By Mike Schultz, Publisher
Several weeks ago I delivered the first of two webinars on the topic of Marketing Strategy, Planning, and Budgeting. We had quite a number of questions that came in during the webinar and throughout the Q&A time. In this article I will address two of those questions.
1. How does one generate leads to serve clients that have enough need and finances to take advantage of me, as a solo practitioner with management consulting, financial planning, tax, and accounting expertise? I am not looking for a large practice, 10 to 15 clients that will spend $15,000 to $25,000 or more a year.
If I were to rephrase this question, it might go something like this:
How do I make a quarter of a million dollars as a solo practitioner in my field?
A simple, but broad question. Broad though as it may be, it got me thinking of the basics of building a solid small practice.
First and foremost, you need to be good at what you do. Obvious point, you say? In my experience, everyone thinks their services and their value are all that and a bag of chips. In reality, they're not that good. Making sure your services are, indeed, top quality is top priority.
Regarding your marketing and lead generation strategy, you need to:
- Know who your target market is, and know as much about them – company by company, buyer by buyer – as possible.
- Know the value of your services; you might want to charge $15k to $25k per year, but someone might not see the value enough to buy it for that much.
- Be able to communicate that value one-to-many, such as in a website, and one-to-one, such as in sales conversations.
- Be able to uncover need, craft solutions, and win business.
- Understand who your real competition is for your services.
- Stick with a program to implement your marketing and lead generation. (Most solo providers that I've met haven't been able to stick with anything long enough to make it work.)
In terms of lead generation tactics, there are many ways up the mountain, especially for solo practitioners. People want to know does cold calling work? What about PR? Should I speak and write to establish myself as a thought leader? How about direct mail and email? Search optimization for my website? Good ol' networking and referrals? The answers to those questions are...yes in general. And, for you specifically...it depends.
You need to figure out for yourself a) which tactics you are going to use and why, and b) how to get them done well. There's no simple, good answer or secret lead generation tactic that's going to work for everyone.
* * *
2. What's involved in developing a 'strong' look and feel in terms of brand?
When it comes to developing and launching brand identity, think about:
- Your Strategy: I know $1m companies bent on having a world-class look and feel that are gearing up to spend six figures on a project with a designer. Typically, they're going too far.
Conversely, I've seen $20m companies that look like they hired a 13-year-old (and not a particularly talented one) to design their website, logo, and materials. I see companies like this hindered all the time because of their look and feel. Conversations go like this:
- Mr. Prospect: No, I wouldn't consider them as a service provider?
- Mike: Mr. Prospect, why?
- Mr. Prospect: Well, I looked at their website and I simply don't think they're in our league as a company
- In my experience, "in my league" starts with, and sometimes ends with, a first impression based on look and feel.
- Leadership: The company has to be ready to spend the money and go through the process to up the ante on how you look. Sometimes it's not a matter of money; it's that leadership doesn't really think it's a priority. Regardless of the matter, when something is not a leadership priority, you can find yourself in a losing battle. (Think Sisyphus.)
- Designer: Designers come in all shapes, sizes, and prices. Hire someone "in your league." A bad designer will say they do the same thing as a good designer "for less." Good designers cost a pretty penny. And they should.
Vet the designer portfolios carefully. They don't need to be huge, but you have to like what you see. If you don't have a good design sense, you'll just have to trust someone who does to help you make the decisions.
If design isn't your thing, don't trust yourself. Smart people with good intentions that have no design sense have succeeded mucking up many a good design with their "helpful feedback.")
- Design Process: Don't get bogged down in the details. Graphic design processes at services firms can devolve into pure pain. (Think Kafkaesque morass.) Read this article to learn more.
- Implementation: The new look and feel needs to be in everything you send out. And, of course, the more you send it out, the more effect you'll get. Just be careful not to get too enamored with the look and feel because it's such great design. The design is a backdrop for the actual messages you want to get out and actions you want prospects and clients to take. It's not the message in and of itself.
Don't miss the encore session of Marketing Strategy, Planning and Budgeting for Professional Services Webinar coming up on Thursday, December 13.
Mike Schultz is the Publisher of RainToday.com and an advisor to service businesses worldwide. He can be reached at mschultz@raintoday.com.
Read additional posts from Mike Schultz at the Services Insider Blog: http://www.whillsgroup.com/blog.cfm.
Inspired to agree, disagree, or otherwise comment? We hope you will! Write a letter to RainToday.com here. Selected letters may be posted on the site.