The market for professional services and consulting firms is changing, driven by evolving and more demanding client requirements. Legal, accountancy and other professional services firms are now looking for a new breed of leaders with the insight to help deliver those requirements. Professional Services Marketing Handbook, published in association with the Professional Services Marketing Group, is for marketing and business development professionals, sales specialists, and a firm's technical practitioners who want to play a fuller role in their firm's obsession with client relationship development to increase their impact and influence.
Featuring international case studies and best practice from industry leaders and experts such as Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, PwC, Kreston Reeves and White & Case, Professional Services Marketing Handbook explains how to become a complete client champion - the voice of the client - to both shape and deliver a firm's client solution and experience. It helps marketers develop a growth strategy for their firm, understand and connect with clients more deeply and develop and manage client relationships to build successful brands.
Contributing Authors:
Richard Grove, Director of Marketing, Business Development & Communications, Allen & Overy LLP
Daniel Smith, Senior Business Development and Marketing Manager, Asia Pacific, Baker & McKenzie
Claire Essex, Director of Business Development and Marketing, Asia Pacific, Baker & McKenzie
Clive Stevens, Executive Chairman, Kreston Reeves
Louise Field, Head of Client Service & Insight, Bird & Bird LLP
Tim Nightingale, Founder, Nisus Consulting
Ben Kent, Managing Director, Meridian West
Lisa Hart Shepherd, CEO, Acritas
Nick Masters, Head of Online, PwC
Alastair Beddow, Associate Director, Meridian West
Dale Bryce, President, Asia-Pacific Professional Services Marketing Association
Gillian Sutherland, Director, Global Key Account Management Buildings + Places, AECOM
Susan D'aish, Business Relationship Director, MacRoberts LLP
Dan O'Day, Vice President, Thomson Reuters Elite
Matthew Fuller, Director of Marketing and Business Development EMEA, White & Case LLP
Amy Kingdon, Marketing & Communications Director, UK & Europe, Atkins
Eleanor Campion, Communications Executive, UK & Europe, Atkins
Jessica Scholz, Business Development Manager, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Germany
Giles Pugh, Principal, SutherlandsPugh
List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the author
Introduction: leadership themes in professional services marketing
Theme One Growth
Introduction to the Growth theme
01 Growth and globalization
Richard Grove
Background - capturing global growth opportunities
A strategy for globalization and growth
Setting the strategy
Debunking a myth about partnerships
Global reach, local depth
Market entry
Best-friend alliances
The role of the brand
Aligning with the culture
Building strong relationships
Motivating cross-selling and a sector approach to market
New services, new products, new models
Summary
02 Implementing a growth strategy: lessons from Asia Pacific
Daniel Smith and Claire Essex
Growth in Asia Pacific
Developing, emerging or frontier markets
Challenges for business development and marketing professionals - lessons from Asia
Growth strategies in Asia
Summary
03 Developing international networks
Clive Stevens
The internationalization of business
Kreston Reeves and Kreston Internationals story
How international groups develop
Building trust internationally
How to build trust and personal contact
Reinforcing trust
The power of branding
Regulation and external oversight
Conclusion - the future
Lessons on Growth
Theme Two Understanding
Introduction to the Understanding theme
04 Listening, understanding and responding to clients
Louise Field and Tim Nightingale
‘Myopia Professionalosia - barriers to client listening
Its not how loud you shout, but how well you listen
Setting up a listening programme
Conclusion - a brave new world?
05 Closing the commerciality gap
Ben Kent
Why clients are dissatisfied with professionals commerciality
The 7 habits of a commercial adviser
What firms can do to improve
Conclusion - getting the balance right
06 What legal clients want
Lisa Hart Shepherd
Capturing the client view
The value of client understanding
Building client understanding
The client/firm relationship cycle
Lessons on Understanding
Theme Three Connecting
Introduction to the Connecting theme
07 From communities to cohorts
Nick Masters
Why marketing isnt working
What this has changed
How mobility drives activity
Pros and cons of change
Disrupting the disruptors - the flight from communities
Cohort market - the content dynamic
Network behaviours are now a social norm
Why you need your employees to be engaged
Honing content
Communities to cohorts - a conclusion
08 Thought leadership: transforming insights into opportunities
Alastair Beddow
The business challenge
Definition of thought leadership
Five criteria for excellence in thought leadership
Making the business case for thought leadership
The perfect thought leadership plan - working from the outcome backwards
Choosing the best campaign topic
Conducting research and synthesizing data
Effective thought leadership roll-out - dont fall at the final hurdle
The future for thought leadership
In conclusion - secrets of a successful campaign
09 Conversation is king: connecting thought leadership and sales
Dale Bryce
Thought leadership and the Challenger Sale model
Left brain vs right brain
Content as a social lubricant
The marketer as choreographer
Conversation is king - a summary
Lessons on Connecting
Theme Four Relationships
Introduction to the Relationships theme
10 The importance of client relationship management
Gillian Sutherland
The primacy of relationships
Achieving a successful programme
Future trends
Conclusion - success factors for client management programmes
11 Developing internal and external relationships
Susan Daish
Importance of good relationships
Building internal relationships
Influencing strategies
Repairing damaged relationships
Conclusion
12 The primacy of relationships: how and why clients choose
Dan ODay
Marketing the individual
Market segmentation
Corporate counsel are conflicted about change
Firms can no longer assume that business will keep coming
Value of relationships often exceeds value of experience
Why a CRM system is not a solution
The importance of delivering value
Winning new business with relationships
Conclusion - the importance of trust
Lessons on Relationships
Theme Five Managing the marketing organization
Introduction to the managing theme
13 Its all about value: managing marketing and business development
Matthew Fuller
The change in the professional services market
So how are professional service firms adapting to this change?
Issues and challenges
Conclusion - key takeaways
14 Managing transformational change
Amy Kingdon and Eleanor Campion
The nature of professional services firms
‘Playing the long-game - gaining leadership recognition and buy-in to significant change
Establishing what needs to be done
Leading and inspiring marketing and business development communities through periods of change
Culture and behaviours - how to instil change beyond systems and processes
Project management essentials for marketers
Conclusion
15 Understanding and exceeding partner expectations
Jessica Scholz
An overview of marketing and business development in the German legal market
Summary
16 The role of marketing KPIs in professional services firms
Giles Pugh
Background
What firms do and should measure
The purpose of KPIs
The audience for marketing KPIs
How to develop KPIs
The pitfalls
KPIs and digital marketing
Key principles
Lessons on Managing the Marketing Organization
Conclusion
17 The future for professional services marketing: becoming a client champion
Lessons learnt
The client champion role
The client champion today
The future for professional services marketing and business development
References
Further reading