Shine a Spotlight on Your Professional Service Firm

Before the Curtain Rises

Well before any performance, dancers invest time building a solid foundation. It’s this foundation &ndash not the costumes, lighting or even music &ndash that enables them to give a persuasive, moving performance that connects with their audience.

With effective marketing, the same sequence applies. Before the curtain rises on your attempts to attract clients, make sure you’ve mastered the basics first:

Get aligned. Dancers spend years learning how to align their body properly for balance and how to keep “knees over toes” to prevent injury. What have you done to align with your customer’s worldview? Do you really understand what keeps your clients up at night…what their real problems are, which may or may not have anything to do with what you currently offer? What are you doing to stay aligned? Do you say no to opportunities that aren’t within your niche? Do you still have a “Plan B” in case your current direction doesn’t pay off or have you fully committed to finding a good niche and making it work? How aligned are your services and pricing with what really sells in today’s market?

Build strength. Accomplished dancers may look graceful and light on their feet, but the illusion is only possible because of tremendous strength and power from within. How do you demonstrate your firm’s strength? By showing the market your authority to do good work through well-written case studies, client testimonials, bios, media appearances, and measurable results.

Be flexible. Without flexibility, dancers cannot move fully or prevent injury. The same can the same be said of your approach to serving your clients. Do you only offer one way to address a client’s needs (i.e., high-priced consulting)? If so, you’ll miss opportunities. Package what you do in several ways, at various price points.

Go slow to go fast. Dancers aren’t born being able to execute complicated choreography. Ballet dancers train for years before going “en pointe” (into toe shoes). It may not take you years, but an effective, customer-focused marketing strategy takes time to develop and launch. This doesn’t mean you avoid revenue-producing work in the meantime, it just means you take the time to work “under the radar” to craft the right approach that accelerates your effectiveness once you launch it.

Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the same services? Why should customers buy from you when they have a number of choices? What about your offer, price, guarantee or standard sets you apart and how do you demonstrate that?

Expert instruction. In any sport or art form, exceptional performers receive expert instruction, feedback, and coaching. Dancers rely regularly on classes, instructors, mirrors, feedback from partners, video, and critics’ reviews to continuously improve and refine their performance. What are you doing to refine yours?

Rehearsal. Only after getting aligned, building strength, developing flexibility, learning choreography, and expressing artistry is a dancer ready to rehearse for an actual performance. When you’re ready to take your strategy to market, make sure you’ve tested it first. This means trying out your positioning statement informally at networking events, writing an article or two and getting feedback, conducting a small amount of telephone research with people in your target market, and so on.

Before you spend the money to develop a new logo, print new business stationary, design new brochures, revise your website, or go on a sales call test and rehearse your message. When you start getting a “that’s for me!” response from your audience, you’re ready for the spotlight.

On Stage & In the Spotlight

Once you’re on stage, your hard work and preparation pay off. However the marketing process continues:

Lights, camera, action! Being in the spotlight means it’s time to shine. The dancer’s hard work pays off, enhanced by music, lighting, sets, costumes and makeup. The same is true of how you present your message to the market. Your website, brochures, talks, published articles, how you introduce yourself when networking, and the sales process are simply vehicles for communicating the fundamentals you’ve put in place before the curtain rises. If you start with them, without the basics outlined above, you risk looking foolish and off the mark when it comes to connecting with your audience.

Connect with your audience. Being on stage doesn’t guarantee that a dancer will engage the audience. You’ve gotta work it! At a recent repertory performance of amateur dancers at Joy of Motion, a local dance school, the audience enthusiastically hooted and hollered as the Street Jam dancers fully engaged them with their energy, funk, attitude, and huge smiles of joy. The audience fed off that energy and, in turn, motivated the dancers to give their best. What are you doing to build and sustain a relationship with your clients? Are you pushing a stale portfolio of products and services or are you listening to what your clients want and responding in kind?

Exceptional performance. Long-term success at the box office depends on an exceptional performance time after time. So once you’ve closed the deal, what are you doing to ensure exceptional performance for your clients? Your most powerful marketing strategy is turning in a great performance time after time.

Remember your supporting cast & crew. Nobody tolerates a prima ballerina that alienates those around her for long, no matter how talented she is. Likewise, if you don’t attend to relationships with employees, peers, supervisors, vendors, and allied professionals, you’ll find yourself wondering why everyone around you is so “difficult to work with.” What are you doing to nurture relationships and alignment within and beyond your firm to ensure your strategy to attract more clients moves forward?

In the end, if you give your audience a good value, at a fair price, based on solid preparation and a stellar performance, you’ll garner good reviews, and have a long, fruitful run at the box office. Break a leg!

Love My Dentist

This is not so much about how to market a dental practice, as it is an illustration of how smart marketing strategy can permeate every aspect of a busy professional service firm.

During my last appointment, Dr. Penski and I talked about her practice and approach to marketing. Here’s what I learned:

Clear Positioning:

Fresh out of Georgetown University’s Dental School, she couldn’t get funding for her vision of a practice that would cater to women. In her words, “Anger was a great motivator,” so she set out to fulfill her dream by catering to private-pay professional women and moms, two very influential forces when it comes to how families spend their dental dollars.

