful firms, this is the perfect guide to growing your business for consultants, attorneys, technology professionals, accountants, engineers, and any other professional services provider.
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Customer Reviews
One question I get asked every now and then is "Can you recommend a good book on marketing professional services?".
And to be honest, my normal answer is "not really".
For sole practitioners and small consulting firms, Robert Middleton's Action Plan Marketing material is an excellent resource. For larger firms there's very little on marketing that I find helpful, so I usually point them to the relevant chapters in more general works like Maister's Managing the Professional Service Firm, Harding's Rainmaking or Denvir & Walker's Growing Your Client Base.
Well, now I have something to recommend.
Professional Services Marketing is Mike Schultz & John Doerr's new book focused on helping professional firms build strong brands, create a "lead generation engine" and develop effective business development cultures.
Here's the difference with Professional Services Marketing - it's based on what really works in professional services.
As well as running their own professional service firm, Schultz and Doerr advise leading law, accountancy and consulting firms. And as the founders of [...], they have access to the most recent research on lead generation methods, client buying criteria, fee rates, etc.
The impact of that experience and research comes through loud and clear in the book. What you won't find here are unsubstantiated theories or concepts from product marketing crudely adapted to a services environment. Instead, it's based on practical, real-world-tested ideas.
Example: In Chapter 6 - Don't Worry About Your Competition, they debunk a number of myths hung-over from product marketing. "You must be a first mover" - nonsense. "You must be #1 or #2 in your market" - pish. "You must have a USP" - yeah right. I come across these myths frequently (and unfortunately, I hear them repeated by too many trainers and consultants who should know better). Schulz & Doerr demonstrate here and throughout the book that they're not afraid to break with conventional wisdom and to "tell it like it is". Using research and experience they show how these ideas are not only wrong for professional service firms, but that by following them they can damage your business.
OK - so here's what the book actually covers:
* Marketing Planning
* The Key Levers of Lead Generation
* Options for Fees & Pricing
* Competition
* Culture
* Branding
* Uniqueness (and why it's a mistahe to think you need to be unique)
* Thought Leadership
* Marketing Communications
* Lead Nurturing
* Targeting
* Selling
* Networking
* "Hustle"
No book is perfect, of course. The chapter on selling has some excellent ideas (particularly about the importance of surfacing client aspirations as well as problems) - but isn't enough on it's own to turn a stumbling accountant or brash lawyer into a competent salesperson. I'd have liked to have seen pointers to more detailed resources in this area like Let's Get Real or SPIN Selling.
But overall - how highly do I rate the book? Put it this way: I got a free electronic version of the pre-release version of the book - but I've stumped up my own cash to add a hard copy version to my library for reference.
Among the insights in this book that will have wide appeal to service providers is Schultz and Doerr's discussion of uncovering your firm's key brand attributes. The nine questions that guide the reader to their true value proposition is worth the price of the book.
It's hard to go wrong with this book. Highly recommended.
Michael W. McLaughlin
Author, Winning the Professional Services Sale
To skip thru common business blunders and get right to the core of your business value and success, open the pages of this book and get going. Recession or not, as author of a similar book, I can personally attest that this knowledge gem by Schultz and Doerr can empower you to leave loserville far behind.
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