Golden Practices

Defining Who You Are and Who You Aren't = Specializing

Who you aren't (see my last post) often comes up when discussing who you are.

A brilliant comment to that post from my friend Marijean Jaggers (of Standing Partnership, a PR firm) inspires me to post more on this subject.

The result of the "who are you" question ends up being a specialization definition. Problem is, the bigger a firm is, the less comfortable they are "eliminating" anyone. Seat squirming begins.

To illustrate, I'll use some extremes. How about this firm, not only BOLDLY illustrating whom they DO serve, but using copy to entice (hmmm, perhaps a bad word choice?) their prospective clients by stating that they should no longer be shunned by other firms.

"Have an adult business your accountant doesn't understand or wish to deal with..."

Hey, I said it was an extreme example.

Anyway, my point is, the specializing approach isn't going away. In fact, more and more firms, particularly newly emerging boutique firms, are employing this strategy. It makes sense! As laws and regulations get more and more complex, it's just getting too expensive, and FAR too risky, to "generalize."

So, here is a much more tame example focusing on the restaurant industry.

Again, my point -- stated in a different way -- is that nothing is more compelling than representing your limits.

• All things to all people is compelling to absolutely no one.
• A couple things for a couple groups is somewhat more compelling.
• All things for one group is significantly more compelling.
• A limited number of really strong things for one group is the most compelling.

Comments?

Who Aren't You?

If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times.

Figure out who you are (and who you AREN'T) and boldly state BOTH!

These guys have done exactly that:

Hat tip to Brian Weinstock at Danna McKitrick for pointing me to Partridge Snow & Hahn's "Brand PS&H" page.

Best Marketing Blogs

Todd Andrlik (who goes by Todd And) is a fresh-thinking PR & marketing consultant who was inspired to develop a list of the Top Marketing Blogs that he calls the Power 150.

He built it because he was looking for the best blogs on marketing, PR, branding, etc., and could only find a consolidated list in Dutch. So he set about developing an English language version and that's what you'll find here.

His scoring is a blend of popularity (Google pagerank+subscribers from one Bloglines feed+Technorati rank) and his subjective score.

There are a ton of fantastic blogs to explore in this list! I still haven't got through checking them all out. After his top 150, he lists about as many "honorable mentions."

With so many excellent blogs on marketing, I'm very honored that Golden Practices--especially being niche specific--is on this list (presently at 182). I owe my readers, and Todd, a big thank you for that.

Be sure to check out some of the other 295 blogs he has identified. And if you want to search these blogs for specific advise, click on his Kitchen Sink link and do a keyword search. For anyone with marketing questions, this is a HUGE resource!

Thank you for creating this, Todd!

'Cool' As a Differentiator

Inc. magazine features Jeff Garrison, the managing partner of Stonefield Josephson in CA.

What a fun way to break the stereotype of boring CPA. Jeff Garrison, Stonefield Josephson's managing partner, is featured in April 2007's Inc. magazine on page 86.

His write-up (in "The Inc. Life") includes these snips:

Jeffrey Garrison wants to shatter the CPA stereotype. “I’ve never worn a pocket protector,” he says. Instead, Garrison, who has led the Los Angeles-based full-service accounting firm Stonefield Josephson since 2002, prefers to don a leather jacket and straddle a Harley. It’s a look he displayed in an advertising campaign to show the firm’s personality.

“Accountants aren’t dorks,” says Garrison.

To prove it, the company maintains a “back porch” section on its website to showcase the private passions of its CPAs, which range from art collecting to surfing to cooking. On the site, CPAs offer recipes for paella, chicken tarragon, and other favorite dishes, and Garrison suggests wine pairings.

Exposing the firm’s soft side has helped it reach $40 million in annual revenue, says Garrison, and attract hip clients such as the Black Eyed Peas, the Sports Club/LA, Paul Frank Industries, and True Religion.

Among the things he "Can't Live Without"?

Buck the Talking Deer*, $150 “He’s a fake deer that’s mounted on my office wall. When people sit at my desk, I can talk through a microphone and the voice comes out of Buck, who moves his lips and head. He also sings. It cracks me up.”

I absolutely LOVE when firms are comfortable showing their true personalities! In this era of "reality" EVERYthing, authenticity not only sells, it's requisite!

________
* bummer, according to this site, Buck has been discontinued, but at least you can still get yourself a "Decoy Roy the Singing Mallard"...

