The Power of a Digital Sales Force

it’s a newbrand world

proposition onewe believe your firm

should be able to generate leadseven without good sales people

proposition twowe are all consulting firms

proposition threeyes, clients and prospects alike

want expertise and value butthey will cherish you for your ideas

the situation

law firms are facing no-to-slow growth and increased competition within the industry

accounting firms are facing stiff competition outside the industry as they expand and diversify their consulting services into new and adjacent industries

consulting firms are seeing the same issues as accounting firms

associations will always struggle to grow membership and hold onto senior members

the situation

all of these service categories generally lack differentiation law firms suffer most, remaining inwardly

focused, skeptical of brand, uncertain of positioning and grasping onto business development

accounting firms are rising to the challenge consulting & other professional firms not so

much associations fail to understand their value or

keys to their brand

the situation

this means you are under increasing pressure to deliver measurable, impactful results.

“The expectation of CMOs has moved from providing great marketing to demonstrably accelerating profitable growth.”

Egon Zehnder, CMO Redefined “53% of CMOs felt an increased pressure to

enable revenue growth”Deloitte/Salesforce, Digital Divide CMO

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

the situation

everyone falls short on client engagement in flying their flag in the market place in understanding that interest is attracted

with ideas, ideas, ideas in providing a consistent client experience

(even in areas where this is easy such as the online experience)

in nurturing clients from the moment they sign on through the client life cycle

firms fail to create lasting brands because leadership lacks

the courage to differentiate the understanding of what a/the brand is

or its long-term value and, therefore, the commitment to stick with it

but not because they lack the budget or the time

but today, even though we are going to spend so much time on tech, this is actually a trialogue between brand, brand content and brand technology

a distinctive identity

based on a promise of value

different from any other

what is apple’s brand?

apple’s brand position is

innovation ease of use and groundbreaking design in every

category it touches

take a second to jot down your thoughts.

apple’s brand expression is

light (typographically Garamond) white (atmospherically) colorful and bold (in its imagery) simple (in its software and interface; i.e. in its

user experience) playful (in its attitude, never mean, confident) different (like you will be seen—the promise of

value) friendly and appealing

take a second to jot down your thoughts.

year after year

in every single thing the company does

a brand must be born…and raised!

measure your own brand

rules of the road: sustain the brand

always circular with a “counter”

the Web 2.0 funnel

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TACTICS

“WHO ARE YOU…REALLY?”

“WHY SHOULD I DO BUSINESS WITH YOU?”

“CAN WE DO A DEAL?”

BUILDING A BRAND

IDENTITYADVERTISING (adwords, banner ads, minisites, custom URLs)

PUBLIC RELATIONS (social networking)SPONSORSHIPS (including research)

WEBSITE (SEO. blogs and industry portals, video )

PERSONALITY, VALUES AND VALUE PROPOSITION

DIRECT MARKETING

WEBINARS, PODCASTS AND VIDEO FOCUSED WEB CONTENT & BLOGS

COORDINATED ONLINE ANDOFFLINE COMMUNICATIONS

POV ON CLIENT BUSINESS ISSUES

SALES SUPPORT:

MARKETECTURETRACKING

INTERACTIVE RFPSSALES PORTALS

SURVEYS

ACCOUNT AND OPPORTUNITY PURSUIT

TIER THREEpriority prospects at/before/after proposal stage

TIER ONEbusinesspeople and recruits who affect service and selection

TIER TWOclients and other potential buyers (the segmented C-Suite by select industries and practice)

this simple and elegant diagramdemands an update and, alas,

it’s a bit more complex because a sale is no longer the end of the funnel

(if it ever was)

the Web 2.0 funnel

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“WHO ARE YOU…REALLY?”

“WHY SHOULD I DO BUSINESS WITH YOU?”

“CAN WE DO A DEAL?”

BUILDING A BRAND





DIRECT MARKETING




SALES SUPPORT:



SURVEYS


TIER THREEpriority prospects at/before/after proposal stage

TIER ONEbusinesspeople and recruits who affect service and selection

TIER TWOclients and other potential buyers (the segmented C-Suite by select industries and practice)

CLIENTEXPERIENCE

the solutiononline and offline, firms must deliver brand positioning that differentiates

the firm—with creative and content live the brand across all channels ruthlessly generate demand through content

marketing—content, not chatter! improve the online experience on your site

through design, attention to user experience and technology

re-engineer the client experience from start to finish

the Web 2.0 funnel

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BUILDING A BRAND





DIRECT MARKETING




SALES SUPPORT:



SURVEYS


CLIENTEXPERIENCE

we’ve all become sohyperfocusedhere

the Web 2.0 funnel

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BUILDING A BRAND





DIRECT MARKETING




SALES SUPPORT:



SURVEYS


CLIENTEXPERIENCE

we may beneglectingeasy successeshere

digital sales force

technology has seemingly increased complexity

but marketing and sales still has one destination

LEADS

LEADS

but no one will find you here

BRAND STRATEGY & POSITION

unless first, they begin—and clearly understand you—here

BRAND EXPRESSION& CONTENT

but they will only start to notice you here



so, step one? brand strategy and position; i.e., stand for something, be recognizably you

visual design strategy

the Internet has changed the funnel into a

feedback system

WEBSITE

what stops in the system should we recognize?

WEBSITE

EVENTS

EMAILSEO

SEM

SOCIAL

BLOGS



what system stops should we recognize

WEBSITE

EVENTS

EMAILSEO

SEM

SOCIAL

BLOGS



this is a typical catalogueof content

this is a curateduserexperience

so is this

and thiswith only video

“75% of B2B buyers rely more on content to research in order to make B2B purchasing decisions than they did a year ago.”

(DemandGen Report)

“Type of content used in the past 12 months to research B2B purchasing decisions: White Papers (78%); Case Studies (73%); Webinars (67%); eBooks (58%); Videos (58%); Blog Posts (56%); Infographics (52%) (DemandGen Report)

TAKEAWAYS…FOR NOW?

what’s eating up our time and creating anxiety?

WEBSITE

EVENTS

EMAILSEO

SEM

SOCIAL

BLOGS

but our time and attention should go here:

WEBSITE

EVENTS

EMAILSEO

SEM

SOCIAL

BLOGS

PROPOSALS

SALES PRESENTATIONS

BRAND EXPERIENCE



PROPOSALS

we seem to be waking up to our focus here

SALES PRESENTATIONS

BRAND EXPERIENCE

what a short distance from client to resale

BRAND EXPERIENCE

make noise here

BRAND EXPERIENCE

TAKEAWAYS? QUESTIONS?

let’s talk.

The Power of a Digital Sales Force

Marketing

brand content

skeptical of brand

brand technology

consulting firms

apples brand position

apples brand expression

professional firms

situation law firms