But wait a minute. Let’s put this in historical context. Professional services marketing hasn’t been around very long, only slightly more than 30 years. The critical date is 1977, which is when an Arizona court gave law firms the right to advertise. What was professional services marketing before that time?  Think male partners on golf courses and you won’t be far off the mark.

Ironically, given the green light, much of the legal profession did absolutely nothing. Some plaintiffs firms, such as Jacoby & Meyers, initiated ad campaigns aimed at individuals, but that was about it. The big defense firms hardly noticed. In fact, around 1990 a friend of ours was hired as director of marketing by a good-sized NY firm. We asked her how it was going after she’d been on the job for six months, and she said: “It’s getting better. They just allowed me to pick the firm Christmas card.” She soon left, not surprisingly.

In my opinion, the profession that “got it” in terms of recognizing and seizing the marketing opportunity was accounting. The Big Eight (yes, Virginia, there was such a thing) seemed simultaneously to jump on the bandwagon and begin talking “targeting” and churning out brochures, ads and other collateral. Arthur Young even produced a best-selling tax guide that is published today with its merger partner Ernst & Ernst. Our clients at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells were so proficient with brochures that some people thought they were a publishing company. There were also more than a few humorous moments when the accounting culture clashed with the strategies of the consumer packaged goods wizards who had been recruited to spearhead their marketing efforts.

But the accounting firms moved the marketing ball forward, and eventually other professions followed: management consulting, executive search, actuarial science and, finally, the lawyers. With marketing came price competition that grew steadily cut-throat. Mark Stevens even wrote a seminal book on The Accounting Wars. Professionals found that their technical skills were no longer enough to guarantee employment. They were now (gasp) also expected to sell.

Perhaps the first person to grasp the long-term implications of that trend was Ford Harding, the former marketing director of a relocation consulting firm. He established his own consultancy, Harding & Company, in the early 90’s with one goal in mind: to teach service professionals how to sell. To market his firm, Ford authored three terrific books that I recommend to anyone in this business: Rainmaking, Creating Rainmakers and Cross-Selling Success. His business has been an unqualified success.

That’s a quick summary of the genesis of professional services marketing. Were you involved in it during the ‘80s or ‘90s?  What do you remember about “the early days?”

To reach John:

Phone:  212.840.0444 
Email: john@blisspr.com
LinkedIn:  John Bliss

When I asked him how he markets his firm, he said, “I run a boutique investment bank. Clients come here for two reasons. First, they have a connection, a preexisting relationship with someone at the firm or someone who has been a client, and they see us as a firm they want representing them. Second, they are open to using a boutique instead of a big bank, because of the ‘care’ factor, the quality of the work, and the absence of conflicts.” In other words, if they don’t already know him or his firm, and if they don’t already have a predisposition to working with a boutique, then they may well not bother, and that’s fine with him.   

His comment reminded me that in many cases, services – professional services and financial services alike – are reasonably indistinguishable if seen from the outside. As my colleague and mentor John Bliss has said, “Companies that buy a service are looking for one thing – a predictable outcome.” An error-free audit from a CPA firm, a successful trial from a law firm, a brilliant candidate from an executive search firm. Or, from my friend’s firm, a strategic and profitable merger.

Because services are delivered by people, they don’t offer the predictability of products. That makes experience the key to the buying decision. And, in my opinion, thought leadership – writing, talking, speaking, blogging about the person’s area of expertise in stories, examples and observations – is the best way to communicate the individual’s expertise, as well as his or her care factor. 

Monday, Gartner issued a press release titled: “Once the reserve of Large Consultancy Firms, Thought Leadership Is Rapidly Becoming an Established Field Within Marketing.” In the report,  Gartner stated that:

“An organized discipline of Thought Leadership Marketing (what they short-hand “TLM”) is only now emerging, allowing marketers to use this as a manageable tool to drive business. Gartner defines TLM as the giving — for free or at a nominal charge — of information or advice that a client will value so as to create awareness of the outcome that a company’s product or service can deliver, in order to position and differentiate that offering and stimulate demand for it.” (emphasis mine) 

“Its essence is to show, rather than tell what a company can do, and to do so in a way that positions and differentiates that company’s offering for the chosen target audience.” 

In my opinion, thought leadership for professional and financial service firms – as opposed to IT companies –  is less about differentiating and educating, and more about showcasing wisdom and reassuring the target that the desired outcomes are likely. 

In fact, very few service companies – only those who are investing a new category, or introducing a new methodology or tool – need to spend a ton of time educating. Most of us know what search firms and law firms and investment banks do. But in the trifecta of B2B service marketing – the brand, the service and the people – it’s the people, and their wisdom, who need to be front and center. They don’t need a “unique selling proposition” – they need to communicate what they know, demonstrate how much they care, and, by implication, how reliable their outcomes are. 

Do you agree? What firms do this well in your opinion? Can your firm better showcase its wisdom without becoming pedantic?

To reach Abby:

Phone: 212.840.0088
Email: abby@blisspr.com
Twitter: @abbycarr
LinkedIn: Abby Carr

Sure. But if you assign an ROI figure to “fun” then our web team actually turned a small profit in the last quarter.

Of the top 10 accounting firms, most are actually using social media tools such as Twitter and FaceBook.  Recruitment is their main focus and very few have a presence in the blogosphere. While attracting talent is a far cry from blogging about IFRS vs. GAAP, it is still a commendable step forward for these accounting and tax heavyweights. Next, these firms need to connect their new social media outposts back to the thought leadership on their websites and raise their overall level of engagement.

Individuals vs. Firms

Social media is all about engagement and the individual. Since CPAs don’t meet the typical blogger profile, many accounting firms feel more comfortable driving social media from the HR function. But It is important that they also focus on emerging thought leaders as part of their social media strategy, including connecting them to recruiting efforts.

Regulatory Concerns

Accounting firms must keep abreast of regulatory and complicated tax law changes on behalf of their clients.  Regulatory considerations, in particular, can give pause when social media campaigns are in the planning stage and they should not be ignored. However, accountants also have a vast repertoire of knowledge that can be shared. They are adept at understanding and commenting on complex IRS and SEC communications for clients. Social media tools allow them to break down knowledge into even smaller, digestible pieces and share them with wider audiences.

Put Why Before How

Tools that accounting and other professional services firms can evaluate before starting blogs or Twitter feeds include wikis, forums, blogger comments, RSS feeds, Digg communities, and/or SlideShare. As with any marketing or PR tactics, the key is first agreeing upon and understanding your firm’s strategy. The tools come last. Or as social media strategist Jason Baer of Convince and Convert said in a summer webinar “put the why before the how.” 

The accounting profession is beginning to turn towards social media. The CPA Leadership Institute had a webinar yesterday entitled: Embracing Social Media. The premise was “understand how to connect with others, market your firm, and recruit using social networking.” It marked the third webcast on this topic.

Do you think accounting firms should be practicing social media? Would you follow your accountant on Twitter? Why or why not?

(photo by Noise to Signal )

To reach Cortney:

Phone: 212.840.1661
Email: cortney@blisspr.com
Twitter: @cortneyr
LinkedIn: Cortney Rhoads Stapleton

This Monday our weekly Top Line News Summary highlights three different sectors: banking, healthcare, and the markets.  Last week we covered bankruptcy, real estate and retail – more to come next week from our primary sectors.  To sign up to receive these posts regularly, click here.  

Without further ado, look for these topics to make the news this week:

Banking: With the Fed issuing a new rule that will require banks to get customer consent before they charge overdraft fees and Congress looking to draft legislation in the coming months on just this topic, it’s opportune timing that U.S. banks are easing how much they charge their customers in overdraft fees.  A new study from Moebs Services Inc. found that during the last 5 months, U.S. banks raised their standard overdraft fees at the slowest rate in 17 years, which is good news for those customers struggling in the wake of the recession.

Healthcare:  President Obama’s healthcare reform bill finally landed on the Senate floor.  Expect more news in the coming weeks as Democratic and Republican leaders debate major issues – the public option being one of them.  To read more: please click here.

Markets: There’s a lot of action in the markets today with home sales numbers released and soaring commodities and gold prices.  October home sales were up 10.1%, beating expectations.  The Dow gained more than 100 points and other stock indexes leapt as commodities prices soared amid dollar weakness.  Gold jumped to fresh record highs as metals prices rallied, defying underlying fundamentals as the unprecedented weight of investment money helped lift the markets to fresh 2009 highs.

What will YOU be looking out for in business news this week?

(Photo by JWorld)

To reach Karlsson:

Phone: 212.584.5485
Email: karlsson@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kbanks
LinkedIn: Karlsson Banks

In fact, even mainstream media has its own news to report. Lowered advertising revenues, online competition and substantial changes in consumer reading habits have wounded the media industry, causing massive layoffs and, in some cases, notable restructurings.

 In the mist of such turbulence, reporters have more and more information to cover in less and less time. The pressure to deliver timely and interesting stories has increased exponentially. Social media and user-created content tools (YouTube, Twitter, etc.) provide a medium for anyone, anywhere to report the news, which means traditional reporters literally have minutes to break a story and then just hours to follow up with a more in-depth feature article.

What does this mean for b2b public relations professionals? You must have a breaking news strategy. Here are five steps to capitalize on breaking news. 

• Read the news. It sounds so simple, but many public relations professionals do not read the news. You must read news that is relevant to your clients.  The only way to determine if relevant news is breaking is to follow the beat on a daily basis. One good way to stay on top of breaking stories is to identify a few relevant publications and then set up email alerts with those outlets.

• Know what your clients can handle. If you think that a breaking news platform makes sense for your PR program, it’s important to have a candid conversation upfront about expectations, time commitment and topics that they can cover with insight and confidence.   Breaking news is fast and unexpected, so spokespeople have to understand that they may have to drop everything to do a last minute interview. It helps to identify a team of experts so that the burden is not placed on just one person.  

• Know your experts cold. You should be able to read a headline and know right away if your client can add to the conversation and who the best expert would be to cover the topic. If you have a team of experts, it is a good idea to identify loosely which experts will handle different topics that are likely to arise.  For example, the Retail and Consumer Product Practice at BDO Seidman has five practice experts who cover general retail news but, individually, each is also expert on a specific topic area, such as product recalls, supply chain, inventory management, bankruptcy, sustainability and consumer sentiment.   

• Be helpful, not “pitchy.” Breaking news is not the time to “pitch” a reporter. If you want to be helpful all you need to do is identify the news, state what your expert can offer, include credentials and move on. If your expert is qualified and a good fit, the reporter will let you know right away.

• Close the deal. Once you have successfully teed up your expert and the reporter wants an interview, the clock starts ticking to make the connection happen. Get your expert on the phone as soon as possible in order to brief them, provide any guidance and/or research and schedule the interview. If you are late responding to the reporter, you will likely lose the opportunity.

These five steps will help you to secure breaking news opportunities and position your experts as thought leaders. For public relations practitioners, breaking news is an excellent way to build meaningful working relationships with the media because you will provide them information that they need, when they need it.

To reach Paige:
Phone: 212.840.1677
Email: paige@blisspr.com
Twitter: @paigeholden

 (photo by JWorld)