Fun Branding for a Law Firm

Check out this distinctive letterhead for a divorce lawyer! My son found this at bored.com

 

10 Ways to Specialize

It's one thing to say we specialize and it's another thing to do it. Here are 10 ways to prove you have a specialty and to maximize it:

1. Make the specialty a priority in CPE/CLE, marketing, and service (and SAY SO publicly!)

2. Bring in non-technical experts to speak at exclusive events you host or underwrite. Other industry experts or entertainers mean less work for you, more enjoyment for the audience, and you get all the credit.

3. Attend industry seminars and other events where you see, or even accompany, your clients.

4. Spend ample time developing processes to most effectively (and profitably!) serve THOSE clients.

5. Continuously add and improve products (services) to solve problems inherent in that industry.

6. Read and write for key print or on-line publications of the industry.

7. Explore, teach, and even help legislate about a variety of topics (meaning not JUST accounting or legal topics) within the industry.

8. Feature industry specific websites/blogs, updated often to show day-to-day involvement and expertise.

9. Hire non-financial or non-legal professionals to enhance expertise to industry (e.g. hire a registered nurse to consult with HC clients--some law and CPA firms do this very successfully)

10. Partner with other organizations to provide non-traditional solutions when it’s not practical or profitable to have the resource in-house.

We do at least seven of these. How many do you do?

What B2B Sites Can Learn From B2C Sites

B2B gives "bad web"? Yep. Especially when compared to B2C sites.

A great post by Anita Campbell on her Selling to Small Business blog (fantastic to follow if small biz is a market of yours) references Jakob Nielsen's (expert on web content and usability) assertions (emphasis mine):

"Many business-to-business (B2B) sites are stuck in the 1990s in their attitude toward the user experience.

Most B2B sites emphasize internally focused design, fail to answer customers' main questions or concerns, and block prospects' paths as they search for companies to place on their shortlists.

These sites haven't realized that the Web has reversed the company-customer relationship. Most online interactions are demand-driven: you either give people what they want or watch as they abandon your site for the competition's....

Considering that there's immensely more money at stake for B2B than for business-to-consumer (B2C), it's astounding that B2B sites offer a much worse user experience."

I couldn't agree more. Lack of clarity, lack of interesting information, and lack of direction (i.e. "where do I go next?") render most professional service firm sites useless.

Campbell picked up Nielsen's research findings from Dianna Huff, author of the Marcom Writer Blog (another great resource, especially for marketing professionals). Here, Huff emphasizes the need for stronger content and "best practices" with regard to navigation.

One thing I see repeatedly with B2B sites is lack of content. “Our Website is our online brochure,” business people will say to me with regard to a five or six-page site. Unfortunately, people don’t view Websites the way they view a 6-8 page glossy color brochure....And, when was the last time a prospect made a buying decision based on a brochure?

B2B sites must also support the decision/buying process for each person in the buying cycle — whether influencer or decision maker.

Jakob Nielsen's research is discussed in his June 1, 2006 Alertbox. The free portion of his in-depth report includes this key point about a perception mistake made by B2B orgs (again, emphasis mine):

One of the biggest differences between B2B and B2C might be that most B2B companies don't seem to see themselves as engaged in e-commerce. Perhaps this is because most B2B sites don't have shopping carts. The typical B2B product can't be purchased through a simple Add to cart button...also prices might not be fixed, but rather adjusted to each customer.

However, the lack of an Add to cart button doesn't mean that B2B vendors should ignore their websites. The site should still support the many other stages of the buying process — including the post-sales stages, which are crucial to customers' long-term brand loyalty.

Nielsen makes some other statements that answer some common questions firms ask. I've framed the questions and inserted, as indented text, his statements.

Why is "free" information (whitepapers, articles, blogs) essential?

Most important, B2B sites can be great lead generators. Prospects use websites during their initial research and stick with the helpful sites during subsequent research.

...research and multi-criteria decision-making dominate the B2B user experience. B2B sites must provide a much wider range of information than what's common in B2C. A B2B site has to offer simple facts that are easily and quickly understood by an early prospect who's just looking around to see what's available. It must also offer in-depth white papers and information....

Why are brochure sites (without detailed information) a problem?

Most of our users also said that when they were thinking of doing business with a company, one of their first actions was to check out its website. Thus, a site that inadequately communicates the credibility of a vendor and its products can seriously deter incoming leads -- long before your official sales efforts begin.

