While There Is Still Time…
By Adam
Radzik
Consultant to Professional Firms
Recently, I suggested to a professional—let’s call him Stanley—that he pursue a specific manufacturing association as a source of business. Stanley already had two clients who were members of this group but, in spite of that toehold, was  very pessimistic about the chances of succeeding. His rival—let’s call him Warren—had gotten his firm appointed as counsel to the trade association itself and had heavily infiltrated the industry years before. Stanley believed that his firm would not be able to effectively compete against Warren’s because the latter’s firm was so firmly established and had such name recognition within that industry. In effect, the penetration of Warren’s firm within the trade association frightened Stanley away and he did not pursue that industry group.
Stanley and I began considering another trade association as a target but we discovered that there, too, a major competitor had laid down roots several years before and was prominently regarded as the vendor of choice for many of the members. Stanley began to be concerned. Were there any unclaimed pastures left where he wouldn’t find someone else’s cattle happily grazing and dominating the landscape?
This phenomenon is becoming a bigger and bigger problem, and many firms have not yet realized that their “all over the lot” approach will one day put them in difficult straits.
Sophisticated and prosperous firms have long realized that they will be more successful if they specialize in specific industries. Why? Because every savvy client asks, “Do you know my industry?” Clients believe—and they are not wrong—that their vendors will do a better job for them and give them superior guidance if they are familiar with their industry. Additionally, when professional firms specialize they can train their staff more effectively and they can charge more for their services. They have become experts, and experts get paid more than generalists. When you surf on the Web sites of the most successful firms, you inevitably discover that they have chosen specific industries in which to stake their claim. You find firms who tout their experience in municipalities, utilities, construction, hedge funds, the furniture industry, the lumber industry, the retail trade, the frozen food business, the cemetery business, in condominium associations, the restaurant business, the broker-dealer industry—the list goes on and on.
And yet so many professional firms have still not chosen this course of action. What is their logic? “Adam, we get business from all over. It’s not only coming from one industry!” Of course that is true, but it is true of almost any professional firm. The difference is in the marketing campaign and in the marketing direction. When firms are proactively marketing their services, they can throw out a general net and tell the world that they are a prestigious firm that helps all kinds of businesses, or they can appeal to a specific group and present themselves as having an impressive track record in the publishing business or the hospital industry or the plastic manufacturing business.
The chances of success multiply exponentially when the approach is targeted and the experience is significant. Think about your own industry. Given the choice, would you choose the vendor who has no experience in your business type or the one who does?
Today there are many firms who understand this selling principle; they are systematically targeting and capturing whole industries. Make sure your firm is not left in a weak predicament with hardly any desirable choices.
If you’d like to learn more about targetting your marketing efforts:
Contact Sales Improvement Consultants Today!
Comedy
Corner
A man and his wife walked into a dentist's office. The man said to the dentist, “Doc, I'm in a real hurry! I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for me to go play golf. So forget about the anesthetic and just pull the tooth and be done with it. We have a 10:00 AM tee time at the best golf course in town and it’s 9:30 already. I don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!”
The dentist thought to himself, “My goodness, this is certainly a very brave man asking to have his tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain.” So the dentist asked him, “Which tooth is it, sir?”
The man turned to his wife and said, “Open your mouth, honey, and show him.”
|
