In highly trust-based businesses, relationships are vital to the delivery of your business’s services or products. Professional services, such as accounting, legal, or engineering, along with many other B2B businesses, are highly relationship-driven. Every day, you are developing and fostering relationships. Relationships with existing clients, relationships with referrers and influencers, and relationships with prospective new clients.
Traditionally, these relationships built organically – someone you knew well introduced you to someone they knew well. Relationships, and relationship-building, have changed.
In the current business environment, post-GFC, the client relationship has changed. Clients now have very different expectations. Sophisticated clients expect professionals to be more responsive to them and have a better understanding of the commercial pressures they face.
Where is your business on the scale to the right? What is your approach to building strategic business relationships and the strength of those relationships?
If your approach to relationship-building is ‘opportunistic’, meaning that you are aware of the need to build new relationships, you keep in touch with referrers, and look after existing clients, the strength of your relationships means that you are ‘connected’, but you probably aren’t seeing the results you would like. For example, the industry average growth rate for Professional, Scientific and Technical Services industries is around 2%, according to IBISWorld.
To experience consistent and sustainable growth of 20% and above, you need to completely change the way you work with clients, referrers and potential clients. A strategic marketing and BD framework, specific to your relationship-driven business, can increase you and your team’s ability to develop and nurture relationships, engage better with new referrers and prospects, and win more work.
Marketing increases your brand awareness and recognition (what you are known for) and helps create potential opportunities, by creating the optimal environment for your potential buyer to engage with you and your brand (online and offline).
Marketing should assist your business development and your business development strategy needs to focus on strategic relationship-building.
A tailored Strategic Marketing & BD Program will: ★ Review your current marketing approach and focus, including a full Marketing & BD Audit and customised Audit Report, providing recommendations for key areas of improvement.
★ Develop a Strategic Marketing & BD Plan for the growth of your client base, with three levels of commitment available.
★ Help you with Implementation, depending on your existing resources and requirements.
