Professional Services Marketing: How the Best Firms Build Premier Brands, Thriving Lead Generation Engines, and Cultures of Business Development Success

Praise for Professional Services Marketing “This book is that rare thing: simultaneously wise, practical, readily accessible, and data-driven. A necessary addition to your reading.”
—David Maister, author of Managing the Professional Service Firm “Professional Services Marketing will certainly become the bible of the field in short order! Without a doubt, the most useful compendium of marketing insight for the practicing professional services firm executive…BRAVO!”
—Leonard

List Price: $ 27.95

Price:

US $9.95 End Date: Tuesday May-22-2012 10:36:33 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $9.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $30.25 End Date: Tuesday May-22-2012 10:36:38 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $30.25 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Essentials of Business Development P520 – 6 Video Set {By Regis University School for Prfoessional Studies Online MBA Program}

*** STATISTICS – TAPES B, C, D, E, F, G ***

Price:

US $11.40 End Date: Tuesday May-22-2012 10:34:53 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $11.40 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $56.50 End Date: Tuesday May-22-2012 10:35:16 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $56.50 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Related Business Development Products

by mars_discovery_district

IMG_4576

Image by Charles Mok
Anson Chan at The Business Forum, Constitutional Development Series, organized by The Professional Commons and HKDF, Sept 4, 2007, with herself and David Akers-Jones

Are you thinking it might be time to consider getting a marketing and / or business consultant, such as someone specialised in business development to help you with your small business? Here are five reasons why this is a great idea to do it as soon as you can:

1. You can gain fresh and new perspective.

2. A consultant has diversified business experience…and valuable contacts.

3. Shop a la carte, instead of paying enormous fees for things you don’t want.

4. Get results; measurable results.

5. Do things your way with controlled growth.

Let’s look at these areas a bit closer:

Perspective:

Hiring a consultant can bring a fresh perspective. Business owners and executives who look at the same business model day in and day out may not see things that an external business person can see in terms of potential and in terms of deficiencies. A consultation can reveal a lot that you haven’t closely considered.

Business Experience:

A consultant brings a lot of diversified business expertise to the table. Perhaps you’re really great at a particular set of strengths related to your business or your industry. A consultant brings fresh perspective, yes, but they also bring to you a proven track record of helping businesses like yours. A consultant has networking contacts that can help you in various ways and has probably seen struggles similar to the ones you are having.

A la Carte Pricing:

A small and / or struggling enterprise can benefit from hiring a consultant because instead of hiring a full-time person who may or may not deliver (but who will definitely want to have full time pay and employee benefits). When you hire a consultancy firm to assist you with business development you can establish a budget and contract. Some even offer pay for results pricing to minimise your risk.

Measurable Results:

A marketing and constancy firm can demonstrate where they’re succeeding. They should have metrics so you can see just what you are paying for. These results can help you strategise for the future and decide which services you’d like to continue to invest in.

Controlled Growth:

Business development consultants can help you not just plan for growth but plan a strategy that allows you to do it seamlessly so you protect your legacy customers. When you hire or contract someone to help you, you want to have control over what happens. You don’t have to relinquish control of your company to improve it and a good consultant will listen intently to you and respect any and all of your wishes when implementing changes.

by USAID_IMAGES

IMG_4579

Image by Charles Mok
Albert Lai, at The Business Forum, Constitutional Development Series, organized by The Professional Commons and HKDF, Sept 4, 2007, with Anson Chan and David Akers-Jones

If you have any aspirations of earning an income online you will need to establish a business development strategy.  The reasons are simple, your business venture will have to have a product or service, a way to promote it to the public and a plan to make improvements as needed. In this way your chances for online success will increase dramatically. When working online you will need to adapt to an ever changing environment by adopting new and improved strategies as you move forward, you must evolve!

Here are the 3 stages of any successful online business venture you will need to address when working online.

Creation Stage

Perhaps the most critical stage of developing any business venture is the creation of the ideas and/or concepts upon which the venture is to be based. Without a viable product or service all other efforts from this point forward will be futile. It is this point of the developmental process that will ‘dictate’ the strategies and direction of all other future efforts!

Innovation or creative energy can make you a shining shine and a tidy profit. whether it is a new product, new marketing tactic, new niche or something other!

Application Stage

Applying your innovations or creations takes another type of energy which involves more patience and diligence. Although not the flamboyance of the previous ‘creative genius’ stage this energy takes your idea and builds it into something that can deliver you financial security and online success.

