Effective Selling - Professional ServicesJohn Colvin

July 2015

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Effective Selling – Professional Services

Discussion points1. Marketing and Sales Process Map2. Need for Vision3. Role of Positioning4. Importance of Differentiation5. Role of Values6. High Level Process Map7. Account Management8. Bid Management9. Sales Management

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1. Map of Marketing and Sales Process

Market Segment

Total Market

Single Client

ANGLE OF VIEW

TIMESCALE WeeksYears

Corporate Positioning and

Promotion

Market Segmentation

Segment MarketingNetworking

Marketing Programmes

Sales Conversion

Account Management

BidManagement

Sales Management

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2. Need for Vision

• To be the leading law firm in Australia• Marketing, sales and operating processes all need to be framed with a purpose in mind.• This aspiration governs everything that the firm does.

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2. Need for Vision

What does "leading" mean?

• Owners• 30% return on revenue

• Clients• Research confirms firm seen by major corporates as best supplier of consulting services

• Staff• Research confirms that firm seen by all levels of staff as the best place to work

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3. Role of Positioning

• What industries?

• What companies? (large, medium, small)

• What clients?

• What services?

• A lot of choices

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4. Importance of Differentiation

• Differentiation based on our assets• People• Know-how (consulting, industry, issue, thought leadership etc)• Processes and systems• Style• Track record• Customer relationships• Brand - reputation

• Which ones do we choose and why?

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5. Role of Values

• The brand is a result of • What we do (products/services)• How we do it (behaviours)

• So every professional has a chance to enhance or dilute the brand with every client interaction• Consistent behaviours with clients is a key feature of every world class professional services firm

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6. High Level Process Map

Firm ValueMarketing/SalesManagement

Thought Leadership (Platforms)

Account Management

Bid Management

Matter Debrief/Customer satisfaction

ENABLING PROCESSES

• Knowledge management

• Precedents• All other know-

how

• Recruitment• Career Path• Assessment & Rewards

• Training &Development

• Service &Product Development

Marketing Communications CUSTOMER

INDUSTRY

• Policy development, deployment, maintenance & conformance

CORE CAPABILITIES

ResourceManagement

RiskManagement

FinancialManagement

CORE

PROCESSES

• Personal Relationships

• Account Relationship& History

• IndustryKnowledge

• LegalKnowledge

• Thought Leadership• Methodologies• Matter Summaries• Tools & Techniques

• Referralrelationships

• Skills• Competencies• Track record• Strategic &

Commercial Nous

• Values & Behaviours

• Style

• Products(eg SILC)

• Firm policies• Adherence

to policies

Pricing Management

– Relationships– Project Mngt.– Operating Risk

Mngt./QA

Matter,Management& Operation

CLIENTS KNOWLEDGE

• Management processes

• Business processes

• Infrastructure- Hardware- Networks- Software

• Operating Systems

PEOPLE PRODUCTSPOLICIES SYSTEMS & PROCESSES TECHNOLOGY

• Precedents• Opinions• Advices• Infobanks

• Process& systemsdevelopment

• Technologyplatformdevelopment &maintenance

• Organisation &work re-design

• Management Systems

• Legal Systems• Business

Systems

Vision &Values Strategy Structure

Planning Policies &Procedures

MeasurementGuidelines

Appraisal Reward MIS

REFERRALS

Brand Strengths

ClientBase

MarketShare

ProfitAbility

LawyerAttraction

MANAGEMENT PROCESSES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

7. Account Management

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Thought leadership Product/service

development

Trends Alliances Competitors

Which segments Which clients Which services/products Desired profitability

Services Markets

Business Plans

Account Plans

Environment

Technology Regulation Globalisation

Desired Brand Image Actual Brand Image

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7. Account Management

Years1.5

210.25

Long-term

Short-term

ACTION PLAN

Strategic Milestones

Firm’s Goal for the Account

Account Vision 3 years

2 - 3 years

1.5 years

3 - 4 months

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7. Account Management Process

• Greater focus on customer's business• Focus on understanding customer organisation and developing relationships• Uniform process for planning and managing all accounts• Pragmatic and system process for identifying biggest profit improvement areas, developing

competitive solutions and cost-effective plans• Focus on priorities • Teamwork approach

Aim: To increase customer satisfaction and to identify solutions which grow customer’s business

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7. Standard Account Management Tools

• Account Planning Tool• Addressing all the business you do with the account• One plan per account (very large organisations may justify more than one plan)• Update and review quarterly

• Customer Satisfaction Scorecard• Identifying major improvement areas• Update and review as appropriate

• Opportunity Planning Tool• Managing specific pieces of potential business (bids and prospects)• One plan per significant sales opportunity within the account• Continual update and review process

• Success through anticipating and meeting customer needs better

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7. Account Management – Summary

Elements of Account Planning

Current Position

Our GoalAccount

PerformanceRecent Major Sales & Losses

Account Vision

Relationships Account Business Environment

Projects and Opportunities

Brain-storming

Strategic Milestones to Achieve

Account Vision and Goal

Basic Competitive

RequirementsWeaknesses

Strengths

Competitive Advantage

Competitors

Risks

Analysis

Customer

Viewpoint

Agreeing Milestones and Action Plan

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8. Bid Management

Elements of Bid Strategy

Summarised by “Blue Sheet”

Single Sales Objective Competitive Position Key Buying Criteria?

Buying Influences Results Wins How Well Covered?

Agreeing a Strategy

Position Today

Strengths/Weaknesses

Possible Actions Agreed Actions

analysis

9. Sales Management

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1.5 : 11.5 : 11.5 : 1

Sales Management Process

InputsAccount Mgmt.

Bid Mgmt.

Marketing

Direct Enquiries

Opps Qualified Opps

Proposal Sales Stock Utilisation Revenue Cash

Management of Sales Process

Management of Operating Resources

Extensions (80%)

80% +

13 w

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Contact Details

John ColvinPrincipalE: jcolvin@johncolvin.com.auM: +61 409 183 174S: +61 2 8823 3485Level 36, Governor Phillip Tower1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Sandra HeinigSenior AssociateE: sh@johncolvin.com.auM: +61 416 731 897S: +61 2 8823 3485D: +61 2 8823 3487Level 36, Governor Phillip Tower1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Sian O’ShaughnessyResearch AnalystE: sian@johncolvin.com.auD: +61 2 8823 3485 Level 36, Governor Phillip Tower1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia