Best Marketing Practices for Professional Service Firms

Professional service firms like law firms and accounting firms do not necessarily follow the same marketing model as businesses that sell products or basic need services. Unlike the industries of health and beauty, the professional services firms do not acquire clients on a daily basis. Marketing is all about creating visibility and awareness. If clients do not know you exist, they are less likely to feel the need to reach you. And chances are, when the need arises, the more popular and visible ones will be the one they call.

This is why it is important to take stock of the best marketing practices for professional service firms. Here are the top 10:

  1. No matter how busy the company gets or how much you do not feel the need to market, do it anyway. The best way to do this nowadays is to create an online presence through a blog, Facebook fan page, listing sites or even just a static website with your contact information. If you have presence on the internet, consider yourself one step ahead of those who are still stuck in the yellow pages.
  2. Consider beefing up your company history, curriculum vitae, list of achievements and make them known to the public. Posting them online is the simplest and quickest way.
  3. List down five firms that have been successful in marketing and make them your aspirational competitors.
  4. Identify the sources of clients and referrals and make sure to provide superior services for them. Despite the rapid digitization of the world, word of mouth and referrals still work wonders for professional services. People are most likely to go to you if you were highly recommended by someone they trust. Make your company recommend-worthy.
  5. Distribute marketing materials to companies and potential clients. Make these materials interesting, aesthetically pleasing, and different from the typical brochures in your niche.
  6. Create a sales pipeline. You may be selling services, but it is important to have a system to track where clients are coming from. Give incentives to staff and employees who help bring in more clients too. Consider their networks as an extension of yours.
  7. Pay close attention to customer service and satisfaction. If sending personalized greetings to clients during special occasions will set you apart from the rest then do it.
  8. Each time your firm makes an achievement or significant contribution to the field or community, make it known by sending an online newsletter to your client list.
  9. Invest in different forms of marketing. If your company’s staff is engaged in so many activities and in-house marketing is not your forte, consider hiring a 3rd party marketing expert to do it for you.
  10. Harness the power of appreciation. Whether it is staff appreciation day or customer appreciation day, celebrate it even in the smallest way possible. Your firm may be of a serious nature, but letting loose a little and giving thanks to the people that propel the business can create wonders for your company. It is always good PR and brings so much good vibes too so to speak.