Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

It is difficult to clearly determine the exact point where marketing and sales split.
And this is good. If you can accept how intertwined the two processes are and how
dependent on each other they are, you will appreciate how important marketing
your business is. If you absolutely need to define the difference, I think of marketing
as focusing on many people and organizations at once; I think of sales as focusing
on only one person or organization. Marketing is a broader effort; sales is a
specifically defined, concentrated effort. Even with my definition, it is still difficult
to determine whether a particular activity is sales or marketing. Even though many
large organizations have separate sales and marketing departments, I firmly believe
that both are occurring all the time no matter what the size of your business.
To expand on this, remember that what happens both during the delivery of
services and after the sale is completely over and the consultant has cashed the
check are all marketing moments. As a consultant you are always “on” with respect
to marketing. You are marketing during delivery of services when you are
on time and under budget. You are marketing during delivery if you are honest,
ethical, and easy to work with. You are marketing after the work is completed
when you have given more than you promised or when you follow up to ensure
that progress continues. On the other hand, you are also undermining any marketing
efforts when you are rude or short with employees, when you bad-mouth
the competition, when you miss deadlines, or when you deliver shoddy work. The
point is that marketing and selling consulting services never stops. You are selling
you. And that means there is only one time to market: all the time.
MARKETING FROM DAY ONE
The most successful consultants recognized the importance of marketing and
started marketing activities long before they had their business cards printed, in
fact long before they became consultants. Actions you have probably taken since
starting your consulting practice will be helpful now as you develop a solid marketing
plan. From the start, from day one you should:
• Start a mailing list. Every person you come in contact with who has the potential
of being a client or knowing someone who could be a client should be on
this list. As the list grows, you will organize it so that you can easily print labels
for specialty mailings, for example, CEOs, personal contacts, female executives,
petroleum industry, or retail contacts.
Marketing: What’s It All About? 15