Creativity is great and obviously required but until it is applied it is merely a dream. The actual application is what turns your ideas into a reality and what can actually make you money. At this point you are now bringing together your product idea(s) and blending them with your marketing strategies. Here is where you begin to enact your plan and make your creations available to the marketplace.

Refinement Stage

This stage of the business building process is ongoing as alterations will need to be make to adjust to changing demands and the marketplace in general. Refinements will likely need to be made to not only your marketing strategy but also quite possibly to your original creation (product) itself. This is a very natural and expected part of the ‘evolution’ of your business venture and what will make it grow stronger. You are merely adapting to the changing environment!

When starting out online to earn an income it is advisable to have some sort of business development strategy. A plan like this will enable you to put together and grow your business venture from the early stages into an income earning juggernaut. In fact your long term online success is dependent upon establishing and  implementing such a plan! As you can see from the 3 stages reviewed above these tactical measure are not complicated, but do not let their simplicity fool you. For anybody with the aspirations of earning a good income by working online a strategy like this will be critical in terms of the degree of success achieved!

by cesarharada.com

USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah and World Business and Development Awards

Image by USAID_IMAGES
USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah and World Business and Development Awards

I have been working with a number of companies recently who have been having issues with the performance of their business development team – intentionally I did not call them their sales teams because therein lies the fundamental issue. Everyone is in sales to a greater or lesser extent, in the main most people don’t believe that and shy away as much as possible from anything vaguely sales related.

Specifically anyone that communicates with anyone else with the intention of influencing the other to do something for them is in sales.

A child that wants an ice cream, a Nintendo or simply to stay up late is in sales. A wife that wants to go out with the girls and needs to get either the husband to sit for the kids or employ a babysitter is in sales. A member of the IT department that needs access to all pc’s in your department while you are all at work to do an upgrade is in sales. Any politician is in sales (whether you like it or not).

So if sales is simply the art of influencing another person to do your bidding why then are we so petrified of it, why is it such a swear word? Simply because we are all afraid of rejection to the point that putting ourselves in a situation where rejection may occur makes us avoid it as much as possible. A classic example is telesales which has such a brutal reputation; this is only because you have to deal with 45 rejections before you get an opportunity, maybe more.

How much did it hurt as a child when you are told no to doing something – just a little – however the histrionics that happen far outweigh the severity of the situation. Wouldn’t it be great to have a ‘Hissy Fit’ every time someone declined an offer you made –(some of us do inside our heads), it might shorten your career in that role if you did.

Sales also has that obvious association with dodgy – the wide eyed used car salesman, the timeshare rep or the double glazing salesman. I remember when my late mother-in-law told a friend of ours when she started dating a salesman ‘you can never trust a salesman, it will never last’ – she said. I’m happy to report they got married fifteen years ago and are still getting along just fine.

There are those who are naturally more capable of taking knock backs than others, those with ‘thick skin’ they don’t appear to take it personally when someone turns them down. The message to you is simple – sales is the art of communication, without communication everything grinds to a halt – be that sharing knowledge or information or simply asking for a date to go to the cinema, wherever there is an alternative solution to the one you suggested you have to convince the other in some way – that is sales. Sales is all about asking, if you never ask you will never get an answer!

Going back to the questions raised with these companies I have been working with all responsibility for business development was abdicated and passed onto the sales team to succeed or fail on their own. The other departments did not share the business development needs of the business and this was where the issue lay. What might you say is the solution here – a change in culture is necessary to one where everyone works together at business development, helping and supporting each other. Some of you might call that Utopia or even unachievable – I disagree the best companies large or small do this day in and day out without even thinking about it – so can you.

Related Business Development Articles

by premasagar

Software Development

Image by Fabio Bruna
Een antiek maar leuk(insider) grapje. En nog steeds erg waar allemaal.

If you are operating or setting up a business, it is essential to plan every aspect as much as possible. When you have a solid and organized idea of how to manage your business, then you have the potential of being successful. A business development plan is an essential part of any business and helps you to have a sense of direction as your business continues to grow.

When you have a complete one, you should be able to communicate the financial strategy to the investors and lenders. It also helps the business attract capital or secure loans. It is also useful since it reflects the potential that the business has to succeed and grow. The plan also includes the general aspects of business operations and forecasts potential problems that may arise. There is always a contingency plan showed that will help should any complications arise.