What is the worst mistake B2B sites make?

The most user-hostile element of most B2B sites is a complete lack of pricing information. And yet, when we asked users to prioritize which of 28 types of B2B site information mattered most to them, prices scored the highest by far (29% higher than product availability, which ranked second).

Sites have many excuses for not wanting to display prices, but they are just that: excuses. Users expect to get a basic understanding of products and services during their initial research, and they can't do that without some idea of what it's going to cost. Even if your company can't list exact prices, there are several ways to indicate price level, which is really all people need initially.

Interesting find! Remember, though, readers look at sites to qualify possible solutions.

As such, budget is usually a major consideration. Yet finding pricing info on a site is nearly unheard of! Even if firms cannot abide by putting prices on their sites, recognize that discussing unique pricing strategies is one of the greatest differentiators that you can offer:

• how you price, for example www.exemplarlaw.com touts "no hourly bill, no hourly bull"
• price point, some firms like to be the low cost leader, others are proud to be high-priced and claim they offer value appropriate for their price
• unique payment terms, do you spread payments out for clients?

One thing is apparent. If readers cannot find what they need, they may never call and you may never know what you've missed.

Perhaps the most alarming of Nielsen's findings:

One reason so many B2B sites have poor usability might be because they're less directly accountable for sales. On a classic B2C e-commerce site, every single design decision directly and measurably affects the site's conversion rate and other metrics, such as the average shopping cart size. Many B2C sites are religious in their observance of e-commerce usability guidelines because they know from their own statistics how much money they lose every time they get usability wrong.

In contrast, because B2B sites don't close sales online, they can turn away the vast majority of users and never know how many sales they've lost. A company can determine how its site helps or hinders users only by conducting user research with representative customers -- something most companies don't do. Given our experiences in testing 179 B2B sites, we can safely predict that most companies would be shocked if they ever tested their own sites.

Briggs Bunting & Dougherty Launches New Website & Identity

We're really excited about yesterday's launch of our client's new identity and website.

This was by far quickest website we've ever developed--we only began in January! Their marketing director, Erin McClafferty was outstanding to work with, was exceptionally open to ideas, and brought a fresh sense of creativity to the project. A very fun project.

Briggs Bunting & Dougherty is one of the few CPA firms specializing in mutual fund audits. We wish them a ton of luck in growing their practice.

Taglines: Both Ends of the Spectrum

Mark Merenda on his Smart Marketing blog has a great post on taglines!

Merenda points to lawmarketing's collection of over 100 taglines (thanks for the refresher, Mark, I'd forgotten about this interesting list).

He also highlights the longest (perhaps a descriptor rather than a tagline, but definitely waaaaay too long of a sentence--rather amusing) and the shortest: "N.A.A." (Not An A**hole)!

Reinventing Your Firm, Ingredients for Success

To accompany my Business Lies post, the following list by Sam Decker of the Decker Marketing Blog is also quite good for new business ventures.

But even more important than passing this list on to clients is for you to realize that your firm should really study, pursue and achieve these characteristics to enable your firm to break out from the pack.

Specialization is a topic on my mind lately as is Distinction. This list of powerful success ingredients suggests exactly where firms should look to innovate and reinvent themselves. I welcome your comments.

25 Characteristics of The Ideal Startup

1. Defendable and differentiated
2. Competitive cost structure
3. Attractive partnership opportunities
4. Repeat customers
5. Word of mouth opportunity
6. Memorable product and name
7. Potential for PR
8. Attractive to be bought or merged
9. Scaleable staff and systems
10. Scaleable product -- build once, sell many times
11. Uncomplicated
12. Focus
13. Niche market or fragmented industry
14. High velocity and large market / industry
15. High perceived value
16. Product can be accessorized – revenue synergies
17. Healthy cash flow –> margin x velocity
18. Demonstrable felt need, demand – does it hit a primal chord?
19. Business can be measured for improvement
20. Can claim leadership
21. Sales model is scaleable and predictable
22. Product evokes emotion
23. Can make big wins – big customers
24. Limited exposure to legal issues
25. Own relationship with and information about customers

