Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

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132 ebbvice The Time to Market Is All the Time A calendar of marketing activities suggests that you will market on only certain days of the month. The truth is you are marketing all the time. Every experience with every client, every conversation with a colleague, every visit to a professional meeting, every comment to a friend is a marketing event. You are selling you. As a consultant, you represent your product or service. The people you meet are making decisions about whether they will use your services or recommend you to someone else. “The time to market is all the time” also means that you must complete the activities on your marketing calendar (for example, call a friend who was just hired by Microsoft or begin the article for the technology magazine). At times you may feel too busy with a current project to market. Of course you must complete the project. If you tell yourself that you are too busy to also complete the marketing, you will come to the end of the current project and not have another project lined up. Yes, the time to market is all the time. And the most important time to market is when you are too busy to market! 8. Implement and Monitor Your Plan This step is really the reason you put the plan together in the first place. You are ready to implement what you decided to do. Stay on top of your marketing activities. Your marketing may not yield any results for six months. Start now. Stay on top of your plan. The monitoring portion means that you will track your progress as well as results. How do you do that? I do not believe that more paperwork will help you. I track my progress by simply checking off the items as I complete them. How about tracking results? Typically each quarter I sit down to examine the marketing plan. Just because you have completed everything on your list doesn’t mean it’s over. You need to determine whether your marketing is having an effect on new business. You can do that by recording how many new clients, new work with former clients, and new potential clients you have. I identify these in a running list on my computer by Marketing Your Consulting Services
quarter. Contract amount is also listed. I then determine how the connection was made. If clients initiate the contact, they will usually tell you how the work came about. And if you initiate the contact you will know. So this part is easier than you might imagine. This information tells you whether you need to adjust your plans. For example, if the ad in Training magazine has not yielded any inquiries the first month, you may want to talk to your account rep to determine whether placement might be a problem. Perhaps it doesn’t sell the benefits as it should. It may not appeal to this audience. If the ad still doesn’t provide any activity after another month or two, you may want to reconsider its value. You may also need to adjust your marketing plans due to your business. Have you targeted one market but learned that it was a mistake? For example, you may have targeted Fortune 500 companies only to discover that their projects were too large for you to manage. If you decide to change your target audience, you will need to change your marketing plans. How do you know whether or not your marketing plan is working? Your clients are your best barometer. Ask them how they found you, then track their responses. As a consultant you will usually know immediately. It is still important to gather the data so that at the end of the year you will be able to review it and determine what is paying off. Finally, you need to identify how you will reward yourself for completion. You have planned and implemented your marketing effort—just like any large company would do. Congratulations. ebbvice Keep Yourself in Front of Your Clients The bottom line is to keep yourself in front of your clients. You can accomplish this in three ways. First, you can physically be in their presence. When working on-site, be sure that you stop in to visit those with whom you’ve worked in the past or the person who hired you for this project. I stop in unannounced; you may need to schedule meetings. Whatever is comfortable, make the time. If you travel to the city of former clients, call to schedule time to meet with them while you are there. Your Marketing Plan: Can You Market on a Shoestring Budget? 133
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About Pfeiffer Pfeiffer serves the
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“In her new book, Elaine continue
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“Elaine has done it again—a boo
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Copyright © 2003 by John Wiley & S
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CONTENTS Dedication ix List of Figu
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SEVEN Prospecting in All the Right
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LIST OF FIGURES AND EXHIBITS ONE Fi
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Figure 9.5 Expanding the ABCs: Addi
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xx almost hands-on guidance, she in
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PREFACE It is rare that I am writin
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• I promise to teach you creativi
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One Last Thing I have lots of last-
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xxx Celia Rocks, publicist, thanks
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2 Market Research and Market Plans
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4 receive something to put in a box
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6 it that. Whether you like it or n
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8 add value for your clients? Do yo
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10 6. If your attitude about sellin
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12 A: Assess the Situation Assessin
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14 tools available to you. Try to s
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16 • Start a file of marketing id
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Assess the Situation L part ONE
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22 As mentioned earlier, a marketin
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24 Luick tip . . . Subscribe to the
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26 My customer base suggests that:
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28 Marketing Your Consulting Servic
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30 Luick tip . . . One of the easie
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34 • If you are currently using a
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External Assessment How Do Your Com
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5. How do your competitors’ prici
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Where to Get the Scoop Where can yo
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If you decide that the survey will
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keting, authors Ries and Trout clai
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It doesn’t have to be that diffic
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you are known for and of what you a
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2. Most consultants offer similar s
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54 may start out with a white busin
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56 You may also serve on advisory b
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58 Luick tip . . . If you might use
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60 through your logo. I have had pe
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62 • Produce just enough brochure
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64 Your Bio Sketch If you’ve been
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66 OTHER IMAGE BUILDERS Sometimes t
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Build a Potential Client Base L par
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74 dozens of personal notes, or you
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78 Demonstrations or Showcases Demo
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80 • Once your basic presentation
Page 114 and 115: 82 Considerations: • Select a cau
Page 116 and 117: 84 • Select something that is eas
Page 118 and 119: 86 professions it is appropriate to
Page 120 and 121: 88 Luick tip . . . Three of the mos
Page 122 and 123: 90 Website Your website should be s
Page 124 and 125: 92 • Be sure to check the copyrig
Page 126 and 127: 94 • Be aware of the many variabl
Page 128 and 129: 96 Considerations: • Identify the
Page 130 and 131: 98 Obtaining Information • Reques
Page 132 and 133: 100 “We’re getting ‘around’
Page 134 and 135: 102 reason is so that they will see
Page 137 and 138: Your Marketing Plan Can You Market
Page 139 and 140: You could also save time by finding
Page 141 and 142: Commitment also means that you cont
Page 143 and 144: What’s the Minimum I Need to Know
Page 145 and 146: Listen. Listen to whom? Everyone. T
Page 147 and 148: Exhibit 6.1. Your Marketing Plan, C
Page 149 and 150: products and services, position, pr
Page 151 and 152: You need to determine whether you w
Page 153 and 154: some that require the entire year.