From the start, she and her business partner knew they would best serve this niche by offering “dentistry with a caring touch.” This vision permeates everything, setting a baseline for how they package and promote their services, their approach to sales, the care they provide, and day-to-day performance for the entire staff.

Thoughtful Packaging:

Dr. Penski explained how they created their practice “identity” on a dime. Over dinner with spouses, the couples discussed how to “package” the new practice including uniforms, office decor, business stationary, and welcome brochure. A husband suggested they use the symbol of a fern, since it was “old, natural, and graceful — just like they were!” The silhouette of a fern, plucked from Dr. Penski’s garden and created on her copy machine, shows up everywhere.

Nature is also the theme in the waiting room where you can relax browsing nature art books, listen to soothing spa music and a fountain, and enjoy an herbal neck wrap. The caring touch is reinforced with an album bursting with patient letters, baby announcements, wedding photos, and thank you cards. A photo album of before and after shots demonstrates credibility in yet another way.

Smart Promotion:

I found Dr. Penski on the Washingtonian Magazine list of top dentists. A smart place to appear, if you’re catering to professional women in DC. I immediately knew something was different when the receptionist told me that my first appointment would be for the doctor to get to know me first, as well as assess my dental needs.

The day after I made my first appointment, I received a “Welcome to our Practice” package, that included a simple but sincere welcome brochure, medical and insurance forms to complete before my appointment, a health assessment that also asked me, “If there was one thing you could change about your smile, what would it be?” and clear payment policy.

All of these things served to set a standard, manage my expectations, welcome me, and connect with me before my appointment. It was also a smart way to start up-selling me even before my first visit.

Sophisticated Persuasion:

The practice takes a phased approach to bringing a new patient on board. This is also a sophisticated way to build trust and encourage further use of their services. The first appointment was all about assessment and relationship-building. In addition to the most thorough, tooth-by-tooth assessment and set of x-rays I’ve ever experienced, Dr. Penski took her time getting to know me as a person, about my background, and my concerns or fears about going to the dentist. When I mentioned an interest in whitening my smile, she talked me out of it, showing me how it would look unnatural. My trust in her credibility and interest in my wellbeing continued to deepen.

I asked Dr. Penski why, in 30+ years of regular dental care, was this the first time I’d ever received this thorough of a check-up? Her response: they break all the prescribed rules for how much time to spend with each patient, which gives them the freedom to be as thorough as possible.

The business model works because they spend more time with higher-paying clients, who specifically value the approach Dr. Penski and her partner take. They don’t have to make up for lower insurance reimbursements with a higher volume of patients. There is an overall atmosphere of calm, nurturing focus on each patient. Everyone wins.

Before leaving, my second and third appointments were set up for cleaning and another minor procedure. I was up-sold on the spot and happy about it!

Relationship-Building Performance:

Dr. Penski explained that the cornerstone to the practice is their daily all-staff meeting. Held every morning, they discuss each patient coming in that day as a whole person: her dental treatment, what’s going on in her life, what issues or fears she might have about today’s procedure, and other things that matter to her experience and treatment. The meetings serve to center and refresh the doctors and staff every day, so that they’re really focused on each person as an individual when she arrives.

The caring approach and relationship-building performance continued with a follow-up call to see if I had any questions from my first appointment and to provide me contact info for a new doctor referral I mentioned needing as I was leaving.

Never did I think I’d become a raving fan of my dentist, but there you have it!

When I asked Dr. Penski about what they specifically do to market the practice, she said, “We don’t have to market!” The truth is, they market every day because of how they choose to run their practice.

Here are some ideas you can borrow to create your own raving fans:

1) Pick a clear niche that you really want to serve and go after it. You’ve got to really love your niche, or your efforts to penetrate this niche will ring hollow and fall flat.

As important: make sure your niche has money to spend and is willing to pay for what you can deliver.

2) Think of ways you can start the marketing process before you even meet new prospects. How do you want them to first know about you (i.e., on the Top 10 List of something that matters to your target audience)? What will build your perceived credibility in the eyes of your target audience (i.e., the album of patient thank you notes and photos in the waitin room)?

Surprisingly, Dr. Penski’s practice does not have a website, which is an essential marketing tool for any professional service firm! But that doesn’t stop them from doing the same things offline through low-cost printed materials and other credibility-raising, trust-building tools. It’s how you use these tools that matters.

3) One you’ve got their attention, what can you do, say or send that will invite prospects to connect with you and set the standard that you are different (i.e., a Welcome Package, self-assessment or maybe a “Checklist to Help You Pick the Right CPA for Your Business”)?

4) Be consistent. Does what your firm stands for permeate everything you say, do, offer, print, show and produce? You don’t have to have a big marketing budget to infuse your vision into everything you do.

5) Invest in relationships. Would you rather have as many higher-paying, appreciative clients as you choose or be constantly running to keep up with lower-paying, high-maintenance volume? It’s a choice you have.

6) Pay attention to the details. Clients who are willing to pay good money for your professional services will not stick around if you don’t attend to the details. Dr. Penski’s daily staff meeting is her vehicle for making sure nothing falls through the cracks. What’s yours?

No website, home-grown graphic design, far fewer patients per hour than recommended, chatty staff and personal relationships with patients…

Is this any way to run a professional service firm? You bet!

Why Smart People Don’t Know How to Market

But who’s growing your business while you’re busy tending to your clients’ needs? What are you doing to attract and maintain a steady stream of qualified, motivated prospects? How do you find and keep interesting clients who pay you what you’re worth? Like most professionals, you may not be able to answer those questions because the answer involves marketing.

Sure, referrals can be a decent source of new clients, but they’re only one approach in a system of balanced strategies for guaranteeing you’ll have many desirable clients for as long as you wish. It doesn’t matter how many referrals you get, if you don’t know how to build and extend the potential relationship that each referral represents.

As a Smart Person, you have lots of options at your disposal for attracting more clients to your firm. And they don’t have to include the expensive things that spring to mind when you say “marketing,” such as slick brochures, advertising, or direct mail.

However, your professional expertise alone will not differentiate you in a crowded marketplace…nor will it bring clients to you. You’ve got to let them know you exist and help them understand why you’re different &ndash why you are uniquely qualified to address their needs. This is called positioning. It takes some thoughtful, creative work to nail this first, most important step in attracting more clients.

Once you’ve determined your positioning, you have four more major steps that will bring clients to you and your firm: packaging, promotion, persuasion, and performance. Each step requires that you are able to communicate with your target client audience in a variety of ways that they can understand &ndash in their need-based language, not your expert language.

In a nutshell, here are some of your strategies for each major step to attract more clients:

Positioning: niche, specialty, specialness, reputation, unique competitive advantage, client-centered worldview, saying no, commitment, no Plan B, congruence, self knowledge, re-niche

Packaging: knowledge-sharing, articles, reports, surveys, web sites, slide decks, CDs/cassettes, videos, books, mini-books

Promotion: knowledge-sharing, speaking, writing, networking, referrals, newsletters, e-newsletters, letters, postcards, calls, teleclasses

Persuasion: listening, diagnosis, openness, curiosity, visioning, education, presentations, asking, recommending, assuring, sharing

Performance: competence, solutions, results, keep promises, manage expectations, intelligence, creativity, guarantees, thank you’s, commitment, walking the talk, innovation, persistence, integrity, generosity, alignment inside firm, staying in touch, management competence

Chances are, you’re on a learning curve in one or more of these major steps. Even if you’ve been in business for years and have built a successful firm, taking your practice to the next level means setting new metrics, ensuring your niche hasn’t grown stale, and learning new ways to reach that next stage in your firm’s growth or maturity.

For larger firms, maybe now it’s time to pay attention to how your firm delivers on your brand promise &ndash do principals, management, and staff really “walk the talk” of what you promise in the marketplace? Or are you, like many professional service firms, a cobbler whose children have no shoes?

Or perhaps you serve “internal clients” inside of a very large organization, and need support or buy-in for the services your department offers. You can put these principles and strategies to work for your work to get noticed, get invited, attract positive attention, and get buy-in.

So what’s a Smart Person to do to attract more clients? Here are some suggestions:

Raise the role of strategic marketing in your practice to a conscious level. Get it on the agenda and apply your smarts to it, just like you do with any other crucial aspect of your business.

Create a niche for your practice &ndash you cannot be all things to all people. However just because you enjoy working with a particular market or prefer a special approach, it doesn’t mean your target clients will. You need to understand the difference between a good niche and a bad niche, and strategize accordingly. Lynda Falkenstein’s NicheCraft is an excellent source of ideas.

Position yourself to others through their worldview, not yours. Instead of saying, “I’m a strategy consultant,” start with “I help (Fortune 500) companies (increase market share).” Obviously you’d tailor the statement to fit who you help and what problem you address, but you get the idea. For tons of information on how to get this right, Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing is the guru on what he calls creating an “audiologo.”

Develop a system of marketing strategies that both attracts new clients and helps you retain the ones you have. Start with the metrics of what you want to change or improve in your practice and tie the system to driving those metrics.

Develop an action plan that translates your marketing system into specific tasks, with real assignments, deliverables, and deadlines.

Commit to and put a system in place to keep you on track and motivated as you work through your plan. Build non-billable time into your business model dedicated to marketing. A rule of thumb is at least 20% of your firm’s time should be allocated to marketing.

Get expert help and resources for any of these suggestions, including implementation. For many professional service firms, this requires getting away for a day or two of focused thinking and discussion among key people. When you consider that stakes, it’s well worth the time and effort.

There are actually two more “p’s” in marketing. Intelligent, effective marketing requires a great deal of patience…and the ability to see this not as a series of transactions completed in a few weeks or even months, but as a relationship-building process with your current and future clients over time.

Marketing really is a life-skill and something to learn as one of your core competencies as an educated professional. Now that’s being smart!

References

Argyris, C. “Teaching Smart People How to Learn,” Harvard Business Review, May-June 1991.

Falkenstein, L. NicheCraft. New York: HarperCollins. 1996.

Middleton, R. “InfoGuru Marketing Manual.” Action Plan Marketing. 2002.

Sum of Its Parts

“Saltwater taffy, for example, does not taste good. Seagulls are not pleasant birds. Most people look better in clothes &ndash a lot of clothes. But it works. The beach is the ultimate triumph in setting.” &ndashfrom the article, Sea and Be Seen

What does this have to do with marketing professional services? A lot. Just like saltwater taffy, seagulls, and under clothed people, any one thing done in isolation to market your professional services won’t work.