1. Defendable and differentiated
2. Competitive cost structure
3. Attractive partnership opportunities
4. Repeat customers
5. Word of mouth opportunity
6. Memorable product and name
7. Potential for PR
8. Attractive to be bought or merged
9. Scaleable staff and systems
10. Scaleable product -- build once, sell many times
11. Uncomplicated
12. Focus
13. Niche market or fragmented industry
14. High velocity and large market / industry
15. High perceived value
16. Product can be accessorized – revenue synergies
17. Healthy cash flow –> margin x velocity
18. Demonstrable felt need, demand – does it hit a primal chord?
19. Business can be measured for improvement
20. Can claim leadership
21. Sales model is scaleable and predictable
22. Product evokes emotion
23. Can make big wins – big customers
24. Limited exposure to legal issues
25. Own relationship with and information about customers

More on Distinction by Actions

The other day, I posted on firms needing to distinguish themselves more effectively.

I feel the need to add this...

I'd like to emphasize that the claims of "actions" must be readily apparent in a brochure or website. If they aren't evident just by their nature (e.g. no charge for phone calls, no hourly billing, etc) then they must be substantiated somehow or another (testimonials, case studies, etc).

Let me express: service quality isn't going to be impressive enough as a differentiator. Most firms pay lip service to things like "responsive," "on time," or "proactive" in their brochures or on the web. These are basic expectations, folks. No one can argue that they should be the rule, not the exception! Just as competence is expected by a paying customer, so is good service.

In marketing, nearly every firm now claims the above traits (though few consistently deliver) so while doing these might actually make you different, claiming them doesn't at all differentiate you, rather it throws you right into the pack. And citing these as advantages of working with your firms just shows how low the bar is within the profession, doesn't it?

All this "timely, proactive" stuff just sounds like blah-blah-blah to the customer who has found that firms don't usually do a good job despite their claims. Great. Now we have false advertising. And on stuff that should be a gimme. But I digress.

Real distinction, in my mind, is stuff like:

Value pricing in advance (using fixed price agreements and change orders as necessary)

Specialization in an industry or a narrow area of practice whereby you become highly visible in the circles of your customers

Humanizing your people: some do it through unique bios/bio photos and others do it by featuring "a day in the life" of their people

Service packaging/bundling for instance offering a level of all-inclusive services such as the "concierge model" with no charging for phone calls or other access to you

Not tracking time (trash the timesheet) -- think how much law or accounting students are drawn to these firms!! It is undeniable.

There is a price to pay--an investment--in becoming distinct. Most firms won't DO these things because they aren't easy. And they are non-traditional. They are different. Innovative. Not safe.

But customers and recruits eat them up.

The results are worth the effort.

Few Firms Get the Point of Differentiation.

How hard is your firm working to differentiate itself?

Either in your customer marketplace or talent marketplace, it is very likely that while you are trying so hard to differentiate yourselves, you are all doing it the SAME WAY. It's not helping you to be truly DISTINCTIVE.

Noted in a recent post on the What About Clients? blog by Dan Hull is the following telling comment of a third-year University of Chicago law student (at an event attended by law firms of 5-1500 people) when asked:

"Based on websites, brochures and materials sent to law student recruits, could she differentiate between the many firms with which she was interviewing?"

She paused for a long time before answering. Finally, she responded as nicely as she could. "Frankly, based on the materials, all of you seem to be exactly the same."

My theory? 

Remember, your brochures, websites, etc, are just words. And pictures.

Distinction is about ACTION.

Your words and images in your marketing materials will only be distinct if they demonstrate what you DO DIFFERENTLY from everyone else.

You can't fake differentiation in a brochure or on a Web site through design elements, taglines and word choices.

So, are you actually DOING anything differently from other firms? Saying you're different is not enough. Be honest. Ask yourself...

Are you really distinctive?

If so, tell the story. If not, you might want to start distinguishing yourself from the rest. Either via specialization, employee policies, unique leadership structure, or something even more powerful.

When you are competing for amazing customers and brilliant talent, you've got to prove you're worthy of them.

Stonefield Josephson Does it Again

Lyne Noella, Director of Corporate Strategy, and her team at this creative California accounting firm have put together a classy print version of recipes--taking the recipe featured of their cool back porch to yet another level.

Cudos, Stonefield Josephson, for continuing to show the human side of your firm's professionals!

It really works.

Photo courtesy of Bodine's post detailing the features of the cookbook.