Page 155 and 156: mail do not work very well for prom
Page 157 and 158: azine advertising or sponsorships,
Page 159 and 160: process that ensures you can comple
Page 161 and 162: one phone call after five months. Y
Page 163: Exhibit 6.2. Annual Marketing Plann
Page 167 and 168: 6. List your company in free direct
Page 169 and 170: Prospecting in All the Right Places
Page 171 and 172: into someone who frankly cannot use
Page 173 and 174: Exhibit 7.1. Five-Step Prospecting
Page 175 and 176: Luick tip . . . Examine your mailin
Page 177 and 178: How can you select another industry
Page 179 and 180: If you have not conducted this kind
Page 181 and 182: July 12, 20xx Exhibit 7.4. Sample I
Page 183 and 184: Letter Mechanics The mechanics of t
Page 185 and 186: will be in your area next Tuesday o
Page 187 and 188: How About Results? I enjoy the proc
Page 189 and 190: tion, a proposed approach, a timeli
Page 191 and 192: Figure 7.1. Prospecting Is Being a
Page 193: Contact Potential Clients L part TH
Page 196 and 197: 164 RAINMAKER? The term rainmaker c
Page 198 and 199: 166 YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT—NOW W
Page 200 and 201: 168 Exhibit 8.1. What to Ask Potent
Page 202 and 203: 170 First, it seems too sales-like
Page 204 and 205: 172 for what is working well or for
Page 206 and 207: 174 Ask About Money During first me
Page 208 and 209: 176 • Wrap-up close: Summarize th
Page 210 and 211: 178 After Your Sales Call Follow Up
Page 212 and 213: 180 much will it cost? How long wil
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182 4. The last paragraph of this c
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184 Gerald Weinberg, author of The
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186 do so. The ebb associates visio
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188 service, hot food, and a friend
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190 In Closing As you end your work
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192 One of the most important thing
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194 Individuals at the “take-char
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196 Individuals at the “task-orie
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198 of the styles on both sides of
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200 for someone they met coming in.
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202 tude gives them an upbeat focus
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Figure 9.4. Adapt to Your Client’
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206 How Much Time Can Referrals Sav
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208 Build Relationships Figure 9.5.
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210 Exhibit 9.4. Continuously Impro
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212 4. Determine how many of your c
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214 ESTABLISH A WEBSITE What can yo
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216 Your website is the only market
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218 Luick tip . . . If you have wri
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220 MARKETING: TAKE ACTION 1. Visit
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Marketing Can It Be Fun? As a consu
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Compare and Combine Risk Taking Exp
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The year Babe Ruth hit the most hom
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Asking “What if?” can be just a
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A friend of mine who had never serv
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8. Incubate Remember all those time
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Personally I like to sit down with
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most were probably unaware that the
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Ask What’s Good? and What If? The
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The company remembers the first tim
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MARKETING AND CREATIVITY: A PERFECT
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Where to Look for New Ideas Sometim
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248 Do Things Differently Marketing
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250 Marketing Your Consulting Servi
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252 3. Share the load. Find someone
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254 ebb’s THIRTEEN TRUTHS I intro
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256 for your clients, you will see
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258 red to connote power, or making
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260 • Research by September 10
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262 September 30-November 5 • Wor
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264 Goal: Bring in Six New Clients
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266 Now read the letters a second t
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READING LIST Beckwith, H. (1997). S
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INDEX A ABCs of marketing: descript
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your client’s, 153; marketing pla
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Learning International, 239 Learnin
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Out-of-town clients, 179-180 The Ov
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179-180; rainmaker concept of, 163-
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282 Newport News Shipbuilding, Kohl
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• Participant’s workbook Contai
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MODEL A graphic depiction of a syst
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