When it comes to marketing and selling professional services, there’s no doubt that it is significantly different than marketing and selling products. Different dynamics are at play. Thinking otherwise will only lead to wasted time and money—not new clients.

The obvious difference is what you’re selling. You’re selling yourself and your expertise. Many may have the same expertise as you, which means you must do something that makes you stand out from that crowd. One way to do that is to give prospects and leads a taste of what it’s like to work with you. Give them an opportunity to experience working with you, says Anne Scarlett in her article, You Built the Relationship, Now Do This to Close the Deal.

When you finally get to interview with prospects—after weeks, sometimes months, developing the relationship—make the meeting interactive and facilitative, Scarlett says.

Advertising is another area that requires a different approach, says Bruce Marcus in his article, What Works and What Doesn’t in Advertising. Creating ads is more complex than you think, and creating them for professional services is even more challenging. But if you follow certain rules, you can help establish your brand and make sure you’re top of mind when people have a need for your services.

If you choose to market your services at an event or conference, additional guidelines apply. You can’t simply set up a booth and be done with it, says Sharon Berman in her article, Dos and Don’ts for Event Marketing. Work begins as soon as you commit to participating at a show and doesn’t end until well after the event ends. Start early to spread the word about the show, decide how to best work the show, and plan your post-show strategy. Doing so will ensure that you investment pays off many times over.

One thing that is the same with B2B service firms and B2C product companies is the fact that a company’s culture can determine its success, as Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh discusses in his podcast interview, Employee Happiness Key to Driving Profit and Growth. Hsieh further says that if employees are happy, they will deliver great customer and client service which in turn will lead to greater referrals and sales.

Hsieh dispels the long-standing belief that companies can either be profitable or provide good customer service. They can do both. In fact, he says businesses that don’t focus on profits end up being more profitable in the long run.

Missed Sales Opportunities

When firms miss sales opportunities, it’s often due to flaws in their sales culture, writes Mike Schultz in his recent blog post, The Culture That Drives Cross-selling and Up-selling. Specifically, they’re missing opportunities with current clients—not pursuing cross-selling or up-selling opportunities.

According to research by Aberdeen Group, best-in-class firms do this well while laggard firms end up repeating the problems and wondering why they keep missing out. It’s imperative, therefore, that those firms must better train staff on how to understand clients’ challenges and how to match services to those challenges.

With so many tactics to choose from to generate leads, and so little time to decide (if you don’t want to lose prospects to faster-moving competitors), how can you create conversations with the most qualified buyers for your services?

You can speak at conferences or seminars. Take advantage of the many PR opportunities available. Or you can cold call, send direct mail pieces, set up affiliate or referral programs—the list goes on.

Not knowing which tactic to choose and what to expect from your lead generation efforts can be a service provider’s worst nightmare. You have to zero in on what’s going to make the biggest splash in your pool of prospects. But how do you know?

Over the course of 2010, Wellesley Hills Group has conducted research from over 800 professional services providers; they’ve told us what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how they plan to generate leads in the future.

Join us on June 15 as Mike Schultz will be sharing findings from Wellesley Hills Group’s yet to be released What’s Working in Lead Generation 2010 report.

You will learn the answers to those sticky questions such as:

• How can I fill the front end of the pipeline with qualified prospects that will buy?
• Which tactics look good, but don’t work well for lead generation?
• How does lead generation work with other marketing and business development activities?
• Which tactics will work for my firm, given the dynamics of what I sell?
• What are the keys to developing a culture that supports ongoing lead generation success?

When: June 15, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (continental breakfast and networking begin at 7:30 a.m.)

Where: Newton Marriott – 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, MA 02466

All attendees will receive a complimentary executive summary to the What’s Working in Lead Generation 2010 benchmark report.

Register for Lead Generation Success for Professional Services>>>

If prospects don't trust you, they won't buy from you (Photo by davedufour)

Are you concerned about converting leads into sales? You’re not alone. According to a poll by InTouch, lead conversion is the number one lead generation challenge for B2B firms.

One reason why that conversion is so challenging is that those buyers don’t yet trust you. You must prove your trustworthiness. And sometimes you might use tactics that you think are good when they’re actually hurting you, says Michael Maslansky, author of The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics, in his podcast interview, You Might Be a Trust Killer—and Not Even Know It.

