UK – Manchester
Leading your firm to growth
With professional services firms finding themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace, marketers must take the initiative to lead their firms to growth. That was the message from 37point5's David Coorey, who kicked off PM Forum's 2010 programme in the North West with a presentation on marketing strategy and leadership in the professional services sector.
Coorey, who is founder and managing director of the Cheshire-based marketing consultancy, began by encouraging PM Forum's members to take a closer look at the services provided by their firms and place them along a spectrum of low to high market differentiation.
Coorey identified four key categories of service: standardised, customised, expertise-driven and rocket science. He urged the audience to resist the natural propensity of businesses to become a 'jack of all trades' and provide a diluted range of services to all clients. Instead, Coorey argued that firms must differentiate themselves with specific service offerings in order to maintain credibility and profitability.
Moving on to the decision to implement new services,Coorey called on the audience to ask themselves three questions before taking the plunge: Does the service appeal to the target client base? Can it be sustained, despite the action of competitors? And will it be worth it in the end? If these can all be answered with a confident "yes", then the new initiative has every chance of success.
However, the ultimate key to implementation is leadership. Coorey set out a comprebeing hensive model for those marketers planning to successfully lead new initiatives. He noted that direction was a key element to success, with leaders needing to set strict deadlines and objectives to ensure the efficient execution of any new project.
Coorey concluded the presentation by stressing the importance of leading from the front and setting personal examples. After a few high-profile case studies of marketing disasters, it became apparent that marketers must show genuine passion for change and have the ability to inspire employees to become committed to the firm's cause. Without widespread support and confident leadership, any new initiative is destined to fail.
Alastair Henry
MC2
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