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The top 12 rules for marketing success

Identify and concentrate on the essentials

Companies often ask, ‘we think we do quite a bit of marketing, but we’re not sure if it’s enough, or if any of it pays off. What should we be doing?’ Here are a few simple guidelines, which, if followed, are guaranteed to lead to success:

Analyse your sales pipeline process. Where do new leads come from? Who develops those relationships? Are there enough new prospects coming in? If not, where and how can you get more? How effectively do you manage relationships with existing clients? And at the other end of the pipeline, how many clients are quietly dropping away through lack of attention and interest?
If you feel you don’t have as many new prospects as you would like, decide what, realistically, you can do about it. Is anyone in your firm willing and able to actively sell? Is that an appropriate approach for you? If not, how are you going to get round it – networking, writing articles, asking for referrals, or what? Decide on the processes that are most effective and ‘do-able’ and then DO THEM – over and over and over again.
Don’t treat all your people the same in terms of their contribution to business development. Ask everyone to identify their strengths and equally important, what they are prepared to do. ‘Nothing’ isn’t an option but trying to make people do what they don’t want to won’t get you anywhere. Get to the bottom of any reluctance – is it lack of confidence or skill, or pure lethargy and indifference?
Take the advice of marketing experts – don’t think you know it all. Marketing – like accountancy or plumbing - involves a specific skill set. You’re unlikely to have the experience or the inclination to spend as much time as you need to get everything right by yourself.
Set goals and targets for new client/customer gains, increased profits, an improved level of client satisfaction – whatever is most important to you. And having set them, enforce them, review them, and monitor progress. Make sure marketing objectives are built in to your appraisal system and if performance is poor, find out why and do something about it.
Be different. Look at what your organisation and every individual within it can offer that is unique. Ask every one of your people to justify what they feel they bring to the business. Build their confidence and start to create a greater level of passion about your company and what you have to offer. Collectively create your own shared vision of what you want to achieve and how - don’t just look at what other firms do.
Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. Particularly when pursuing new business, don’t tell them who you are (they’ll know that from your website or brochure), tell them what you do for your clients, what benefits you bring, what makes you unique and why they should give you their business.
Ensure that everyone within your organsiation takes responsibility for some aspect of marketing their own services and the firm as a whole – if everyone regularly does a little, it adds up to a lot. Don’t overlook the role of internal marketing; cross selling is one of the most frequently overlooked and generally underrated marketing tools you have at your disposal. Almost every firm could win immediate new business just by concentrating on that.
Look outside the profession to what other businesses are doing and take your lead from them. And keep up with developments – just because you’ve always done something one way doesn’t mean that the outside world hasn’t moved on and found a better technique.
Focus on people – external and internal – and the quality of your relationships with them. You’re in a people business, so the attractiveness of your services and your firm relies entirely on the personalities, commitment, enthusiasm, creativity and motivation of your team and how well they work together and their interaction with clients. It should go without saying that you should treat your clients as valued individuals, not faceless, fee-paying machines.
Seek feedback from clients and others outside the firm. What do they really think of you – good or bad? Remember the power of attraction – great service, open and empathic relationships and a general atmosphere of enthusiasm and energy will attract clients and referrals. If you seem like you don’t really care, why should they?

Regularly make the effort to actively thank your clients. Call them to tell them how much you appreciate their business, remind them that their contribution is valued, and work towards building true working partnerships.

(c) Dianne Bown-Wilson, the M3 Consultancy