Marketing of Consulting Services

Marketing of Consulting services
Group 1 – Team 4
Manu Agarwal 02
Saravanan C 09
Anagha Deshpande 18
Mrugank Hathi 29
Deepak Kidiyoor 38
Rajan Vasani 58
Agenda
• Introduction
• Understanding the consultant & the buyer
• Understanding Sales & Marketing
• The Process of Marketing
• Conclusion
Introduction
• Uneasiness about selling their services
• Post 1970s  Professional services can be
marketed
• 2 main reasons for marketing the service
– To communicate about the service and attract the
client
– Compete for market share
UNDERSTANDING THE
CONSULTANT& THE BUYER
• Quality Expectations
• Uniformity
• Technical 2 aspects
• Human
• Client feels the need of a Consult?
consultant Why
• Client has no other alternative
Role of a consultant
Buyer values
• Professional Integrity
• Technical competence
– Knowledge of industry
– Competence of whole firm and the team
– Knowledge of Business Environment
– Hard skills and soft skills
– Creativity and innovation
– Experience
Buyer Values Contd..
• Rapport with the consultant
• Assignment design
• Delivering capability
• Ability to mobilize resources
• Cost of Services
• Certification of competence and/or quality
• Professional brand image of consultant
Matching client expectations with firm’s
strategy
• “Low cost” v/s “Value Differentiator”
• Importance of Market Research
• Regard client’s needs as the focal point of marketing
• Every client is unique
• Don’t misrepresent the consulting firm
• Don’t oversell
• Refrain from denigrating other consultants
• Marketing a professional service
• Aim at an equally high performance in marketing and
execution
UNDERSTANDING SALES &
MARKETING
ABCs of Marketing
Assess the
Situation
Contact Build a
Potential Potential
Clients client Base
Marketing Consultancy
•Marketing for consultancy includes
all indirect activities
aimed at attracting broad market segment
composed of many potential buyers
•Sales are direct activities designed for winning

over single specific client
•Challenges:
Selling intangible
No set training certifies consultant skills
Linking Sales and Marketing
•Requires customized •Requires awareness of
marketing and solution capabilities of consulting
firm
Know The Don’t Know
firm; The firm;
Desirable Desirable
client client
Know The Don’t Know

firm; The firm;
Not Desirable Not Desirable
client client
Sales &
•Discipline to drop the client
•Requires correct judgment about
Marketing
profitability expected in the future Matrix
Hunting to Farming
Farming
Referrals
Prospect/New
Cold Existing Client
Client
Calling
Cross
Hunting
Selling
Marketing important for even Maintaining

Awareness Penetration
retaining existing clients!
Why Farming?
Extrinsic Selling
• Convincing client that your firm is worth doing business with
• Brand Building or indirect marketing
Intrinsic Selling
• Convincing client about merit of particular proposition (your
approach to solution)
• Customized marketing or direct marketing
•Farming tries to capitalize on extrinsic selling efforts done in past!

•However this is not to undermine significance of continuous marketing (even in
execution phase!)
•Farming requires relation building skills
Linking Internal & External Communication
•Why?
Consultant behavior makes or breaks Clients expectations
Transparent world requires consistent messaging
Inconsistent inside and outside messages can result into
individual consultants losing confidence in firm’s leadership
Today’s employee are tomorrows potential client and alumni
•Give employees correct and big picture of the firm through

News letters, Emails (Eg: Daily Connection of E&Y)
Events, Training
Visit by senior partners
Promotional Activities
• Publications like
Intellectual • Research Report
• ‘Quarterly’: McKinsey
capital • Articles in newspaper/magazines
promotion • Conferences/workshops/Debates by
Industry bodies/Media
• Websites
Traditional • Newspaper advertisement
tools • Promoting social cause
•Former costs less than later

•Helps convincing clients or knowledge capabilities of consulting firm
•Enhances knowledge pool specially for new line of business
THE PROCESS OF MARKETING
Referrals and Publications
• Working the referrals
– Word of mouth: Flawless service
– Excellent mutual understanding
– Happy clients are the best marketers!
• Professional publications
– Books for managers
– Articles on management
– Occasional pamphlets
– Newsletters
e.g. BCG’s regular publication of articles – “Collateral Damage”
Media and Seminars
• Relations with public information media
– Tailor made information for target audience
– Promotional effect greater than advertisements
– Negative publicity by media
e.g. E&Y sponsors children’s show Cyberchase on PBS Kids
Criticism of PWC by media during Satyam scam
• Seminars and workshops

– Conducting a session on a topic of real concern
– Description of recent work and benefits derived
– Target potential clients
Information services and Research
• Special Information Services
– Periodic Information report
– Highly valued vs. Superficial Information
• Management and business research

– Report on own research
– Potential client may prefer to learn more
– Willingness to share significant findings
e.g. KPMG’s report on Indian Automotive Supply Chain
Advertising
• Purpose
– Arousing the interest of potential clients by telling them
that the products or services are attractive
• Criteria
– Provide small amount of essential information
– Stress the benefits the client is looking for
– Suggesting where and how to contact
– Appealing to preferences and values of potential client
e.g. Accenture’s advertisements in newspapers and TV
Mailing list and Exhibition
• Mailing publicity materials
– Essential to have a good mailing list
– Should be succinct and brief
– Should be well chosen and meaningful to the client
– “Cold contacting”: Waste of time and money
• Exhibition
– Trade fair, professional conventions, conferences
– Presence of representatives
e.g. E&Y UK sponsors exhibitions of works by famous artists
Social activities and Directories
• Professional and social activities
– Create visibility
– Sponsoring social , cultural and sporting activities
– Significant social dimension to consultant’s image
– Contacts with like minded managers/businessmen
e.g. Deloitte – Major sponsor of 2012 Olympics, US Olympic Committee
Oliver Wyman – Acumen Fund for poverty eradication
• Directories
– Indicates competence along with name and address
– Used for short-listing of consultants
– Directories should be well known
Enquiries and Location
• Responding to enquiries
– Availability of resource to handle enquiries
– Utmost courtesy and patience
– Shortest possible time
– Decision on how much to reveal
• Location
– Close to the source of business
– Appearance of office rooms, meeting rooms etc.
– Represent client’s environment
Name and Logo
• Part of goodwill
• Naming after people

– Founder
– Easy to associate
• Naming by activity
– Restrictive if consultant enters new area
– Confusing if it is generic
• Acronym
e.g. KPMG formed after Klynveld ,Peat ,Marwick and Goerdeler
• Logo on letterheads, business cards, printed advertisements

Monitor and Measure
•Conduct survey each year both internally and externally
•Assessment parameters
How many clients were attracted? What is their project
lifetime value?
How many current clients were influenced positively?
What is ‘increased’ lifetime value of their projects?
Changes in how employees feel about campaign?
How do prospect client, alumni feel about campaign?
•Anderson consulting turned into Accenture that believes

in continuous investment
THANK YOU

Marketing of Consulting Services

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Marketing of Consulting services

•Sales are direct activities designed for winning

Know The Don’t Know

Marketing important for even Maintaining

•Farming tries to capitalize on extrinsic selling efforts done in past!

•Give employees correct and big picture of the firm through

•Former costs less than later

• Seminars and workshops

• Management and business research

• Naming after people

• Logo on letterheads, business cards, printed advertisements

•Anderson consulting turned into Accenture that believes

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