Social Media Is Not Enough: to Maximise Your MarketAbility

By Mark Vincent and Margot de Groot

1000+ Profile-Raising and Profit-Boosting Insights for Professionals.

This book will be your essential go-to guide for attracting and retaining clients, developing your professional profile and working profitably. It gives you comprehensive checklists to:

• remind you of the vital issues you need to consider;
• alert you to potential pitfalls;
• give you key insights to Maximise your MarketAbility.

When you are working in a professional environment, it is sometimes difficult to remember what you should never forget. Social Media is not Enough has been designed to ensure this does not happen to you. You will even find templates to enable you to efficiently utilise many of the core ideas and guidance this book contains.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9780994354518

Book preview

de Groots Publishing

First published by de Groots Publishing Pty Ltd, Australia

Copyright © Mark Vincent and Margot de Groot 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

National Library of Australia

Authors: Vincent, Mark and de Groot, Margot 2016

Title: Social Media is not Enough to Maximise your MarketAbility

Cover design and typesetting: BookCoverCafe.com & Worldwide Printing Solutions

ISBN: 978-0-9943545-0-1 (pbk) 978-0-9943545-1-8 (e-bk)

To Julie, Charles and Ellen – all true professionals in all that they do.MFV

To John, an experienced professional, and Alice and Geoff who will soon begin their professional journeys.