When you take the sum of its parts, marketing works.

Let’s take an easy example: networking. Done in a vacuum, networking is just a “part.” Without ways to sustain a new contact’s attention, build their trust, or keep in touch &ndash the other “parts” of your whole &ndash you spend far more time and energy drumming up business than if you had other aspects of your marketing “machine” doing a lot of the work for you.

Let’s get specific. The biggest mistake I see is when people go out, network (or make cold calls, or send direct mail pieces), is that they simultaneously scare prospects off with an anemic poorly-messaged website, no value- adding resources to build your prospect’s confidence, and new contacts that vanish into thin air because there’s no systematic way to stay in front of them that’s affordable and effective.

The same “in isolation” principle applies to other marketing “parts.”

* If you invest in telemarketing, but send new leads to a lousy website (even if you don’t send them there, they’ll look you up), you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

* If you’re a master at churning out brilliant weekly e-newsletters, but haven’t “packaged” your services into a range of ways potential clients can buy from you, you’re missing the point of using an e-zine as a smart promotional tool.

* If you go to all of the time and effort to get booked as a speaker, then run around preparing for and delivering your talks, you’ll get nothing but a nice ego boost and applause unless you target the right audiences and hit them with “What in it for Me?” messages.

All of that time, money and energy wasted…but not if you pay attention to the sum of your parts!

To avoid wasting your resources and to make the most of your individual marketing efforts, make sure you have all of these parts working together:

* Positioning that sets you apart from others offering a similar service. From your target audiences’ perspective, what makes you different? Why should they choose you?

* Packaging in the form of a value-packed website that you can send new contacts to, demonstrating your value (again, through their eyes) and building their confidence in you as a good solution to their problem.

* Promotion: An easy way to keep-in-touch with contacts and prospects, even if you’re using other high-touch tactics, such as follow- up calls and meetings. The point is that not every new contact is a ready-buyer when you first meet. You need to stay on their radar, at least monthly, so that when they’re ready to buy, you’re there. A monthly e-newsletter or e- zine is the perfect vehicle.

* Persuasion: You’ve got to turn contacts into prospects, prospects into clients, clients into referrers, and so on. Simply setting up sales calls and writing proposals won’t do it, though. As any successful sales person knows, there are many moving “parts” to master. You’ve got to know who the decision makers are, what they’re willing to spend, how buying decisions get made, how to stay in control of the selling conversation, and how to ask for referrals, to name a few.

* Performance is the one “part” most of us in professional services rely on most &ndash it’s how we get referrals and maintain (or tarnish) our reputation in the marketplace. It’s the marketing part that keeps me on my toes the most, above any other marketing challenge I take on, including writing this e-newsletter, upgrading my website, closing a sale, or giving a public talk. Why? Because it’s all about managing and exceeding client expectations, two very tricky “parts” to master. If this doesn’t ring a bell with you, then take this quick quiz to find out what it really takes to master Performance: .turningpointemarketing.com/Is_This_For_You.html

In isolation, I’m definitely not a fan of saltwater taffy, seagulls or bathing suits. But in the right setting and working all together, they’re part of the most effective vacation I can think of. The sum of its parts works. So too can your marketing.

Three Ways to Invest Time + Money In PR

Kelly: When should people consider PR in their marketing efforts?

Elizabeth: PR should be included in every marketing plan you develop…from the very beginning of a new product being launched or a policy coming out. Use it heavily in the beginning to establish a brand, then level out over time. It’s also a good tool for handling crisis down the road.

For consumer-related messages, PR really builds credibility quickly &ndash 40-50% of your budget isn’t unreasonable.

Fritz: The traditional view is that product marketing should go with ads, not PR…and that issues and position-related launches should use op-eds and PR. But I see it as actually the opposite…for example a good story on NPR will do more than, say, ads. Think of PR to launch a brand, and advertising to maintain it.

Kelly: What advice to you have for someone just learning about PR for their business or organization?

Fritz: PR is a process &ndash it’s not a one-time hit or magic bullet. Just like networking or in social experiences, it takes time to develop trust and credibility. So just one press release in a vacuum won’t do it. This is really a cornerstone. One thing that really helps is planning &ndash even if it’s a year out…you need to be thinking about it now.

Actually, you really need to be thinking and talking internally about it all the time. All of your employees are diplomats and ambassadors of your company. So all the internal communications need to be aligned, with policies on if or how to talk with the press, the general public…talking points are key, as is training. Protect your brand by getting everyone on the same page.

Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?

Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR team until much later. You need to think through angles and pitches early on &ndash and be thinking strategically…not just about tactics.

Fritz: Then there’s the media schedule &ndash if you want to do big pushes in February, realize that you’re competing with the Super Bowl, Grammy’s and Oscars. Even if you’re local and on a smaller scale, there’s an annual cycle that you need to take into consideration.

Elizabeth: There are things you should plan around, unless you can relate your topic to these things.

Fritz: The other thing is for clients to understand the difference between the story and how it’s pitched. We had a client who shot themselves in the foot by not allowing us to let the media ask them about a particularly hot topic &ndash it’s got to be about what the public wants, not what you necessarily want to say.

Kelly: So what should a small company budget for PR if they want to build a regional presence?

Fritz: That’s a great question…and again, it depends on whom you’re trying to reach. You need to look at the scope of what you want to do. What’s your dream list, and then scale it back and budget realistically. Come up with smart PR dollars, and don’t waste your investment. So television interviews may not be needed, when radio will be more effective.

Kelly: Let’s talk about radio in a minute. But first, what are SMTs and VNRs…and why are they beneficial to PR campaigns?

Fritz: A Video News Release (VNR) is a pre-packaged news segment. It looks like anything you’d see on local news &ndash with a reporter in the field, a voiceover, and it’s edited just like news. You then send that to any newsroom and they can pop it in, just like any news piece. So instead of the station having to come out and cover your story, you’re saving them the expense and time. News production has become so much more expensive and producer workload has tripled…so this really makes sense because you’re making their life easier, as long as it’s a balanced piece. You can even do a specific style for a specific network.

The SMT is a Satellite Media Tour. This is doing a series of interviews in a studio, with a satellite uplink that connects to any affiliate in the country, with a reporter doing 2-3 minute interviews. You’ll hit one- to two-dozen markets in a couple of hours, which would have cost you far more in travel, lodging, downtime, etc. Smaller companies don’t tend to go this way (there’s a cost of entry starting at about $12k), but once you figure out what it can do for you on a national scope, the dollars make sense. You can also use it for local and regional markets, targeting only those audiences you want to reach.

Elizabeth: Yes, if you want to launch something within a state (for example, a new mass transit system in a region), it’s much more efficient. Local elected officials may not have time to run around to every station in their market, but will have time to go to one studio for an hour or two, and talk to eight different local or regional stations.

Kelly: Okay &ndash back to radio. How can radio boost awareness about PR campaigns?

Elizabeth: Radio is a great option for clients with smaller budgets. It’s also good to mix in with SMTs. Radio is a different audience &ndash they tend to be captive and in the car. There are many different types of programs that are very targeted, so it’s easier to reach a specific audience.

Radio is also a lot cheaper &ndash costs about 50% of SMTs &ndash and has a lot of credibility…it’s really a big up and coming tool.

Again, you need plenty of lead-time for radio, although it’s less complicated than TV. We recommend 4-6 weeks of lead-time, to help with targeting and messaging. And sometimes radio is better because it’s not a visual story.

Fritz: With radio, you can get so specific on your demographic target…so the more you know about your target audience, you can really focus how to spend your dollars.

Kelly: Do you have an opinion on the difference in effectiveness between a straight radio interview vs. an editorial-based audio news release?

Elizabeth: I prefer radio media tours better, because you can attach a person’s name to a story and interact with the anchor…and connect better with the audience to build trust.

Kelly: Do you have a specific PR success story you’d like to share?

Elizabeth: We did a satellite media tour for the National Museum of the American Indian. The launch was a huge success…we had 21 interviews lined up for the Museum Director that turned into 91 airings nationwide. One place where we really helped was in targeting the radio stations &ndash many we found were on Native American reservations.

Kelly: So how should people think about “success” &ndash what are the metrics we should consider for PR?

Elizabeth: It really depends on what your goal is: to increase public awareness? to increase museum visits? to sell more books? So we provide statistics on airtime…and encode our broadcasts to see how long they last…and then compare that to ad dollars. Advertisement usually ends up being far more expensive that what they invested for the tour, not to mention the difference in credibility you get from PR vs. ads.

Kelly: So where can people go to learn more?

Fritz: We recommend a couple of websites:

.satellitemediatour.net/

.videonewsrelease.info/

.radiomediatour.com/

.brollproduction.com/

And if you’re in the Washington, DC area, please join Fritz and Elizabeth at PR Nation, Buzz Media’s monthly networking event. For more information visit .buzzmediapr.com or .prnation.org.

How to Earn the Right

Think about it: people that you want for clients start out as strangers. They don’t know about you and your firm. So you can’t expect them to jump into a long-term relationship with you before they move from stranger, to acquaintance, to friend, to lover, and then to loyal partner.

I don’t need to spell out the analogy to dating in detail for you to get the idea, but this point is key: don’t expect strangers to commit to your professional services until you move them through the trust- building phases of developing a relationship.

Think of marketing as a path to earning your clients’ commitment. For definitions of each phase, read on. For ideas on how to move through each phase, read the rest of this article.

Strangers. Strangers don’t know who you are and don’t see the difference between you and others offering your same service. At first glance, you might be another pretty face in the crowd, but that’s about it. The key here is to catch and hold attention from the right kinds of prospects.

Acquaintances. In the business world, Acquaintances shop based on price and availability. They won’t pay for value and want the goods fast. Off-the-shelf is fine, with no customization required. You get little or no loyalty from Acquaintances. While not the way to grow a professional service firm, there are ways to serve this market, as well as move through this segment.

Friends. At this phase, you might be working closely with a client, or you might still be earning their trust. In general, Friends tend to have some kind of working agreement in place that includes pricing, service and deliverables. Whether you’ve done one project or a small amount of work for a Friend, there are still other fish in the sea.

