Keeping up, or getting out
Keep up or get out! That’s a theme in today’s world of business. It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in – if you’re not keeping with the times and doing what you need to do in the best way possible, you can say goodbye to your firm.
We’ve worked with a lot of firms, and we’ve done a lot of research, and it seems that there are the same mistakes made, time and time again. So, in order to avoid them in the future, we’ll give you the rundown in this blog.
The many possibilities in marketing
Some firms are not using their marketing team’s full potential.
You are likely to have enormous potential in your marketing department just waiting to be unleashed. Is your team sitting around prepping event invitations or are they getting involved in the strategy and business development of your firm?
We’d hope that your answer is the latter, as marketing teams are often client facing and, although they are not delivering your advisory services, they are often in a position to learn from your clients in more casual environments where they are willing and open to share. This means that they are perfectly positioned to obtain insights that your service delivery team are unaware of.
What we’ve found is that the best firms have marketers who are involved with clients, in service lines and industry teams. They are not only executing campaigns, but advising instrategy. You’ll find that having a marketing team that is engaged and reports directly to the leadership will deliver far more benefits to your firm.
What you give and what your clients want get
Across many industries there can be a massive discrepancy between what clients want, and what firms are delivering. Much of delivery is based on legacy specialisations, rather than anticipated needs. It is based on “the way we’ve always done it”, rather than where can we add value next.
Redesigning services to deliver around anticipated benefits is difficult, but your advisors probably already know much about what they need to do, but are constricted by timesheets or templates or matching last year’s deliverables to implement change.
You may also be void of genuine client feedback. Have you recently asked for feedback? Have you had genuine conversations about your deliverables? Have you asked your client what pressures they a re experiencing? Have you asked them how they think the industry is changing and what challenges lie ahead for them? It’s amazing just how valuable this can be on determining how to re-package or complement your services.
Don’t get us wrong; we are sure that you provide an excellent service. However, are you sure you’re giving your clients everything they want to (or need to) get from you?
So many technological possibilities
We truly live in a beautiful age. The number of useful technologies today in client development and business operations is enormous.
The problem here is that many firms are not using this vast potential. They are getting these technologies but are not using them right and are not involving the employees in their usage. In essence, they are using half the potential these technologies can provide.
Be a smarter business by using these technologies innovatively and creatively. Use their entire potential!
The bottom line
In the end, if you are not realising the full potential from your marketing team, your client relationships or the technologies available to your firm, you are not keeping up. So, the decision is up to you, Are you going to keep up or get out?