MdeG

Foreword

Acknowledgements

About This Book

SECTION 1 - MARKETABILITY

Introduction

1 The Critical Success Factors in Marketing Yourself and Your Firm

2 Learning from the Best

3 Marketing: It’s Not Rocket Science

4 Perfecting the Ten P’s of Effective Marketing

5 Implementing the Ten Most Critical Marketing Activities

6 Avoiding the Big Mistakes and Learning from the Small Ones

SECTION 2 - CAPABILITY

Introduction

7 Moving Up: Upgrading Qualifications

8 Staying on Top of Professional Reading

9 Being First to Spot Trends and Developments

10 Keeping Ahead of the Pack by Finding New Possibilities

11 Designing a Personal Development Program

12 Making the Most of a Mentor

13 Engaging and Drawing on the Expertise of a Coach

14 Gauging the Value of Conferences and Seminars

15 Prepare to Do Business

16 Making the Most of Your Time at Conferences

17 Following Up

Key Points to Remember

SECTION 3 - CREDIBILITY

Introduction

18 On Becoming a Thought Leader

19 Taking a Topic in Hand

20 Know Your Audience

21 Structure Helps People Make Sense of Your Speech

22 Preparation Primer for Every Speech

23 Overcoming the Overwhelming

24 Humour: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

25 Ten Tips for PowerPoint Presentations

26 Speaking Out and On

27 Engaging Your Audience

28 Handling the Q&A Session

29 Getting it Right: A Ten-Point Checklist for a Speech

30 Writing Winning Articles

31 Introduce Variety to Your Articles and Blogs

32 Getting Published

33 Writing the Right Book

34 Publish or Perish

35 The Write Information at the Right Time: Writing a News Release

36 Hitting the Mark: Formatting a News Release

37 Timing the Pitch: Sending a News Release

38 Seizing a Media Opportunity

39 Averting Disaster: Avoiding the Media Ambush

40 Working the Net to Develop Your Network

41 Networking for the Professional

42 Linking In: Optimising Your Profile on LinkedIn

43 Blogging On and Up

44 Tweeting: Tweaking the Tweetersphere

45 Attracting Tweets and Tweeters

46 Utilising YouTube

Key Points to Remember

SECTION 4 - VISIBILITY

Introduction

47 Associating with Your Association

48 Networking and Connecting with Prospects

49 Conquering Shyness

50 Becoming a Conversationalist

51 Making the First Move: How to Initiate Conversation

52 Perfecting the Art of Small Talk

53 What You Need to Know about Introducing People You Know

54 Remembering Names: The Key to Social Success

55 Talking About What You Do

56 Move from Social Chat to Business Conversation

57 Making Corporate Hospitality Work

58 No Such Thing as a Free Lunch (or Dinner)

59 Singing for Your Supper

60 Navigating Business Card Etiquette

61 Distributing Your Business Cards: A Practical Guide

62 Avoiding Social Gaffes: Business Card No-Nos

Key Points to Remember

SECTION 5 - COMPATIBILITY

Introduction

63 Building Business Relationships: The Holy Grail of Increased Profitability

64 Adopting an Enthusiastic Approach to Client Relationships

65 Understanding What Makes Clients Tick

66 Impressing New Clients Before a Meeting

67 Engaging with Clients: Talking To, Not At

68 Handling New Client Meetings with Confidence

69 Reinvigorating Client Meetings

70 How Well Do You Know Your Client?

71 Building a Client’s Esteem

72 What You Need to Know About People: Personalities and Profiles

73 Appreciate Relaters

74 Acknowledge Enthusiasts

75 Be Logical with Analyticals

76 Be Efficient with Drivers

77 Rapid Rapport Building

78 Merging the Professional with the Personal: Enhancing Client Relationships

79 Consolidating Professional Relationships

80 And That’s Not All: Adding Value to Professional Relationships

81 Boosting Client Communication

82 Dangerous Liaisons: Understanding Email Protocol

83 Making the Call and Getting it Right: Telephone Protocol

84 Creating Great Expectations and Exceeding Them

85 Navigating Uncharted Waters: Averting Difficulties with Clients

86 Saving Face: Handling Criticism

87 Preventing Awkward Situations That Undermine Relationships

88 Conflict Without Tears: How to Confront People

89 The Tricky Client: Dealing with Difficult People

90 A Complaint is a Gift

91 Containing a Conflict with a Colleague

Key Points to Remember

SECTION 6 - CONTACT-ABILITY

Introduction

92 Selling is Not a Dirty Word

93 Differentiating Your Practice: Develop a Competitive Position

94 Prospecting Made Easy

95 Securing an Appointment: It’s Not Mission Impossible

96 SCOPE the Prospect’s Needs

97 SOFTEN the Sell: How to Sell Without Really Trying

98 Opportunity Knocks: Identifying Cross-Selling Opportunities

99 Building Referrals: The Bedrock of Business Growth

100 Who’s Afraid of … Asking for Referrals?

101 Making Referrals Work

102 Preferable and Referable: How to Generate Unsolicited Referrals

103 Planting the Seed for Referrals

104 Requesting Referrals: Putting Your Best Clients First

105 Follow Up Every Prospect Referred to You

106 Cautionary Tales: Ten Referral Don’ts

Key Points to Remember

SECTION 7 - PROFITABILITY

Introduction

107 Changing the Fee Mindset: Fees Are Your Business

108 Understanding the Prospect’s Attitude Towards Fees

109 Talking Brass Tacks: How to Talk to Clients About Fees

110 Handling the Hagglers: Negotiating Fee Resistance

111 Raising Your Fees Without Scaring the Horses

112 Time-Based Billing Versus Fixed or Value-Based Fees: That is the Question

113 Making Fixed and Value-Based Fees Work for You and Your Clients

114 Invoicing: The Importance of Efficiency and Discretion

115 Speeding up Debt Collection

Key Points to Remember

SECTION 8 - ACCOUNTABILITY

Introduction

116 Making Time for Marketing

117 More Delegation: More Time to Market

118 Daily Marketing Priorities

119 Weekly Marketing Priorities

120 Monthly Marketing Priorities

121 Quarterly Marketing Priorities

122 Annual Marketing Priorities

123 Ten Questions to Ask Before Preparing Your Marketing Plan

Key Points to Remember

In this work, the authors have set out a definitive guide to personal and professional brand building, describing in forensic detail what you won’t find in the social media literature. It shows how, at any age, you can take charge of marketing yourself, building your brand and standing out in a congested, competitive market place.

It recognizes social media as an indispensable component of any well-conceived contemporary strategy to build an individual or business brand, while making plain that it is not a panacea. As the authors make clear, marketing ourselves and building our professional reputations cannot be contracted out or delegated. Rather, they require a high level of self-awareness, rigour and discipline applied constantly to the moments that comprise a professional day or life. Personal brand building is, thus, an everyday lived experience to be treated with the same respect and attention as is professional knowledge and competence.

