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The
5
Ps of Professional
Service
Business Marketing
By
Robert Middleton
Plan
and clarify your marketing direction
 The
5Ps of Professional Service Business
Marketing is a model to help you plan and
clarify your marketing
direction.
Each
P below has a list of questions to consider
when you develop your marketing strategy. Use this
page to help develop your marketing
strategy.
Positioning
Your Business
Here
are five key things to consider when developing the
positioning strategy for your
business.
 What
exactly is your Business Solution? That is, how
does your service solve a particular problem,
alleviate a pain or add value?
Who
exactly are your potential clients or
customers? Where are they; what industry; what
size; what needs; what past experience with your
kind of service and what buying process?
What
is your Unique Customer Advantage? That is,
what differentiates you from your competitors. What
do you do better, different, faster, cheaper, with
higher quality or with a different spin? Be
specific, not vague.
What
is your Business Identity? What are the
qualities you want to be known by? Is it integrity
and dependability or expertise and exclusiveness.
You can't be everything to everybody. Next ask what
you are going to do to live up to these
qualities.
What
is your "Phrase that Pays?" What words
concisely sum up your positioning strategy in a way
that is memorable and meaningful, with both style
and content. For Action Plan Marketing it is: "We
help you find new clients without spending a
fortune."
Packaging
Your Services
Here
are five key things to consider when developing the
packaging strategy for your
business.
Do
you have an attractive and appropriate Business
Identity Package consisting of a logo or
company masthead on a business card, letterhead and
envelopes. This is the look for your businesses and
needs to express your identity and positioning
strategy.
Do
you have basic marketing materials (or brochure)
for your business? These materials should
include (but not necessarily be limited to): An
overview of the problem that you are a solution
for; an overview of your solution; a description of
your Unique Customer Advantage; a listing of your
key customer benefits; a listing of your various
services; testimonials from satisfied clients; a
listing of clients or client companies; biographies
of company principals; information on how to
contact your company and how to business with you;
your address, phone, fax and e-mail numbers.
Have
you designed a basic strategy for what services
you'll offer and what the configuration of
those services will be? A three day workshop;
monthly executive coaching and team building
retreats. All of these are packages. They need to
be clearly defined and laid out.
Do
you have a basic logistical plan for your business?
A plan for the office; office hours; telephone
message; signage, etc. All of these simple things
convey a marketing image to your prospective
clients. Create an identity and then package this
identity in everything you do.
Have
you put some attention on your personal package,
your personal presentation? If you're a small
service business you are selling you. You're the
package. People make a dozen or more assumptions
about you and your business in the first few
seconds after meeting you in person or talking to
you on the phone. Are you walking your
talk?
Promoting
Your Services
Here
are five key things to consider when developing the
promotional strategy for your
business.
Are
you networking enough? For many service
businesses, networking is the key promotional
technique. Join organizations; get to know people;
get involved; keep in touch with people; do what
you can to help them; be visible in your
community.
Do
you have a good, solid marketing letter that
highlights your benefits and moves people to
take action? This one inexpensive marketing tool is
one of the most powerful when written properly.
Do
you do personal PR such as speaking and writing?
Again, these don't take much money but pay big
dividends. Speak at Rotary, your Chamber of
Commerce, at business associations and alumni
groups. Write for your local paper; the trade
journal of your industry, or even for someone
else's newsletter. You can use the reprints later
for credibility.
Are
you mailing to people on your list? This is an
absolute must. Don't let people forget who you are
and how you can help them. From two to six times a
year send clients and prospects a newsletter or
other type of keep-in-touch mailing.
Do
you have a Web Site? You should. It doesn't
take a lot of money to create a web page and even
less to post it. This is a powerful media that can
serve as a combination direct mail piece, brochure
and newsletter. Given the price of entry, it's
crazy not to have one.
The
Persuasion Process
Here
are five key things to consider when developing the
persuasion strategy for your
business.
Do
you have an Audio Logo? When someone asks,
"what do you do?" do you have a concise and
powerful solution statement that expresses what you
do in a nutshell? A good format is "I help (who
you're clients are) to (what your solution
is)."
Do
you have a basic phone approach scripted out?
Whether you get incoming calls or make outgoing
calls, you need to have a track to run on that
takes the call from interest to action. Script it
out. Include questions, comments, stories and
closes.
Are
people interested in what your business can do for
them? They'll be much more interested if you're
interested in them first. Find out who your
prospects are; their situation; their challenges;
their problems; their dreams. And then really
listen. Really be interested. What naturally
follows is their interest in what you can do for
them.
Do
you know how to generate desire for your services?
Nothing generates desire better than success
stories about successful projects. Have them at the
ready for over-the-phone or in person meetings.
Do
you wait for people to take action or do you move
the action forward? You've got to ask; you've
got to recommend; you've got to suggest. However,
you don't need to be pushy or obnoxious. But it can
be just as irritating when dealing with a
salesperson who never asks for the sale.
Performance
in Your Business
Here
are five key things to consider when developing the
performance strategy for your
business.
Have
you found a way to fit marketing into your
schedule? Marketing is not a luxury, but a
necessity. You must find ways to do a little
marketing on an ongoing basis. This may be only a
few calls a week and a mailing every few months.
But you must do it!
Do
you keep track of both your long and short-term
projects (including marketing projects), and
review that list daily? Do you prioritize your
projects and work on those first that have the
highest payoff?
Do
you have a way of combating procrastination and
delay? There is nothing worse than generating
work through effective marketing and then getting
behind in the work you have generated.
Do
you maintain the highest standards of integrity and
excellence? Do you under-promise and
over-deliver or visa versa? Your clients will judge
you, not on what you promise but, on what you
actually do.
Are
you continually working to improve your skills in
all areas of your business? Keep up your
reading and education for your core professional
skills while expanding your knowledge in other
areas. Marketing, selling, negotiation, computer,
financial and communication skills are important to
every business.
Would
you like to learn how to apply these ideas in your
business? If so, click
here complete
details.
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