There is also the management aspect that the business development plan covers. With one in hand, it is easier to monitor and asses the progress of your business effectively. You are in a position to set targets and time lines for your business. This way you can easily compare the projected analysis with the actual figures. You will be able to gauge the direction your business is taking and the milestones made.

In business, there are always risks involved. However, the well organized business owner will have a business development plan that details the possible setbacks so that they are ready for them, should they encounter any. This is because you will have established options in place. It is advisable to share your plan with your employees so that they can share the same vision and goals of the business.

Related Business Development Articles

How To Write A Business Plan (NTSC)

The process of business planning is almost identical the world over, no matter whether you are in the USA, UK, Australia or Japan, and no matter whether you’re a potter, web designer, financial analyst or an inventor. Most people write a business plan either because their organisation requires they do it, or because they want a written plan for the future or because they want to use it to raise finance from a bank, the government or other source of funding.

This DVD takes the viewer t

List Price: $ 29.95

Price:

US $16.80 End Date: Tuesday May-22-2012 10:34:28 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $16.80 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $8.30 End Date: Tuesday May-22-2012 10:34:48 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $8.30 Buy it now | Add to watch list

by premasagar

New moo business cards

Image by cackhanded
Because the standard Yahoo! cards just look terrible, I persuaded our friendly neighbourhood designer to knock me up a design to put on a moo card. Much nicer.

While business development is a carefully thought out strategy mainly used to grow a medium to large business, it can also benefit a small business. Of course, there are many elements that go into creating a comprehensive business development plan. A small business consultant can help you focus in on certain key elements of business growth. These key elements include customer service, increasing customer loyalty, targeting your prospective customers, lead generation, and providing incentives.

A business that neglects customer service is destined to fail because customers provide the revenue of a business. While this of course is obvious, many businesses, while paying lip service to the idea, neglect to make customers feel important. Here are some simple things that can immediately improve customer service. You should always answer your phone and keep your promises.

If a customer has a complaint, it is important to listen. Try to solve the problem amicably. Always try to be helpful to your customers, by enabling them to select the product that will help them most, for example. According to business expert Fred Reichheld, who wrote the popular book, Loyalty Rules, a 5 percent improvement in customer retention can improve the perceived value of your business value by 75 percent.

How, then, do you go about getting customers to know, like, and trust your business enough to be loyal to it? Train your staff to treat customers well and to be helpful and courteous. Train them to be knowledgeable about your products and services because ignorance or common courtesy will turn customers off. Word of mouth spreads rapidly, especially when customers are treated badly or given incorrect instructions or information.

The way to best position your brand is to have a clear vision of how your brand fits into the market. How does it cope with the competition and what is the best method of product distribution? What is the least expensive supply chain? Once you understand these crucial factors, position your brand to offer the same things as your competition but with an added or improved benefit.

Targeting your prospective customers means understanding the many factors about your customer’s lives, then creating an idealized image of your average customer and designing services based on your projections about your target market. Speaking in public about your business, writing articles about your industry, networking with those in your field, engaging in promotional events, and advertising are just some of the many ways available to generate leads. You should have two types of incentive programs, one for your sales staff to want to sell more and one for your customers to want to buy more. Incentive programs can be as simple as offering more commission or discounts or as complex as arranging contests for cash prizes, trips, or products.

As a business owner, you have to think of your own unique techniques that you can use to grow your small business. Be proactive about devising ways that you can improve customer service. Simply starting up a business is not enough for success. You have to design business development programs.

Sometimes there are certain expenses you just can’t get approved!

by cesarharada.com

Andrew Jacobs / 20070811.10D.44750 / SML Skydive

Image by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
SML Tags
Andrew Jacobs

SML Network
SML Pro Blog: SML Skydive = See-ming Lee + Skydiving = Crazy is Good!
SML Flickr: SML Skydive = See-ming Lee + Skydiving (Flickr Set)
SML YouTube: SML SkyDive 2007.08.11

In the recent times, several business development websites have emerged all of which have some uniqueness to offer. They stretch their creative muscles and come up with a completely fascinating and remarkable design and development displaying the company’s mission. These rely on several factors to appeal to their target audiences. It is perhaps, the most convenient and appropriate way of reaching out to your customers while being cost effective. Many softwares are available that provide you the opportunity of building your own website. The method is simple and easy. All you have to do is choose a theme from several designs available in the software, customize it by placing your company logo, text and domain name. You can also add graphics to represent your company and finally request the web hosting company to publish it on different popular search engines.