This is a book for the times when, with so much public attention afforded to social media and other aspects of digital disruption, the power of individual interaction is easily overlooked. Yet the chapters show in great depth the opportunities which exist every day and cumulatively over a career to create an impact, build trust, value and, in turn, sustaining success. It is, as is made clear, a continuous personal responsibility. Such personal responsibility extends to creating impact within your firm, in public, in your networks and,especially, with your clients. This does not happen by chance, except for the most gifted and even then it is rare. Your standing as a leading professional, an authority or thought leader requires careful and consistent nurturing over time within the context of a deliberately formed strategy

Thankfully, how these can be achieved is fully explained and accompanied by practical steps for disciplined practice. Readers, as with me, will likely recognize a litany of lost opportunities from having left our own marketing responsibilities to others or, to opportunity or serendipity.

The authors, in contrast, advocate a holistic approach with structural rigour. Leave nothing to chance either in planning or in the moment. Every meeting or function, then, is an opportunity to create lasting brand value which will accrue to those who are well prepared and mentally in the moment.

Such is the continuing relevance of the book’s insights and time-honoured advice that they will benefit women as much as men and millennials as much as baby boomers. So too, extroverts and introverts will gain in equal measure. The former, because confidence is no match for a comprehensive strategy. The latter, because marketing and self-promotion do not sit easily with their natural desire to maintain a low profile, at least as long as it falls to them to make the running.

Introverts often pay a heavy price for wanting to be the first to leave a gathering or the last to move around a group exchanging greetings and business cards. From this book the extrovert can learn how to devise a better plan; the introvert to mindfully practice the steps that promote more confident engagement. Self-interest is always a good motivator.

No busy professional today needs reminding of the intensity of competition in all disciplines and businesses and the daunting challenge to rise to the top; to be the best each can be; or to nurture and see the fulfilment of their respective natural talents. For millennial professionals these can be extremely anxious times. As Tyler Cowen illustrates in Average is Over (Dutton, 2013), with the middle class hollowing out, competition for professional success is and will be more intense than ever before. In this environment, professional competence, integrity, loyalty, collegiality and human decency combined will not, as might have been the case, be sufficient to deliver success. Against the backdrop of well researched predictions that around half of presently known jobs will soon disappear, thriving businesses and careers will fall to those who confront the future, constantly develop themselves, adapt and evolve and build distinctive brands. Millennials, in particular, have much to gain from acting on this book’s advice and adopting the many strategies that may not have formed part of their education or training.

Having built and enjoyed long and successful professional careers themselves, the authors have generously shared their hard earned wisdom acquired through deep experience, personal reflection and disciplined practice. They do so hoping to assist others to flourish in the increasingly challenged world of professional life. I am confident that, to these ends, rich rewards will be enjoyed by those who have the discipline to attentively read and follow such wise counsel.

Professor Peter Little AM

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Programs and Partnerships)

QUT

Brisbane, Australia

We have discovered that writing a book is the personification of team effort. It may begin with concepts, ideas and insights but it will never see the light of day without the help and support of many people. With that in mind we wish to acknowledge all those whose assistance has made this book possible.

We are grateful to Professor Peter Little for writing the Foreword, for providing us with many insightful observations and for his encouragement. It was Peter who, at the end of a very productive conversation, came up with the title for the book.

Dr John de Groot did what a publisher does. He kept us on track, contributed insights from his own rich and deep experience and motivated us in various ways to stay on course. His good humour and honesty have been a real asset.

Jill Shanahan has probably lost count of the number of versions of the manuscript she has produced, let alone the hundreds of minor changes that she has had to make. Processing and formatting the content for this book has been an arduous, and sometimes draining, process and Jill’s patience has been tested. Nonetheless, she has unfailingly worked with us without complaint.

Naomi Miller has helped develop the titles for all of the topics, and with an extensive background in the professional services sector,has been able to make numerous useful suggestions that have helped make the book more accessible for readers.

Maureen Walshe took on the challenge of delivering the final product, assisting the publisher and coordinating many meetings. Her good humour and willingness to calmly move things forward have helped make the final phases of the project productive and enjoyable.

Thanks is also due to Beth Trafford and Rachael Ryan for their diligence and perseverance in assisting us as we worked on the final edits of the manuscript.

There are many other people we have met over the years who have helped us develop and refine the insights presented in this book – clients, lecturers, colleagues and employers. We have not named them here but to all of them, thanks folks!

And finally we thank our spouses. Julie, thank you for giving me the time and space over many years to ‘play’ with this project. You can now stop rolling your eyes (in a very gentle and understanding way, of course) every time I mention ‘the book’. John, I appreciate all the help you have given me in this, my first major writing experience. Your guidance and belief in me have been all that I could have wished for.

