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.
