integrated sales and marketing

© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

Integrated Marketing and Business Development

in the professional services firm

Highlights of The Bloom Group’s Study

September 2008

Boston, MA


2007 Bloom Group Survey

Integrating Marketing and Business Development In Professional Services Firms• 18 questions answered by 224 respondents

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Lack of orchestration is common

• Only a slight majority (54 percent) said marketing and business development activities were strongly coordinated. Some 46 percent said they were coordinated sometimes, infrequently or not at all.

• The majority (57 percent) were not working off the same timeline of demand‐creation activities most or all of the time.

• In about one‐third (32 percent), no one was managing the overall demand‐creation process.

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What is the price?

• Less than one‐third (29 percent) of the professional firms reported a high or very high rate of success in creating market awareness of their services

• Only 31 percent said they were highly or very highly successful at getting meetings with prospects

• An even lower percentage—25 percent— said they had high or very high success in getting a request for a proposal following a sales meeting

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Contrasting leaders and laggards

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Characteristic Leaders LaggardsSales and marketing functions are coordinated/ integrated 77% 40%Work off the same timeline of activities 62% 38%Work off the same issue‐based campaign 77% 53%Work off the same client/prospect database 75% 56%


The key determinant of success

• Success is not a function of– Who does the selling

– Who reports to whom

– Whether there are full‐time business development professionals

– Whether marketing reports to business development or vice versa

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Most professional firms are not playing the same game on the same team, using the same game plan, or keeping the

same scorecard


What it feels like to be a buyer

1. I'm feeling insecure. I'm not sure I know how to detect which of the finalists is the genius, and which is just good. I've exhausted my abilities to make technical distinction.

2. I'm feeling threatened. This is my area of responsibility, and even though intellectually I know I need outside expertise, emotionally it's not comfortable to put my affairs in the hands of others.

3. I'm taking a personal risk. By putting my affairs in the hands of someone else, I risk losing control.

4. I'm impatient. I didn't call in someone at the first sign of symptoms (or opportunity). I've been thinking about this for a while.

5. I'm worried. By the very fact of suggesting improvements or changes, these people are going to be implying that I haven't been doing it right up till now. Are these people going to be on my side?

6. I'm exposed. Whoever I hire, I'm going to have to reveal some proprietary secrets, not all of which are flattering. I will have to undress.

7. I'm feeling ignorant, and don't like the feeling. I don't know if I've got a simple problem or a complex one. I'm not sure I can trust them to be honest about that: it's in their interest to convince me it's complex.

8. I'm skeptical. I've been burned before by these kinds of people. You get a lot of promises: How do I know whose promise I should buy?

9. I'm concerned that they either can't or won't take the time to understand what makes my situation special. They'll try to sell me what they've got rather than what I need.

10.I'm suspicious. Will they be those typical professionals who are hard to get hold of, who are patronizing, who leave you out of the loop, who befuddle you with jargon, who don't explain what they're doing or why, who . . . , who . . . , who ... ? In short, will these people deal with me in the way I want to be dealt with?

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© David H. Maister 1993


Qualify• Scour the market for potential suppliers

• Evaluate against essential criteria

• Reduce to short‐list

Make sure we have several candidates who could technically do the work

Select• Meet with short‐listed candidates

• Investigate detailed capabilities, working style, rates etc.

• Determine preferred supplier

Make sure that we have a candidate who: • has a successful track record,

• and with whom we can work

Contract• Agree detailed approach and resources

• Agree contract terms and price

Make sure that the approach is one that suits us

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How clients increase their confidence in the supplier

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Trus

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The marketing & sales campaign should mirror the buying process

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Create Awareness• Formulate messages• Run broadcast marketing programs

• Capture details of suspects



• Determine preferred supplier

Create relationship• Design and run participative marketing programs

• Respond to enquiries• Discuss potential work with prospects



Create client• Craft tailored approach

• Secure resources• Agree contract terms and price

Buyer Process

Seller Process


Economist Intelligence Unit Survey 2008

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© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC11

“Would‐be clients say ‘don’t tell me you can do something; show me how you’ve done it or how you’ll do it.’”


Thought leadership is the fuel for a campaign

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Create Awareness• Formulate messages• Run broadcast marketing programs

• Capture details of suspects



• Talk with references• Determine preferred supplier

Create relationship• Design and run participative marketing programs

• Respond to enquiries

• Discuss potential work with prospects



Create client• Craft tailored approach

• Secure resources• Agree contract terms and price

Thought Leadership

• Points of view

• Client Case Examples

© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC13

Executives see integrated, consistent thought leadership as the best way to

reach a wide audience with the greatest impact.


Marketing and Bus Dev have complimentary roles

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Create Awareness Create Client

• Respond to inquiries that marketing generates

• Formulate messages• Create awareness

• PR• Articles• White papers• Website etc

• Capture prospect details

Create Relationship

• Create high contact marketing events/seminars

• Get prospects to firm‐hosted events • Email• Print marketing etc.

• Run the events

• Propose and encourage invitees to attend

• Gather background on attendees ‐ prioritize

• Participate in events• Engage prospects• Arrange follow‐on meetings

• Provide boiler‐plate sales presentations

• Assist with proposal development

• Ensure alignment with campaign messages

• Craft tailored approach• Secure resources• Agree contract terms and price


Thought Leadership

Case Examples

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Together they close the contract

Trus

t an

d Co

nfid

ence

Create Awareness Create Client

• Respond to inquiries that marketing generates

• Formulate messages• Create awareness

• PR• Articles• White papers• Website etc

• Capture prospect details

Create Relationship

• Create high contact marketing events/seminars

• Get prospects to firm‐hosted events • Email• Print marketing etc.

• Run the events

• Propose and encourage invitees to attend

• Gather background on attendees ‐ prioritize

• Participate in events• Engage prospects• Arrange follow‐on meetings

• Provide boiler‐plate sales presentations

• Assist with proposal development

• Ensure alignment with campaign messages

• Craft tailored approach• Secure resources• Agree contract terms and price

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Marketing Process

Sales Process


What thought leadership is:

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A novel and substantive point of view (POV) on a ubiquitous client problem– A compelling perspective on the root causes of an issue and the best way to solve it

The ability to package that POV and create “buzz” in the marketplace– Capture expertise that is practiced by your professionals but previously not codified for mass consumption

A way to demonstrate you have superior expertise, not just claim that you have it– The professional services industry’s equivalent of a grocery store sample

“A perspective is worth 80 IQ points” Alan Kay, former Xerox PARC and Apple scientist and father of many aspects of the personal computer


Example

Business• One service line of a global professional IT and consulting services organization

Topic• Thought leadership campaign on customer relationship management (CRM)• Based on a self‐ assessment tool and a Point of View created from an executive

survey

Marketing Campaign• Consisted of

– Direct mailing of the Point of View– Media relations on the survey results– Management roundtable on the topic co‐sponsored by a business publication– Co‐marketing of the Point of View with vendor partners

• Cost of campaign; $120,000Results• The first win, a $600,000 consulting engagement, in just six weeks. • Six months after launch, the campaign had generated $35 million in sales


The Bloom Group

The Bloom Group powers up marketing for professional services firms. We specialize in helping professional services firms determine their marketing strategy, attain thought leadership and grow their business through effective thought leadership marketing and campaign execution.

Contact us at: Tel: 978.335.4313

email: [email protected]

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integrated sales and marketing

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