Lovers…are highly bonded business partners in explicitly negotiated, contractually defined relationships of commitment and trust. They enjoy all the benefits of a trust-based relationship including regular, frequent and open communication, insider benefits, discounts, and customized solutions.

Loyal Partners…have been working together for some time, usually years. They easily refer business back and forth to each other and truly believe that they are the best solution in the market for the niche they serve. They’ve learned a lot from each other and each is better for having known and worked with the other.

To move your prospects and clients from Strangers to Loyal Partners, give these things a try:

To catch a Stranger’s eye: You’ve got to turn heads. This means knowing whom you want to attract, and then communicating the right things to get and hold their attention. In other words, you’ve got to position yourself well against the competition, and speak (or write) in terms of your target audience’s WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?).

Get the first 10 words dead right, or it won’t matter how brilliant your next 100 words are because your prospect won’t stick around. It’s like the difference between a cheesy pick-up line and a thoughtful conversation-starter. When you introduce yourself, put content on your homepage, or write the headline of an article, communicate with your target audience’s interests in mind.

To move from Strangers to Acquaintances: You’ve attracted attention, so now what? You must keep your prospect engaged. The best way to do that is to ask them questions about themselves, related to problems you can solve. At this point in the “conversation” (while networking, on your website, in an article, through direct mail, on the phone, in a sales meeting) it should be all about them, not about you.

Instead of going on about your services, use short questionnaires, self-assessments and attentive questions to…

* Ask about what they struggle with, wish they could do better, or want from your kind of professional service;

* Learn as much as you can about their world and reciprocate slowly by answering their questions;

* Let them control the pacing, without overwhelming them with too much information that they haven’t asked for.

* Determine if you can send an article related to their needs that they might find of value.

Basic (but effective) relationship-building tactics include a hand- written follow-up note, sending the article you mentioned, and politely gauging interest in more contact. At this point, it may be appropriate to take another step to get to know each other better (a first date!) in the form of a follow up call, meeting over coffee, or office visit.

To move from Acquaintances to Friends: This may be where a prospect decides to buy your services, but probably not. It’s too early - you haven’t built your case yet for how you’re uniquely qualified to do a better job at meeting your prospect’s needs than anyone else in your field.

To build your case, you need to demonstrate your reliability, staying power and visibility (i.e., through a WIIFM-oriented e- newsletter); authority (through credentials, testimonials, case studies, and awards); value (by clearly communicating outcomes and results, and demystifying how you’ll work together); and minimize the buyer’s risk (through guarantees, references, follow through).

This could be when a prospect is willing to spend a little bit of money with you on something perceived as low-risk. For example, you could sell your expertise packaged into information-based products such as workbooks, lessons or talks on tape or CD, and premium reports. All of these things let prospects get to know you better, deepen trust, and help move their confidence in you to the next level.

To move from Friends to Lovers: You’ve built your case, demonstrated to your client’s satisfaction that you’re a safe bet, and continue to stand out from the crowd. You’ve discussed the tough things like money, decision-making authority, and possible derailleurs. Deepening the commitment with you feels natural, safe and like the right thing to do.

As Lovers, you’ll be engaged in regular and long-term business. You’ll learn a lot about each other, communication preferences, how to navigate conflict, and how to manage expectations. You’ll only sustain the relationship at this level if you keep it fresh by continuing to gauge and meet their needs. You can’t take their business for granted. Innovation is important, based on what your best clients ask for or struggle with.

To move from Lovers to Loyal Partners: Newer, flashier competitors may come on the scene, but your Loyal Partners aren’t going anywhere. You alone are their number one choice for the professional service your firm provides. If someone else approaches them, they’ll let you know about it and give you a chance to meet their needs first. As with any successful long-term relationship, you’ve learned to use conflict constructively, don’t take their loyalty for granted, and continue to reward them for their trust and commitment.

In a worthwhile relationship, you can’t rush something good. Think about moving through these phases over time - not in one conversation or even two meetings. When it’s too good too soon, relationships are usually hollow or troubled (with clients and in love!). I’ve learned to slow down, pace the conversation, and ask a lot of questions. The results are consistently better and longer lasting.

Whatever you do, your message and actions have got to be authentic and in your clients’ best interests. Any smart prospect or client will see right through the “lines” of a Player - someone who’s only out for the score. I doubt that’s how you want to be positioned in the marketplace, and it’s certainly no way to build a business.

If this sounds like a lot of work, you’re right. But consider the payoff: rock solid, long lasting relationships with clients that deepen and enrich everyone over time.

How to Leverage Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool

High Tech is High Touch

There are two components to this powerful marketing tool &ndash the website itself, coupled with a well thought-out online strategy. Done right, here’s what a website and online strategy can do for you:

• Build relationships. Marketing your law firm is about creating and sustaining a trust-based relationship with your intended and current clients. A good website and online promotion strategy can do just that, without requiring more of you precious billable hours to be present in your clients’ and prospects lives.

• Tap new markets. Why do clients come to you in the first place? Is it because they have a real problem, an immediate need, and no choice but to hire an attorney? What if you could tap a less crisis-driven, more pro-active market that provided you with more predictable and longer-term cash flow? Amazingly, an integrated online/offline marketing strategy, centered around your website can do that for you.

