Several recent experiences, both personally and professionally, with my clients & others have deeply reinforced to me what I’ve held as an accurate & authentic formula for what it takes to be successful as a Practicing Professional. I assert it holds true regardless of the state of the economy, or almost any other forces we may encounter. In fact this (not so) secret formula seems to hold whether you are a practicing professional, a business owner or an employee. I assert that the (not so) secret formula, as it became more apparent to me a few years ago, is simply the following:
To be successful, you only really need to:
1 - BE People Centric
2 - BE Technology Literate
3 - BE Branding & Marketing Focused
And
4 - Do Great Work
Mark V Bullock Advertising, Branding, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Branding, formula for success, Marketing, marketing for accountants, marketing for attorneys, practice marketing, practicing professionals blog, success
In an Advisory, Consulting, Coaching model, potential clients often start out skeptical, then get enthusiastic when you show them the results that are possible for them when they engage with you. Then the reality sets in - that they will have to do something & be in action in ways that they are not comfortable or familiar with, and certainly they are not in the habit of doing things the way that you propose. Read more…
Mark V Bullock Customer Service, Marketing, Sales above and beyond, business coaching, commitment, do something, fear, objections
I only recently put myself up on LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace. This was after years of not really getting what the value was, and my concerns over the “professionalism” of my being on such sites. But, I bit the bullet and set-up my profile on each, and started wondering - now what?
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Mark V Bullock Branding, Marketing Branding, Marketing, Networking, Social Networking
What do your clients think about you, but aren’t telling you? What comes to their minds when they think about making an appointment with you? What do they unconsciously know they can count on from you?
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Mark V Bullock Advertising, Branding, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Branding, consistancy, Honor, Integrity, Marketing
The cost of acquisition of a new client can be very high, both in $$ and your resources and yet the typical practice/firm puts out 80% of it’s marketing effort towards acquiring new clients and only 20% on existing clients. Marketers in the know – know you should reverse these percentages. The fact of the matter is you’ve already made the investment to reach your existing clients, develop a trusted relationship with them, and proven your value to them. – But – do they know how else and in what other ways you can serve them going forward?
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Mark V Bullock Advertising, Branding, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Branding, client aquisition, Marketing, referals, Sales
Several years back I had a tech consulting practice. It was reasonably successful ie. I was making a living. There was only one problem. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, working 60 to 80 hours a week, and frankly I was burning out fast. I was very much a generalist and charged an hourly rate that was a “bargain” in comparison to many of the other practicing generalists in my area. In short I was working my tail off for a modest income, and really didn’t enjoy working with many of my clients, most of which I struggled to get paid from, and I was doing an awful lot of unpaid work because I didn’t understand my own value….
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Mark V Bullock Branding, Marketing, Sales billable rate, brand value, Branding, Marketing, pricing
Ok, so you decided to bite the bullet and shell out the investment for a trade show exhibit. You got yourself a nice backdrop, table display, handouts, etc. You showed up on time, and “manned” the booth from opening to closing waiting for people to walk up to you. Now I’ll bet you’re very disappointed with the results. What did you miss?
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Mark V Bullock Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Trade Shows Branding, exhibiting, Marketing, Trade Shows
Ever engaged a new client, enrolled a new customer in a service, or sold a new customer a product, only to have the customer back-peddle or worse - cancel after making a purchase commitment because they said - “You didn’t tell me…!!!”?
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Mark V Bullock Branding, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Marketing, objections, Sales, trust, value
This is an interesting marketing thumb rule in that it speaks volumes to how people make decisions about what and when to purchase, and where and/or whom to purchase from….
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Mark V Bullock Branding, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales consistancy, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales
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