Reconsider Your Approach to Marketing
Source: CPA Trendlines
The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from a blog entry by Michelle Golden.
From the introduction to Professional Services Marketing 3.0, [http://goo.gl/HW8jd] by Bruce W. Marcus.
Bruce's newest book documents an important evolution in professional firms and the way law and accounting firms interact with current and prospective buyers. These interactions include serving the client, but also – quite importantly – reflecting how people working in firms present themselves in terms of their ability to bring true value to those who hire them.
Bruce's approach is two-fold: Understand the past, and be intentional about the future. As you read, and consider your firm's present marketing in light of this broader, historic context, you have the opportunity to identify counter-productive attitudes and approaches and move to an advanced level of marketing sooner than you otherwise might. The author shares, through his rich observations and experiences, that the views a professional holds about the value of his or her offerings, and marketing in general, are more important than the specific marketing tactics he or she undertakes.
The author explains why competing in today's environment necessitates a client-driven, rather than practice-driven firm and that immersion in the customer's business is paramount. He illustrates why quality of service is a mere table stake. He takes on “the brochure,” image, and branding – explaining that reputation is reliant on performance and the intangibles, not logos and brand promises that go unmet. He teaches us that when we focus overly on enhancing our image, “we absolve ourselves of the need to nurture reputation and perception by improving reality,” for marketing is irrelevant if good customers are slipping out the back door while firms spend their energy chasing new business.
For the complete article, read “Change Your Thinking, Change Your Future.”
From CPA Trendlines, cpatrendlines.com, August 24, 2011.