• Accelerate your sales cycle. By the time someone calls you, chances are they’ve already visited your website. With the right online approach, you can increase a prospect’s confidence that your firm is the right one to call, reduce the number of unqualified prospects, encourage a “call to action,” and begin a long-term relationship.

• Stay in sight and top of mind. The adage, “out of sight is out of mind” is true, even in legal matters. There is simply no guarantee that an existing client will return to your firm the next time they need similar services. Too many variables and influences can intercede, particularly if a lot of time passes between needs. Your website and online strategy can painlessly bridge the gap between more time consuming, “off-line” keep-in-touch activities (i.e., phone calls, direct mail, customer surveys) that are often hard to carve out time to do and expensive to implement.

• Turbocharge your business development efforts. A well-constructed website can be the “hub” of your firm’s presence in the marketplace. Ideally, your website is the first place prospects go when they learn about your firm through a referral, while networking, in the press, or perhaps a direct mail piece. Once they’re on your site, you can educate them, build their loyalty and confidence, demonstrate your results, and motivate them to take action…all for a fraction of the time, energy, and money these things require off-line.

• Manage your marketing dollars more wisely. Wouldn’t it be great if you could tell which off-line marketing activities pay off and which ones don’t? With the right approach, you can do just that, using your website &ndash and underlying technology &ndash as a tool for “measured marketing.” You’ll never have to wonder if the money you spend on direct mail, networking, or publicity is really worth it again &ndash you’ll know for sure!

The Essentials

The money you spend on a website and promotional strategy is only as good as the work they do for you to turn “surfers” into real clients. For a website that works hard and gets results, here’s what to consider.

1. Function over form. There are plenty of visually appealing websites that fall far short of what clients and prospects are really looking for. When someone visits your site, they want it to…

• load quickly

• be easy to read

• provide a range of information (not everyone will read it all, but everyone is attracted and motivated by different things &ndash so you’ve got to offer it all)

• make it easy to contact you

• not distract or waste their time with unnecessary effects

• be easy to print out

• perhaps teach them something they didn’t know. Graphic design is a very important element of any website, but it should not be what drives content, navigation, and usability. At most, it should weigh in equally with content and navigation.

2. Long, well-written copy sells. Believe it or not, if what you say speaks to your target audience in language that’s about them, their problems, their world, and their needs, they’ll read a lot more than you’d think. The key, though, is that what you say has got to be about them, not your firm &ndash at least not initially.

This goes back to the laws of marketing discussed in the first article of this series, “How to Put Law & Order into Marketing Your Law Firm.” (on our website at .growyourlawfirm.com under Free Resources: Articles). Most professional service firms break this rule…and end up sounding alike. Differentiate your firm by writing website content that speaks to your clients’ worldview, not yours. Educate them, motivate them, soothe them, convince them, inform them, and move them to action.

3. Load up on value. Give visitors to your site a reason to stick around and to “bookmark” your site because it’s so darned valuable. Increase their knowledge and help them feel competent every time they go to your site, and they’ll fall in love with your firm. Ironically, the more you share about what you know, the more people are drawn to your work and will trust that your services are highly valuable, not a necessary evil, and worth every penny they pay.

4. Integrate online with off-line. Think about how you get new clients now &ndash word of mouth? Referrals? Networking? A letter of introduction? Quoted in the press? Usually it’s through off-line activities. While you’re at it, invite people to visit your website and let it do the initial relationship-building work for you. Follow up an initial introduction with an email link to your site and an invitation to subscribe to your firm’s free e-newsletter. Attach an article you’ve written that specifically addresses the concern they approached you about. Follow up with a phone call to see if they got the article and continue your conversation.

Maybe you get a new client right away, but if not, you keep in touch through your monthly e-newsletter that reminds them of how valuable you are, and drive them back to new content on your website. Before you know it, you do have a new client, and a lot of the heavy lifting was done by your great website.

Even if your firm has a website, take a look at how hard it works for you. Remember, marketing is about creating and sustaining a relationship with your target audience and current clients. Leverage the power of a well-crafted website and online strategy, and that process gets a lot easier!

TurningPointe

How to Manage Your Marketing Mix

Wrong. And the same goes for generating revenue. Done in a vacuum, none of these tactics will get you what you want. For professional services - where your relationship with your target audience develops based on them trusting you - it’s all about layering your “market touches” in a way that incrementally builds trust over time. Too much, too close, too soon, and you scare people off.

Instead, you have to know what strategy to use and when, based on clear objectives. Each strategy has a different purpose. Here’s a quick look at how to make the right choice.

Advertisement is getting the word out about your firm through paid- for ads or commercials in the media, including print, radio, television and internet. You advertise to…

* establish awareness

* build interest in the market

* educate

* interrupt

* change attitudes about your brand or another’s brand

* influence perceptions

* meet a longer-term objective (like raising awareness)

Advertisement tends to be very expensive. Done well -with good messaging, good design, and a big enough budget to be consistent over time - it can be effective. But blowing a big piece of your overall marketing budget on an ad or two is a HUGE waste of money.

