Expertise Marketplace - Professional Service Firm Marketing Blog

Packaging for Thought Leadership

In the last two weeks, I've received two very creatively packaged pieces of thought leadership on professional service marketing.  The first was a PDF from wals studios. It was entitled "Meet ROI: Marketing Metrics Survey Results."  Using an illustrated version of a fictitious architect or engineer, Roy, the authors outline their purpose for the document: to identify current uses of and trends in marketing metrics for architecture, engineering, and construction firms throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. I was impressed at the excellent targeting for this study -- narrowly focused on a particular sector and limited geographic area.

The second was a high-end print piece entitled "The Little Black Book: a Lawyer's Guide to Creating a Marketing Habit in 21 Days," by Paula Black & Associates. The book takes readers through three priorities to create their marketing and business development plans.  It's one of three of Black's "Little Black Book" series on lawyers' marketing and business development. In particular, Black's book invites readers to drop in at almost any point and gain a valuable nugget of information.

I might take issue with some of the points in these works. Neither does much to break new ground intellectually. But it's hard to deny their visual attractiveness. Of course, one would expect marketers -- even strong designers like these two firms -- to do a good job of packaging and distributing their intellectual capital.

The real reason I wrote about these examples is that they give their authors an eye-catching opening to begin a substantive conversation with their potential clients. I can't help but admire the obvious high quality effort that went into both of these initiatives. 

Are we at the point, though, where "eye-catching" is what it takes to stimulate a conversation with clients? Beyond marketers, who goes go to this much trouble and expense to get a prospect to take notice? Are the clients of lawyers, architects, engineers, or any other revenue-generating professional practitioner, able to get beyond thought leadership packaging? 

I guess I want both -- truly innovative ideas, packaged nicely. 

"The real barrier is our lack of courage..."

At the law firm conference panel discussion I facilitated in January, I asked two questions of the senior level attendees.  One of the questions was, "What is the most difficult barrier you face in leading autonomous professionals to accept forward-thinking marketing and business development changes?"

I blogged about the conference attendees' responses here, but I also asked this question to the blogosphere.  With only a few respondents, here's what you said:

General resistance to change: 33.3%
My function is marginalized (i.e., viewed with skepticism): 0%
An atmosphere of short-term thinking: 33.3%
Unrealistic expectations for what can be done: 33.3%

Respondents told me they wished they could have chosen all four barriers! One especially pointed remarked was, "The real barrier is lack of commitment/courage on our part to do what needs to be done. I believe that we need to lead the charge to create change in PSFs, unless we want to be marginalized."

I happen to agree with this viewpoint.  Most revenue-generating practitioners have deep credentials in their own professional area, whether it be accounting, management consulting, engineering or any other recognized profession.  And, while it makes sense for marketing and business development leaders to push them to make forward-thinking changes, I think revenue-generating professionals also bear the responsibility for self-initiation.

The bottom line is this:  in order to gain meaningful market share, grow the "right" revenues, and substantively improve a firm's value proposition for clients, someone's got to lead the charge, but it's everyone's job to become more effective.  And they'll have to work together. 

This is the main theme of my upcoming book, The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing Business Development Silos -- Once and for All -- in Professional Service Firms(Professional Services Books, 2009).

Want Marketing and BD effectiveness? Then talk to us!

In January, I posed a question to the attendees of a law firm marketing conference about the barriers they face in improving effectiveness. 

Those attendees responses are featured here.  I asked the same questions of my blog readers. Here's what you said:

What is the most difficult barrier your firm faces in improving marketing and business development effectiveness?

None/not enough measurement of programs or people: 28.6%
None/not enough incentives and rewards: 28.6%
Poor/less than optimal systems capabilities (i.e. contact databases, intranet): 0%
None/not enough communication, training and/or professional development: 42.9%

One respondent said: "We are working on this and it goes hand in hand with #3 [systems capabilities], but it's a long, slow road to Rome." Another said: "Leadership....our leaders are not in tune with M&BD activity, needs, etc, they are focused laser like on short term financial numbers. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!"

From these and the law firm conference respondents, it's clear there's not enough talking and learning underway between revenue-generating practitioners and marketing/business development professionals.  These findings echo two articles that appeared in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, "Law Firms Embrace Business School 101," and "Lawyers Often Lack the Skills to Draw, Keep Clients," (Subscription required on both).

I'll have a lot to say about this topic in my upcoming book,The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing and Business Development Silos -- Once and For All -- in Professional Service Firms (Professional Services Books, 2009).