Mark Vincent

Margot de Groot

Brisbane Australia

March 2016

How This Book Started

Like many things in life, this book was born as much from frustration as need. Over the years of consulting at the firm, department and even individual level; leading a law firm; and working with a professional association, we know of many professional service firms that have produced excellent marketing or business-development plans. Too many of these plans have suffered the dreadful fate of being consigned to the bottom drawer, rarely referenced let alone implemented.

What has become increasingly obvious is that the problem lies not in the design of the plan. Nor does it appear to be an issue of ownership, as most people responsible for the plans’ implementation were willing participants in the planning stages. Rather, the problem appears to stem from the professionals’ reticence to engage with the personal-marketing or relationship-marketing aspects of the plans.

We found that significant parts of the plans we had helped develop - such as networking, participation in professional and industry associations,conference presentations and speeches, and publication of articles - were frequently neglected. Furthermore, cross-selling and referral systems were rarely implemented, perhaps because their importance to business growth was never fully appreciated.

Unlike product marketing, professional services marketing relies less on advertising and promotional activities than on a professional’s ability to engage in personal marketing. We believe that the failure to implement a business-development plan is because professionals receive minimal training in the skills required to market either themselves or their firms. In essence, they lacked the confidence to implement their marketing plans because they lacked competence in the requisite skills.

Clearly, developing the business of a professional practice requires more than individual technical competency. This book aims to redress this issue and help build competence and confidence in personal marketing in clear and practical ways. Its accessible format provides over a thousand tips, tactics and techniques designed to enable anyone - from a sole practitioner to a senior partner - to acquire the necessary skills and confidence to succeed in professional services marketing.

How This Book is Different

Dozens of books have been written about marketing professional services. Most focus on the advertising and promotion of the firm, based on an assumption that marketing resources are already in place; other books present professional services marketing as a client-acquisition process with a misplaced focus on the ‘selling’ task.

Our focus is to help you, the individual practitioner, develop those personal skills that will enhance your profile within the profession, and among your prospects and clients. All the activities we suggest relate to the skill set and personal qualities that every practitioner needs in order to secure more prospects and win more clients. We are confident that, irrespective of your profession, the ideas in this book will equip you with the skills to expand your client base and, most importantly, boost your revenue stream.

How to Use This Book

The essential elements in the marketing of professional services can be summarised in eight R’s:

Responsibility

Relationships

Reputation

Recognition

Reassurance

Risk reduction

Rate

Reliability

These eight R’s are also the requisite personal qualities of a professional person and for this reason they cannot entirely abrogate the task of business development. A firm’s marketing department, for example, cannot be expected to take the total responsibility for marketing when individual practitioners must assume personal responsibility for forging relationships, developing their reputation and securing repeat business. The most desirable outcome of any professional relationship is enhanced client trust and a stronger appreciation of the value of the service the professional has provided.

Trust also stems from reputation. The stronger your reputation in your field, the greater the reassurance for the client. Reputation, value and risk reduction are also closely related. The more you reduce the risk for a client, the greater the perception of value and the more the client is prepared to pay. It is generally understood, for example, that neurosurgeons and cardiologists are able to charge higher fees than general practitioners. Why? Because the risks associated with the symptoms you might consult a medical specialist about are far greater than the risk of those symptoms you present to your GP.

It is stating the obvious to say that the rate a professional charges significantly influences the perception of value. Furthermore, the way you talk about your professional rate reflects on your reputation, and significantly influences the relationship you have with your client and their feelings of reassurance in your competency.

Therefore, of all the elements associated with the marketing of professional services, trust is the capstone. It is central to the development of your professional relationships with clients and colleagues.Lose trust with a client and you soon lose the client. Lose trust and you lose favour with others in your firm. The easiest way to lose trust is to become unreliable and so reliability is an essential component of the service you provide. It is your reliability for which clients hold you to account.