In order to make your business development website impressive and appealing to your target market, it is essential that you make it interactive and use it as a communicative medium for building a reliable and trustworthy relationship between yourself and your customers. You can also observe what the successful websites are doing and walk their walk. This way you will get an idea of what is in, what is out which means what is appealing to the customers and what is repelling them. Put in your best efforts in your websites as this is the rare medium which can either delight you or destroy you. You can launch a test version of your website or if your website seems to be struggling in attracting traffic then simply place this important job in the hands of the professionals who know their work. The grantcom.us is one of the competitive and competent companies that provide award winning uniqueness of website designs, corporate and start-up business development website design and Search Engine Optimization services for the promotion of website designs.
In order to make your company visible, the need of a business development website is obvious. You will need it for when your target market carry out their online search on any search engine they can effortlessly find you making it easier for your company to build a brand image and sell the products efficiently and effectively. Use straight forward and appealing techniques that will appeal to your customers and will make them return to your website over and over again.

For the best marketing of a business development website, many companies seek to choose low budget methods. It is a genuine desire of all the owners of small businesses to launch a website which best showcases their dedication and spirit of customer orientation while being inexpensive and cost effective. Therefore, they prefer choosing a low budget marketing strategy. In order to make a low budget marketing strategy you should first of all look into your budget policy and see how much money you can spend on your marketing against the money that the strategy will bring into the company.

Related Business Development Articles

by United Nations Development Programme

Venn Diagram

Image by premasagar
[Blogged on http://dharmafly.com/blog/how-to-save-the-world-and-succeed-in-business]

Madhava and I ran an interactive workshop at BarCamp Brighton:
"How to Save the World and Succeed in Business"

This is the perennial question for our own startup web development company, Dharmafly, and instead of telling anything, we wanted to get the answers from the crowd…

We split people into groups and got everyone mind-mapping. Each group had a sheet with ‘How to Save the World‘ written in the centre and another sheet with ‘How to Succeed in Business‘. On each sheet, with limited time, people wrote down related concepts and then connected them together…

There often seems to be a conflict between running a thriving business and working in an ethical way. Much of our society is cut-throat and ruthlessly capitalistic. But we found that many practices complement both needs and there is a common desire for collaboration, integrity and taking an ethical approach.

The future looks bright…

Questions to Have Answers for When Developing a Business Development and Marketing Strategy

and Plan

By Michael Marshall, PhD

‘The Business Doctor’

I am often asked about how to develop a business development and marketing plan to grow the business.  I am asked what information is needed.

I will answer with this list of questions that a business must have complete answers and information for.

What are the target markets selected; both major markets and niche markets?

What are the other possible markets that are not selected?

Why select the specific target markets indicated and not the others?

How will these enhance your business’s position in the marketplace, strategically and financially?

What capabilities does your business have to make these achievable and synergistic?

What are the resources needed to successfully target these markets: products, services, marketing, sales, customer service, staffing, IT, operational, internal support?

What new literature, promotions, websites, possible special events and trade shows participation that will be needed?

What are the financial costs?

What are the time lines and measurements of such to successfully implement?

What are the TAM’s Total Available Market in dollars in each of these markets and what would the sales revenues be if you were able to capture just 10 percent % of it; 20%; 40%?

What internal business attitudes need to change?

What branding needs to change and advance?

What is the other competition in these markets, how do you compare?

What are your strengths, weaknesses in these target markets compared to competition?

How do your competitors currently market to these target markets and how does your business strategy compare?

How are your competitors successful or not successful in these target markets and why?

In these target markets, what is the percentage of market share of each of the competition?

What important customer and client needs are there (validated directly from the customers and clients) in these target markets that you can fulfill and help with?

With these validated needs, how do you compare to competition?

How does your pricing compare to competition? 

When competition realize that you have entered these target markets and are now a competitor, what may be their response?  If this happens how will you be prepared?

What are the challenges and obstacles to enter these target markets?

What are the risks and the worse things that can happen by attempting to enter these target markets?

What are the risks and what can happen if delayed entering these target markets?

If I can be assistance to you, feel free to contact directly.

Michael Marshall, PhD

Email:  michaelmarshall@new.rr.com

Personal website:  www.AskTheBusinessDoctor.com