Public Relations is getting the word out about your firm through the press, including articles about you (not by you) and interviews with you. These can appear in print, as a story in the media, and online. You use Public Relations to…

* build credibility (and sometimes trust) through a third-party (the press)

* move up a level in the eyes of your target audience and clients

* align publicly (i.e., with a cause)

* generate buzz (i.e., pre-launch)

* get “free” attention

Getting good publicity requires a knack for WIIFM-oriented messaging (What’s In It For Me?). You have to pass the “who cares?” test every time. If you start a press release, for example, with “ABC Company is pleased to announce…,” you’re DEAD in the water. Good relationship- building skills with the press are also a must. PR is often something to crank up once you have the tools in place to “catch” the attention you’ll garner, including a website laden with value and a decent keep- in-touch system.

Promotion is getting the word out through articles/ columns/newsletters that you write, talks you give, networking, sponsorships, events, committee work, referrals you give and get, follow-up meetings, thank you notes, and calls. You promote to…

* encourage your target audience to try you (i.e., visit your website for a valuable download, to subscribe to your free e- newsletter)

* invite your target audience to an event (real or virtual)

* give stuff away (trials)

* introduce a new offer

* meet a shorter-term objective (like fill a workshop)

* test new ideas (i.e., run a poll)

* invite interaction (i.e., to an online discussion forum)

Promotion tends to be the most effective way for professional service firms to build trust in the marketplace. The arsenal of options in your promotional toolkit is both extensive and affordable. Get a basic system of online and offline promotional tactics in place - anchored by a value-packed website to act as your “revenue hub” - and you’re in good shape.

You also have tactical choices to make for each strategy: online vs. offline, print/graphic vs. audio/visual, live (in person) vs. virtual, and so on. Here are some rules of (green) thumb to guide you:

* deploy the WIIFM factor at all times

* unless you have the backing of a big corporate marketing budget, promotion and PR tend to be your smartest investments

* online is generally more cost-effective than print

* permission-based approach is a must for professional services

* don’t randomly try tactics. Have a plan that moves your target audience from Stranger to Acquaintance to Friend to Lover to Loyal Partner (see my article, “How to Earn the Right” for more on this key success factor)

If you want awareness, interest, trusted advisor status, and credibility, you need all three strategies - Advertisement, Public Relations, and Promotion - in your marketing mix. For most firms, having a solid promotional strategy in place first is the smartest ROI. Add public relations and advertisement to the mix next, and your garden will flourish and grow.

Be Yourself

Let’s look at what the experts advise. By the way, while these tips sound bizarre — they’re real nuggets, so stay with me:

1. Be an authentic liar.

2. Be your own valentine.

3. Fight bull.

Here’s how these successful experts connect with the marketplace &ndash and you can too:

Be an authentic liar. In his latest book, All Marketers Are Liars, Seth Godin explains “the power of telling authentic stories in a low-trust world.” Mildly unsettling at first, he makes the case that our buyers are actually the ones who are lying. To themselves. About why they want to buy from us.

Successful marketers are just providing the stories that our buyers choose to believe. But here’s the rub: you have to really live the story you’re telling. The second a potential buyer smells anything less than complete dedication to what you’re selling, you “cross the line from fib to fraud.” It’s simply not good enough to have a good story. You have to live up to it as well. If you’re a cobbler with no shoes, why should your clients take your advice?

Be a role model for what you sell, and nothing less. Then tell a good story about it, to buyers who want to believe.

Be your own valentine. In his hot little book, Little Red Book of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer takes a tough-love approach to helping us be the best version of ourselves we can be.

My personal favorites are:

• No Whining (“Don’t whine to me that the customer won’t return your call. Study voicemail. Don’t whine to me that your boss is a jerk. Get a new one. Don’t whine to me that your company won’t give you a laptop. Go buy one.”)

• Kick Your Own Ass (“Ever have a bad day? Ever lost a sale you thought you had? Ever had someone say yes to you and three days later just evaporate? Wanna know what to do about it…? Kick your own ass. No one is going to hand you success…that’s something you have to do for yourself.”)

The heart of Gitomer’s message is put your heart into your work…and if you don’t love what you sell, go sell something else. No amount of cleverly packaged marketing spin can camouflage a missing heart. Your clients will see right through it and won’t buy from you.

Research shows that people buy professional services because of trust. In Gitomer’s words, “If they like you, and they believe you, and they trust you, and they have confidence in you…then they MAY buy from you.”

Let your heart shine through in your words and actions. If you do, your clients will like, believe, trust, have confidence, and buy from you.

Fight bull. In their recent book, Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter’s Guide, Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky give it to us straight. Stop using words that are meaningless, boring, indirect and obscure. Start communicating with your own voice, personality, and style.

How many times have you sat through mind-numbing presentations, meaningless PowerPoint slides, or felt no connection with (no trust in?) the person trying to sell you on their idea, service or product?

So stop. Just stop adding to the bull that piles up every day in business communications. Talk and write to your target audience person-to-person. Ask them simple questions that get to the heart of their wants and needs. Tell them that you’ve thought a lot about their situation and have some ideas that might help them. And do it without the crutch of slides, silly business-speak, or slick messaging.

In other words, just be yourself.

*WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?

References

Fugere, B., Hardaway, C., and Warshawsky, J. (2005). Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter’s Guide. New York: Free Press.

Gitomer, J. (2004). The Little Red Book of Selling. Austin: Bard Press.

Godin, S. (2005). All Marketers Are Liars. New York: Penguin.