Definition Consulting

Q.I know clients have recommended us to other businesses. Why haven’t they called?

A.

Some websites do more harm than good. If yours fails to paint a confident, accurate picture of what you do and how well you do it, it will deter potentially suitable clients from calling. This means that, in an age when one’s first reaction to even the strongest recommendation is to look at the supplier’s website, many a promising referral falls on stony ground.

Q.We’re good at what we do. Do we really have to worry about ‘image’ as well?

A.

I was asked this question by one of my first legal clients during my first month in business on my own account, and have been asked it many times since. The answer, of course, is yes – because you have an image, whether you like it or not. The only legitimate question is, to what extent does that image accurately reflect what you are? In other words, does your positioning, match your process?

Q.Where should we draw the line with ‘value adding’ services?

A.

I feel that it’s not so much ‘where’, as ‘when’ that is important. Added value services – training days, secondments, free consultations – should only ever be offered as part of an on-going contract (however formal or informal) which should be subject to periodic review. At that review, you should be in a position to quantify the value adding services provided, put a value on them and express to what extent you think the arrangement is working out for both sides. If your client doesn’t know the true value of the overall package, your value adding services will inevitably be taken for granted, and more expected.

Q.How come lesser competitors keep beating us in industry awards?

A.

Probably because the judges find your competitors’ submissions easier to understand and absorb, with relevance to the award criteria clearly explained. Most industry awards tell you what they are looking for. In effect, they ask very specific questions. If you don’t answer them in full and in the format required, you risk scuppering your chances from the outset.

Also see  Tenders and industry awards.

Q.Where do our rivals find the time to do such mammoth new business pitches?

A.

They either make the time or pay someone else (like me) to do it for them. Either way, part of the ‘test’ the potential client is setting is whether you want the business enough to devote the resources to winning it. This is particularly true of formal invitations to tender and of the better industry award submissions.

Also see Tenders and industry awards.

Q.We have no extra marketing money. How can we get more new business?

A.

You don’t need more money to talk, to put a few bullet points down on headed paper or, if it’s set up properly, to alter the text of your website. But what are you saying that’s proving so unattractive? Where, and how, are you saying it, that it generates so little response?

True, if you had the money, fancy graphics and a few smart headlines will help to get you noticed. But they should come after basic moves to maximise your appeal and highlight how good you are. And those moves depend upon looking at what your clients value, how you provide it and how you communicate it.

Also see Marketing professional services.

Q.Our competitors do pretty much the same thing as us. Is it realistic to hunt for ‘differentiators’ and USPs?

A.

Yes. Like you, competitors have good experience and expertise: they know what they are doing. But the way they do things, the issues that make some clients loyal to you and not to them (and vice versa) will be different – they’re just hard to articulate. Looking at your positioning and process reveals your differentiators and a raft of ways in which you can both enhance your services and how you talk about them. This means that all of your communications can highlight what makes you special, maximising your new business opportunities and increasing the loyalty of your existing clients.