“The subtler versions of lying, cheating, and stealing are what get people into trouble, such as claiming your service is perfect,” he says. “You will lose trust because we as people don’t believe anything is perfect today.”

You also want to keep in mind the “personal principle,” Maslansky says. Remember, it’s not about you; it’s about them—your buyers. Avoid talking just about your services and your firm and focus on your prospects’ needs and concerns.

Your expertise can also help develop trust and make you the go-to person in your field, says Vickie K. Sullivan in her article, Become a Must-Have Expert Everyone Wants to Work With. Buyers use three filters when deciding whether to buy your services: if your expertise will help them with the problem at hand, how readily available your expertise and skills are (do you know something they don’t?), and do they agree with your approach and the way you think.

When you tap into those three things, “not only will we get attention, but we will get the incoming emails and calls, too,” Sullivan says.

Lead Generation Tactics

Before you can convert those leads, you must first find them. You could use cold calling, but if the thought of doing that makes you shiver, there are many other tactics you can use, explains Kendra Lee in her article, Cold Calling Alternatives that Drive in Leads. Ideas include email campaigns, online events, social media, press releases, and conference exhibits.

“Some people love cold calling. But if you aren’t one of those people, relax, breathe a deep sigh of relief and change your prospecting strategy,” Lee says. “Not only will you build your pipeline, but you’ll also create awareness for yourself and your company through consistent exposure.”

If you decide to exhibit at conferences or trade shows, Sharon Berman has some excellent advice in her article, Bright Lights, Booth Babes, or Swag: How to Create the Best Conference Exhibit. In the first article of this two-part series, Berman focuses on the initial research to make your investment worthwhile. She also addresses what makes a magnetic booth that draws prospects to you and how to take advantage of the conference resources available to you.

Conference exhibits is a channel not many professional services firms pursue (or if they do, they don’t execute them well) and yet the lead potential is big. The key is understanding what makes an exhibit work and putting in the effort to make it succeed.

“If you haven’t seriously considered exhibiting before, it may be a tactic to add to your marketing arsenal,” Berman says. “Remember that any tactic is most successful when it is seamlessly integrated into a firm’s overall marketing strategy and viewed as a long-term investment.”

Some professional services providers are so enamored of shiny new marketing tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn that they completely overlook a proven tool for generating leads and educating prospects for a complex purchase.

Now, I’m a big fan of social media. I’m also a big fan of trying new and different approaches. But I’m an even bigger fan of using the tactics that generate results to grow a business.

What if I told you I know from first-hand experience this “weapon” is being used right now, today, by accounting, law, IT services, and consulting firms to generate qualified leads and new business?

You’d probably be interested to know more, right?

But what if I told you it is the humble short (one- or two-hour) in-person seminar? Would you shrug your shoulders and say, “Oh, seminars? Boring.” Or, maybe, “Sounds like too much work.” Or, “No way that will create business for my firm.”

Maybe you’d change your mind if you learned in-person seminars could bring in an additional five-figure client or two or more. Or, add 5, 25, 50, or more highly qualified leads to your pipeline. Would you want to learn how this tactic might work for your firm?

It might be worth learning about, right?

Research has shown that in-person seminars are one of the top ways buyers of professional services learn about providers—preceded only by referrals and personal recognition. In fact, 66% of buyers indicated they initially learn about providers through in-person seminars. And if your target market includes large companies, it’s worth noting that these targets are more likely than smaller companies to identify providers through seminars.

Of course, this approach won’t work for all B2B firms. To make an in-person seminar work for your firm, you need to satisfy some basic criteria, including:

• a significant base of prospects in a geographic area
• a target audience that will attend a seminar
• something valuable to share
• someone to deliver
• marketing support

Take a look at the brief video below to learn a bit more about what it takes to be successful delivering an in-person seminar. At the end, there’s also a short case study about an accounting firm that has added seminars to its marketing mix with great success. (The video is a preview for RainToday’s seminar planning kit, but it’s worth watching even if you’re not interested in getting the kit.)

The in-person seminar just might be the right lead generation weapon for your firm.

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As the purveyors of excellent content on marketing and sales for professional services, we here at RainToday attend many events and see a lot of presentations—both live and online. Over the years I’ve seen some really great presentations, and others that have downright put me to sleep.

