Effective selling professional services

1. Effective Selling - Professional Services
John Colvin
July 2015

2. Effective Selling – Professional Services
Discussion points
1. Marketing and Sales Process Map
2. Need for Vision
3. Role of Positioning
4. Importance of Differentiation
5. Role of Values
6. High Level Process Map
7. Account Management
8. Bid Management
9. Sales Management
2

3. 1. Map of Marketing and Sales Process
3
Market
Segment
Total
Market
Single
Client
ANGLE
OF VIEW
TIMESCALE WeeksYears
Corporate
Positioning and
Promotion
Market
Segmentation
Segment
Marketing
Networking
Marketing
Programmes
Sales
Conversion
Account
Management
Bid
Management
Sales
Management

4. 2. Need for Vision
• To be the leading law firm in Australia
• Marketing, sales and operating processes all need to be framed with a purpose in mind.
• This aspiration governs everything that the firm does.
4

5. 2. Need for Vision
What does "leading" mean?
• Owners
• 30% return on revenue
• Clients
• Research confirms firm seen by major corporates as best supplier of consulting services
• Staff
• Research confirms that firm seen by all levels of staff as the best place to work
5

6. 3. Role of Positioning
• What industries?
• What companies?
(large, medium, small)
• What clients?
• What services?
• A lot of choices
6

7. 4. Importance of Differentiation
• Differentiation based on our assets
• People
• Know-how (consulting, industry, issue, thought leadership etc)
• Processes and systems
• Style
• Track record
• Customer relationships
• Brand - reputation
• Which ones do we choose and why?
7

8. 5. Role of Values
• The brand is a result of
• What we do (products/services)
• How we do it (behaviours)
• So every professional has a chance to enhance or dilute the brand with every client interaction
• Consistent behaviours with clients is a key feature of every world class professional services firm
8

9. 6. High Level Process Map
9
Firm ValueMarketing/Sales
Management
Thought Leadership (Platforms)
Account Management
Bid Management
Matter Debrief/
Customer satisfaction
ENABLING PROCESSES
• Knowledge
management
• Precedents
• All other know-
how
• Recruitment
• Career Path
• Assessment
& Rewards
• Training &
Development
• Service &
Product
Development
Marketing Communications C
U
S
T
O
M
E
R
I
N
D
U
S
T
R
Y
• Policy
development,
deployment,
maintenance &
conformance
CORE CAPABILITIES
Resource
Management
Risk
Management
Financial
Management
C
O
R
E
P
R
O
C
E
S
S
E
S
• Personal
Relationships
• Account
Relationship
& History
• Industry
Knowledge
• Legal
Knowledge
• Thought Leadership
• Methodologies
• Matter Summaries
• Tools & Techniques
• Referral
relationships
• Skills
• Competencies
• Track record
• Strategic &
Commercial Nous
• Values &
Behaviours
• Style
• Products
(eg SILC)
• Firm policies
• Adherence
to policies
Pricing
Management
– Relationships
– Project Mngt.
– Operating Risk
Mngt./QA
Matter,
Management
& Operation
CLIENTS KNOWLEDGE
• Management
processes
• Business
processes
• Infrastructure
- Hardware
- Networks
- Software
• Operating Systems
PEOPLE PRODUCTSPOLICIES SYSTEMS & PROCESSES TECHNOLOGY
• Precedents
• Opinions
• Advices
• Infobanks
• Process
& systems
development
• Technology
platform
development &
maintenance
• Organisation &
work re-design
• Management
Systems
• Legal Systems
• Business
Systems
Vision &
Values
Strategy Structure
Planning
Policies &
Procedures
Measurement
Guidelines
Appraisal Reward MIS
REFERRALS
Brand
Strengths
Client
Base
Market
Share
Profit
Ability
Lawyer
Attraction
MANAGEMENT PROCESSES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

10. 7. Account Management
10
 Thought leadership
 Product/service development
 Trends
 Alliances
 Competitors
 Which segments
 Which clients
 Which services/products
 Desired profitability
Services Markets
Business Plans
Account Plans
Environment
 Technology
 Regulation
 Globalisation
Desired Brand Image Actual Brand Image

11. 7. Account Management
11
Years
1.5 210.25
Long-term
Short-term
ACTION
PLAN
Strategic Milestones
Firm’s Goal for the Account
Account Vision 3 years
2 - 3 years
1.5 years
3 - 4 months

12. 7. Account Management Process
• Greater focus on customer's business
• Focus on understanding customer organisation and developing relationships
• Uniform process for planning and managing all accounts
• Pragmatic and system process for identifying biggest profit improvement areas, developing
competitive solutions and cost-effective plans
• Focus on priorities
• Teamwork approach
Aim: To increase customer satisfaction and to identify solutions which grow customer’s business
12

13. 7. Standard Account Management Tools
• Account Planning Tool
• Addressing all the business you do with the account
• One plan per account (very large organisations may justify more than one plan)
• Update and review quarterly
• Customer Satisfaction Scorecard
• Identifying major improvement areas
• Update and review as appropriate
• Opportunity Planning Tool
• Managing specific pieces of potential business (bids and prospects)
• One plan per significant sales opportunity within the account
• Continual update and review process
• Success through anticipating and meeting customer needs better
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14. 7. Account Management – Summary
14
Elements of Account Planning
Current Position
Our Goal
Account
Performance
Recent Major
Sales & Losses
Account Vision
Relationships
Account Business
Environment
Projects and
Opportunities
Brain-
storming
Strategic Milestones to Achieve
Account Vision and Goal
Basic
Competitive
Requirements
Weaknesses
Strengths
Competitive
Advantage
Competitors
Risks
A
n
a
l
y
s
i
s
C
u
s
t
o
m
e
r
V
i
e
w
p
o
i
n
t
Agreeing Milestones
and Action Plan

15. 8. Bid Management
15
Elements of Bid Strategy
Summarised by “Blue Sheet”
Single Sales Objective Competitive Position Key Buying Criteria?
Buying Influences Results Wins How Well Covered?
Agreeing a Strategy
Position Today
Strengths/Weaknesse
s
Possible Actions Agreed Actions
a
n
a
l
y
s
i
s

16. 9. Sales Management
16
1.5 : 11.5 : 11.5 : 1
Sales Management Process
Inputs
Account
Mgmt.
Bid Mgmt.
Marketing
Direct
Enquiries
Opps Qualified
Opps
Proposal Sales Stock Utilisation Revenue Cash
Management of Sales Process
Management of Operating Resources
Extensions
(80%)
80% +
13 w

17. Contact Details
17
John Colvin
Principal
E: jcolvin@johncolvin.com.au
M: +61 409 183 174
S: +61 2 8823 3485
Level 36, Governor Phillip Tower
1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Sandra Heinig
Senior Associate
E: sh@johncolvin.com.au
M: +61 416 731 897
S: +61 2 8823 3485
D: +61 2 8823 3487
Level 36, Governor Phillip Tower
1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Sian O’Shaughnessy
Research Analyst
E: sian@johncolvin.com.au
D: +61 2 8823 3485
Level 36, Governor Phillip Tower
1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia