Latest posts
How to Eliminate the Pain of CRM in Your Firm
Recently, I was in a meeting of senior accounting marketers. As we were discussing challenges, ALL were bemoaning the use of—or the lack of the use of—their firm’s CRM system. I heard complaints like: “It’s like pulling teeth to get our partners to use it. “ “It’s too...
When Your Market Shifts and Kills Your Strategy
How do you know when your market is shifting? It is a fundamental question that should be asked in most firms much more often than it is. Signs that your market is shifting include slowing sales, a remix of your service revenue, declining profitability, changing buyer...
A Marketing Manifesto
For four weeks, I have the pleasure of being in Rochelle Moulton’s inaugural Instant Authority program with a group of talented professionals from firms big and small. The goal of the group is to parlay our talents, experiences, and point of view into a one-of-a-kind...
What Can You Learn When You Follow Clients Home?
What does the voice of the client look like? I recently spoke to a former researcher for Leo Burnett about voice of the client. She was describing her passion for getting to know her clients’ customers and their ideas through focus groups and one-on-one conversations....
What is Marketing’s Role?: 2 Schools of Thought on Professional Services Marketing
What is Marketing's Role in Your Firm? Every year about this time cyclists ramp up an enduring argument. If you are a cyclist, you know where I am going; it's the great base-building debate. There are two schools of thought. The first is traditional, laid back and...
The Black Eye
Last weekend, I cross-trained on the hockey rink with my bicycling buddies. After nearly two hours of play, I got tangled up with an opponent and went down. While I was relieved to not need dental work or stitches, I was bloody and bruised. My wife was horrified to...
The State of Professional Services Marketing 2015 Research Study
Are the top firms growing because of a strategic marketing approach or in spite of it? Prudent Pedal is conducting research to identify the practices of professional service firms that have developed a superior, strategic marketing approach to drive growth. We...
The Roles You Need on Your Marketing Team
Professional services marketers fight hard to achieve their titles. Newbies start out as coordinators, move to managers, if they prove themselves, become directors, if they stick around long enough, and often become CMOs when they jump ship and negotiate the title...
Tell Me a (Marketing) Story
I am astounded at how asinine marketing stories can be, particularly in the consumer world. The latest marketing story to catch my ire is the Lincoln commercial with Oscar winner, Matthew McConaughey. The commercials have McConaughey riding around in a Lincoln product...
Are Your Firm’s Values Any Different Than the Local Dry Cleaner’s?
When I shop at Target, eat at McDonald's, buy a new bike at a local bike shop or even get my shoes shined, I expect the people I interact with to have integrity, provide great service, give me a quality product and be accountable for delivering what the company has...
Love and Prospecting
I never take brochures or PowerPoint decks when I meet with firm leaders at prospective clients. Instead, I take two things: a legal pad for taking notes and a book that I leave behind at the close of meetings. The book is not a self-promotional diatribe or even a...
Identifying Your Focus
Identifying your firm's focus is critical to long-term growth. The most successful firms are clear about who they are, whom they serve, and what value they deliver. An example of leadership, ingenuity, and selfless collaboration In the movie Apollo 13, after the crew...