As a professional service provider, your capacity to deliver on the eight R’s is not based entirely on your innate personal qualities but also on your personal marketing abilities. The eight abilities:

Marketability: understanding the basic principles of marketing and business development by confidently developing your client base and building relationships with prospects

Capability: developing and demonstrating expertise in your practice area and simultaneously acquiring experience in one, or several, industry sectors

Credibility: demonstrating the extent of your capabilities through writing, speaking and developing a position of authority in your practice area

Visibility: becoming well known among prospective clients and staying in touch with existing clients

Compatibility: forging strong professional and personal relationships with current and past clients

Contact-ability: having the confidence to contact prospects with a view to discussing your firm’s services and expertise

Profitability: preparedness to charge, and talk confidently about, a fee commensurate with the value provided, and the expertise and experience you have acquired

Accountability: competence and skills to plan, organise, and implement marketing activities effectively and, as a leader, to hold yourself and others accountable.

The relationship between these eight abilities and the eight R’s of personal marketing in the professional services sector can be seen in the table below.

The Eight Abilities and Eight R’s for Personal Marketing

The specific components of each of these eight abilities are detailed in the following diagram (figure 1).

Figure 1. The Eight Abilities in Personal Marketing in the Professional Services Sector

How This Book Can Work for You

By working with, and talking to, hundreds of professionals across a wide range of service sectors over the past 20 years, we have identified the most common gaps in professionals’ knowledge and proficiency levels in services marketing.

Our research shows that the ten areas in which professionals wish to develop greater proficiency are, in priority order:

Developing a more positive attitude when talking to clients about fees

Discussing business opportunities with people in social settings

Determining a client’s attitude towards fees

Structuring and writing articles and blogs and using social media effectively

Introducing themselves and conveying to people succinctly and clearly their profession and the type of work they do - preferably within 30 seconds

Asking clients, and referrers, for more business

Identifying and targeting individual organisations (and the right people working within them) that could be worthwhile prospects

Handling fee resistance

Identifying and understanding the trends and developments in the practice or business sector in which their practice is focused

Determining new industry or consultancy sectors to target.

In this book we share more than one thousand tips, techniques, templates and tactics to help you develop competencies in these areas. These resources are designed to be practical and are drawn from our own, sometimes bitter, experience. Be assured, we also apply them to our own business practices.

We hope this book helps in other ways. Most important among our hopes is that your perceptions about marketing in general will change and you come to understand that marketing is no more about advertising than it is about random acts of lunch. We encourage you to take the systematic approaches to marketing we have outlined in this book, and incorporate them into your everyday practice.

In developing competence in a greater range of marketing activities, your confidence should also increase. Eventually, some of the marketing activities we suggest will seem like second nature, and the structured approach you take to marketing will begin to differentiate you from your competitors. If you already have a structured approach to marketing, the advice contained in this book should help you hone your skills further and become even more organised.

Some Practical Pointers

The topics are covered sequentially as a primer, with a view to eliciting interest and application for professionals in any field. While some might prefer to read the sections in sequence, we encourage you to dip into those topics of most interest to you.

At the back of the book, we have provided a template that relates to the eight abilities. Completing this template could be an important first step for those who prefer to determine which aspects of marketing need to be developed first. Others might prefer to work on the sections most relevant to their professional development needs.

Figure 8. Marketing Plan Pro Forma (continued)">Whichever way you choose to use the book, we trust that you find the content of real value to your understanding and practice of professional services marketing. We also encourage you to share your comments, suggestions and experiences, which can be sent to [e-mail] or [e-mail].

We use the term ‘marketability’ to define the attitudes, values and philosophies that set extraordinary marketers apart from pedestrian ones. Marketing is personal, especially when it comes to marketing professional services. Marketing begins with you knowing your clients intimately, and striving to develop a strong personal and professional relationship with each of them. Ultimately, the relationship should evolve into a partnership, where both parties have a strong sense that the relationship is of mutual benefit. Clients trust you for your advice and, over the years during which the relationship grows and develops, they should increasingly see you as the first port of call when support, wise counsel or direction is required.

Marketing, therefore, is not an adjunct to your role. Marketing is your role. Every interaction you have with a client must leave them feeling better about themselves, convinced that choosing you as their advisor was the best thing they ever did, and knowing that you provide excellent value. Above all, your dealings with clients must lead to ever-increasing levels of trust.

Trust requires that you are authentic and therefore you have to be transparent in your dealings. This requires that you are very aware of your personal values: the philosophy and principles that drive you and underpin your approach to business development.

The most effective marketers are not always extroverts or people with a great sense of humour. They are people who are most often described as ‘genuine’. They listen. They have a strong interest in people and care deeply about the individuals they deal with. They recognise that business-development processes start with an