Help your experts become Activators

Professional services marketing is… very different from other forms of B2B marketing.

The reason? People.

In professional services, you’re not marketing a product. You’re marketing the expertise and experience of your subject matter experts.

Also, for business development success, you rely heavily on the relationships your experts have with key players in the market. And the trust they gain from their clients.

As a result, professional services marketing is a shared responsibility. Between the marketing department and subject matter experts.

It’s a partner game

In many professional service firms however, it’s the firm’s partners that are ultimately responsible for marketing and business development.

They are the ones raising awareness and generating demand for their services. They manage their accounts. They identify new business opportunities. They not only deliver, but also sell their services. And they are responsible for their client’s success.

The partners in your firm face a couple of challenges:

• First of all, they are busy delivering services  – just like your other subject matter experts. This leaves them with limited time for marketing and BD.
  
• Also, in many firms, there’s no universal marketing and BD approach. Leaving it up to each partner to develop their own approach – and reinvent the wheel.
  
• And finally, the main reward is on billing hours. Not many firms offer their partners incentives to invest in marketing and BD.

And that’s an issue.

As a Harvard featured study by DCM Insights shows professional service firms experience a sharp decline in client loyalty. Falling from 76% to 53%, and expected to drop even further to 37%.

The study also offers a solution: build a team of Activators.

Activators are one of the five business development profiles DCM Insights uncovered in their research. It’s also the only profile that shows a positive impact on performance and revenue.

The Activator approach

What do Activators do differently?

• They commit to business development – This means they invest a serious amount of time in marketing and BD. And probably a little money. They consistently spend time scanning the news for relevant market developments. And intentionally schedule interactions with prospective clients to discuss these.
  
• They connect with clients and colleagues – They build robust networks of current and prospective clients. And establish relationships with (other) subject matter experts and people who can provide value. Their networks are not limited to one specific position within a key client. Instead, they build relationships up and down the organization chart. Also, they utilize their networks not only for themselves, but also for their colleagues. Connecting clients to others within their own firm.
  
• They create value through collaboration – They curate information that prospective and existing clients need to be aware of. And proactively engage in conversations about potential issues and opportunities. They don’t wait until a commercial need is expressed by a client.

How to build a team of Activators?

According to DCM Insights it’s push and pull, which I completely recognize from working with professional service firms for more than a decade. You’ll need to nudge partners in the right direction. And make the approach the path of least resistance.

Four things you should do:

1. Train and coach your subject matter experts in marketing and business development. Preferably before they reach partner level.
   
2. In hiring and selecting new subject matter experts make sure they have an affinity for close collaboration with others.
   
3. Put a technological support system in place. Make sure there’s a solid Client Relationship Management (CRM) system, which allows professionals to log their marketing and BD efforts. Let them use external social platforms where they can engage with their target groups. Use internal collaboration platforms to allow for smooth knowledge and information sharing. And ‘outsource’ certain tasks to generative AI.
   
4. Reinforce the Activator behavior you want to see with incentives and rewards. Set certain requirements, like the identification of at least two collaborations with other partners per month. Encourage a healthy competition between partners. And have firm leaders recognize people who are showcasing the desired behavior.

On top of this, I highly recommend a 5th make or break aspect:

5. Provide your partners with an overarching goal. Give them a clear reason to keep developing the desired Activator behavior. Be explicit about the importance of adopting this new behavior.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for reading MBD Boost #014, sent to marketers and business developers on July 16, 2024.