My focus is on small to medium-sized businesses (often law partnerships) and many of those don’t have internal marketing expertise. So when I contact them to ask if they have a strategic plan or an annual business/marketing plan, most of them groan. They know that they should have these key business tools in place; but [...]
Firms are filled with people so passionate about their profession that their sense of self is founded in their careers. So the last thing they want to think about is leaving their profession. Yet unless they give their eventual departure some strategic thought, they could be orchestrating a disastrous crescendo to their own career. Many [...]
Outside suppliers can be a curse or a godsend to firms: depending on how you hire and manage them. Over the years, professional services firms have learned the value of having strong in-house administrative roles. This includes a marketer or even a marketing department. Such professionals can go a long way toward assisting a firm with [...]
Business success requires evolution, and that means new strategic and marketing programs. This can be difficult to roll out in firms at the best of times – but it’s almost impossible when the first attempt was a failure. Professional services organizations exist for the delivery of a service to clients and a living to professionals. [...]
Strategic thought and logical action are within us; we just don’t always tap into them when the context is our business. If you have ever had to make a decision about your future, it’s likely you’ve considered it from three different perspectives: your goal, your ability to get there, and the impact of the goal [...]
The purpose of marketing is to fulfil the business objectives of an organization. It therefore follows that: Marketing expenses should result from marketing plans, which should be focussed on accomplishing the firm’s business objectives; and Before creating a marketing budget (and before that, a marketing plan), you need to know the firm’s business objectives. For many firms, [...]