MARKETING
Presentation Topics
Who Markets Your Firm?
Creating Proposals the Win!
Results Billing: How to Create More Revenue in Fewer Hours
WHO MARKETS YOUR FIRM?
A cocktail party. Church. The library. Wherever.
The moment someone meets one of your employees and casually says,
"So... what do you do?" the marketing has begun, even before that employee says a word.
You may or may not have a dedicated person in place with the word marketing in her title or on his business card, but that is only one small factor in the marketing equation. For marketing is simply communication of a message. You and every single person in your corporate environment are all marketing your firm one way or another, if only because you communicate with others every day. The operative question is this: is each member of your firm marketing to your firm's benefit... or to your detriment?
This topic addresses the principal message your organization sends and how to channel that message to your benefit. Presentation segments include:
Personal communications in the marketplace
Intelligent networking
15-second marketing / Business Development 101
Consistency of message / brand
Identifying opportunities
The #1 most important step in communications
If you discovered a diamond mine on property you already owned, would you even for one moment hesitate to buy a shovel and start digging? Your employees can be that diamond mine for you; they are one of your greatest resources for business development! Equip them properly with the requisite tools, and they can help to market your firm effectively and direct to you the kind of business you want.
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CREATING PROPOSALS THAT WIN!
As marketers, we write proposals for one sole purpose: to win.
We invest countless hours in each RFP, and yet often we inadvertently sabotage our own efforts simply because we do not keep the right objective in mind.
If you aren't focused on the right details of the process, all the hard work in the world can't win the bid for you. Allison Christian's corporate experience includes being a Proposal Specialist for one of the largest professional services firms in the world. This results-driven presentation addresses the process of creating proposal documents that get noticed and win engagements. Focus points will include:
What your audience wants to hear you say
Know your target - research, research, research!
Ways to stand out from the pack
The do's and don't's on references
Tailoring your credentials when your experience is spare
After the deadline: what you can do behind the scenes
The single most important step in writing a proposal
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RESULTS BILLING: HOW TO CREATE MORE REVENUE IN FEWER HOURS
Ah, the simple, time-honored system of hourly billing.
You do the work, you track your time, and then you send a bill for the hours.
So if it's so simple, why must you spend so much time on your billing instead of on actual billable work?
Many professional service firms bill by the hour. Unfortunately, however, while hourly billing has been around practically since professional services began, this system fails us on several levels. Most egregious is that it equates time with money - that is, in order to make more money, one must work more hours. But time is a finite resource, which for most professionals means an automatic limit imposed on profitability. And really, as nice as higher revenues might sound, who wants to spend more hours at the office to get them?
This presentation is based upon Harmony's design and implementation of results billing systems for our professional services clients and covers the essentials of the process, including:
What results billing actually means and how it differs from what you're doing currently
How to determine if it's right for your firm
The first step in breaking the hourly billing cycle
How to begin transitioning your present system
How to categorize your engagements
Possible obstacles to watch for
How to get your clients on board
Results billing can free you to get more accomplished, better, and in fewer hours. And you'll spend significantly less time poring over your pre-bill sheets, WIP, and write-off reports. This presentation will educate you on the possibilities so you can make informed choices about your billing process and decide if it's time to adjust your billing process.
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