Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

Where to Get the Scoop
Where can you find information about your competitors? First check out their
own advertising. The junk mail that appears in your mailbox is valuable. It’s a marketing
research gift. Also check out the journals from industries they serve. You
may find ads or articles written by them. Check the Internet, of course, and also
make friends of your local librarians. They can direct you to resources you may
not have known existed.
When you attend conferences, listen to your competitors’ speeches. If they participate
in a trade show, visit their booth and talk to their sales reps. Check the
newspapers for press releases and news stories. Can you obtain additional information
from former employees, customers, suppliers, other competitors, or your
employees? Each of these has very different levels of reliability and you need to
consider that fact. Remember that every bit of information will help.
Luick tip . . .
Know your competition. Read the direct mail pieces from your
competition. Visit their booths at trade shows. Attend their presentations
at conferences. Read their ads and articles in your trade journal.
Assessing Beyond Your Immediate Competitors
Okay, so you’ve dug up all the dirt on your competitors that you can, but you know
there must be some data about consulting in general that is available to include in
your assessment. Where can you find it?
Your market analysis will be more beneficial if you can quote general statistics
about consulting, your consulting specialty, or the industry you have chosen. This
will help you determine how distinctive or similar you are compared with other
consulting firms. You may find some of this data in industry journals or on the Internet.
Training magazine and the American Society for Training and Development
conduct research each year that might provide data for some of you. Kennedy Publishing
is another good source for data about consulting firms.
External Assessment: How Do Your Competitors and Clients Stack Up? 41