RainToday Publisher Mike Schultz recently took the stage at the ICCA Congress & Exhibition in Florence, Italy

What do the most successful presenters do differently? And what can you do to keep your next audience from falling asleep? Here are eight presentation tips that are sure to improve your skills and get you delivering powerful presentations like the pros in no time.

8 Presentation Tips

Tip #1: Give examples and tell stories. Nothing brings a presentation to life more than stories. Stories demonstrate to the listener how he can take the information you are sharing and apply it to real life scenarios. Stories inspire. What’s more, your attendees are much more likely to remember a story than a 10-step process.

Tip #2: Keep the audience engaged. No one wants to attend a presentation and listen to a talking head for 60 minutes. Boooring! Engage the audience by asking questions. To get the juices flowing at the beginning of your presentation, ask the audience a poll question and rather than having them raise their hand, ask them to stand up. This will energize them and you.

Tip #3: Keep the mood light. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Be professional, yes, but also keep the feeling light. Insert humor. Consider sharing a YouTube video. Pick on an audience member (gently). Pick on yourself.

Tip #4: Practice, practice, practice. You should know your presentation inside out. Nothing puts an audience to sleep faster than someone standing up and reading from his PowerPoint slides. You should know your presentation well enough that if your computer broke the presentation could go on. Or, as some very high profile keynote speakers do, don’t use PowerPoint or a computer at all.

Tip #5: Bring the energy. In live presentations, you feed off the energy from the audience. Online presentations are quite a bit more difficult, as you cannot see how your audience is reacting to you and your presentation. If you are doing a lot of online presentations, consider having an audience in the room with you when you deliver. This will help keep your energy level high.

Tip #6: Use your body. No one likes to watch a stiff person stand anchored behind a podium, nor do they like to watch someone pacing back and forth on the stage. Especially if you are nervous, there is a tendency to either use the podium as a crutch or become fidgety. Be aware of this and use your body language and motions to emphasize your points. Use hand gestures when you speak. Use inflections in your voice to make points stronger. But don’t overdo it.

Tip #7: Slow down. Even when you think you are talking slower than molasses in January, chances are you’re talking too fast. We all speed up when we are nervous and, frequently, let our voices trail off at the end of sentences. Keep a slow pace. Trust me, you are going much faster than you think. If you have a trusted partner in the audience ask him to give you signs if you need to slow down or speed up.

Tip #8: Record yourself. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and your presentation style from watching a recording of yourself. When you watch the recording, see how you do on the other seven tips. You may be surprised at all the areas for improvement you uncover.

Follow these presentation tips and you’ll be giving keynotes like the pros in no time at all.

For more presentations tips along with presentation habits to avoid, don’t miss RainToday’s upcoming webinar with Tim Wackel on January 19, Become a Polished Presenter: Keys to Delivering Powerful Presentations.

In-person seminars, presentations, and seminars help you nurture prospects and close new business.

Are you investing resources in running in-person seminars, presentations, and webinars to nurture prospects and close new business? Congratulations, you’re on the right track! Benchmark research conducted by RainToday (How Clients Buy 2009 Benchmark Report on Professional Services Marketing & Selling from the Client Perspective) shows buyers of professional services use in-person seminars (66%), presentations at a conference or event (62%), and webinars (45%) to initially identify and learn more about service providers.

But which marketing approaches should you use to reach prospects to let them know about these events? As it turns out, buyers learn about in-person seminars and presentations in relatively similar ways. Direct mail tops the list, with roughly three-quarters of buyers learning of seminars and presentations via an invitation or brochure they receive in the mail. The majority of buyers who attend these events also learn about them from a colleague or via an email sent directly to them from the service provider.

Buyers learn about webinars differently: three-quarters of buyers learn of these events from an email sent by the service provider, the most common publicity method. Roughly 42-44% of buyers also learn of webinars from a colleague or via direct mail from the provider.

Paid advertising—whether in print or online—fell near the bottom of the list. Not surprising.

Source: How Clients Buy 2009 Benchmark Report on Professional Services Marketing & Selling from the Client Perspective

If you use in-person seminars, presentations at events, or webinars in your services marketing plan, which outreach methods best work for you?