By Michael W. McLaughlin
Signs seem to indicate that the market is picking up steam. That’s the good news.
The unfortunate irony is that, as the market heats up, some highly competent consultants will struggle to win client work against less qualified competitors for one reason: their marketing programs are self-defeating.
You won’t find a better time to take a fresh look at your marketing strategy. Chances are you’ll recognize opportunities that will bring more clients—and more profit—to your practice.
Have a look at the 20 Guerrilla Marketing Principles below, and use them to tune up your marketing strategy. You may already be following some of them, while others may generate new ideas.
20 Guerrilla Marketing Principles
- Every aspect of your practice reflects your marketing strategy, from the big things—like how you deliver services—to the details like the look of your emails and envelopes.
- Your backlog of business covers at least 50% of your forecasted profit for the next year.
- Everyone in your practice understands your marketing position and can describe it in a few brief sentences.
- Clients understand your marketing position.
- Your clients and prospects know what makes you different from your competitors.
- All members of your practice know exactly how they contribute to the success of both your business and its marketing strategy.
- You have a marketing activity calendar, and you follow it.
- Client-specific tactics are at the center of your marketing strategy.
- Existing clients and their referrals are your richest source of new business.
- You routinely ask for referrals.
- You have patience with your marketing program, recognizing that some tactics take hold faster than others.
- You measure the effectiveness of your marketing, making mid-course corrections as needed.
- Your marketing strategy relies on an array of integrated tactics, applied consistently over time, rather than a start-and-stop approach.
- You rigorously qualify every opportunity before agreeing to create a proposal or begin client work.
- You place a high value on client relationships and on account management skills.
- Your people execute client work flawlessly.
- Your firm provide a positive experience for your clients, no matter how tough the project.
- Your marketing materials make a substantive contribution to your business development efforts.
- You make time every day for marketing the business.
- You win your fair share of profitable work.
As you consider the effectiveness of your marketing, think about the advice of Peter Drucker: “The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.” Let that guide your actions.