Trends in Naming Firms: Deviating From Partner Names

As one in favor of being direct, I appreciate a business name that concisely articulates the purpose of the business. Maybe that's why I liked the name this CPA firm recently chose:

K2S - Knowledge to Solutions

In professional firm circles, discussion arises frequently about what to do with long firm names, especially those consisting of long-retired partners.

According to the press release about their name choice, the former McMahon, O'Polka, Guelcher and Associates said:

"Not only does this new name put the focus on what their business really is, it also has a degree of permanence to it. It will survive regardless of the names of the people who happen to be the owners now or in the future."

Amazing Bio Photos

I'm totally impressed! A law firm in the UK has truly differentiated themselves with their website. Their homepage is unique to be sure. (Get this! They ACTUALLY have the word "people" in their 3-word descriptor!)

But check out these unusual and artful bio photos. I've seen some cool approaches to unique bio photos before such as those from the Canadian law firm depicting hobbies or personal interests and the Eastern US firm who uses caricatures, but these are really over the top. Some are hobby-like, but others are just off-the-wall.

Then some of their bio descriptions are hysterical...reflecting that fantastic British humour, I suppose. Take the gent who describes his "Personal Highlight" as "Going home in the evening"

Or Mr. Sidlow who answers the standard questions:

Personal Highlight: My first "Hole in One". It was a bright morning in the spring of 1983. Standing on the opening Par 3 of some 158 yards, I faced a difficult club selection decision……please phone for further details

Likes: Telling really interesting golfing tales

Dislikes: When nobody listens to my really interesting golfing tales

Amazingly, their bios say almost nothing about their credentials beyond their position, practice area and, for some, the year they joined the firm--but the missing lists of professional accomplishments doesn't matter one iota. What they've done is humanize themselves spectacularly.

Way to break out from the pack.

So let's hear three cheers for DWF! Hip, hip, hooray!

(and a special thanks to the fabulous Gerry Riskin for posting about this firm on his blog and making my day!)

*all photos from, and property of, DWF

How to Develop a Tagline for Your Firm

A great article appeared yesterday in Business Week online called: Slogans That are the Real Thing.

Written by Smart Answers columninst, Karen Klein, the article is a Q&A with San Mateo based marketing and branding expert Eric Swartz. It covers what it is that makes a great tagline and includes some results from a study Swartz conducted to determine which taglines have stood the test of time and have helped companies increase their brand equity.

Swartz recommends taglines should be short: 7 words or fewer and must emphasize how your company or product is different from your competitors. He gives an example of that differentiation:

"For instance, there may be about five positions that toothpaste companies can stake out: tastes good, fights cavities, whitens teeth, freshens breath, etc. When Tom's of Maine entered the market very late, they had to pitch something different -- the environmental benefits of their brand.  Otherwise, they would have just encroached on what their competitors were doing and diluted their entry into the marketplace."

As to what makes a bad tagline, Swartz warns against making it too clever-sounding such that it calls unnecessary attention to itself "Look at me, I'm a clever tagline!" He says that a tagline that "comes across as pompous, nonsensical, meaningless, or confusing" misses the mark or can even backfire.

If your firm is thinking of creating a tagline, remember that a firm tagline can be good for big picture branding, but individual practice areas may merit their very own taglines.

Think about the difference of importance to you, at purchase time, between the Proctor & Gamble brand and tagline/mission "We will provide products of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world's consumers." verses their specific paper towel ("Bounty. The quilted quicker picker upper.") or deodorant ("Secret. Strong enough for a man, yet made for a woman.") brands and the product specific marketing they do.

If you have a Business Valuation niche or Retail practice group, your commitment to those specialized services is amplified when you take the time to brand them independently.

This article is a great read if you're going to go down the tagline path anytime soon.

The Five Basics of Marketing (a la Kotler)

The good folks over at Brand Autopsy have a great post on THE 5 basics of marketing. They refer to an excellent and brief article on CNN.com sharing the expertise of Kotler with his "five top tips for marketing success." Snippets, here, but go read the whole article on CNN.com. It's a gem.

Note the emphasis on emotional appeal, creating a customer experience, strategic choices in product, continual differentiation and commitment to being superior at whatever you choose to go into. 

1. Come in under the radar

"The key to brand-building is to have something good that you roll-out in a very intelligent way. Maybe even invisibly for a while because you want to be under the radar screen of competitors." (a la Corona Beer, the largest selling in the U.S.)

2. Know your customer

"There are still too many CEOs who identify marketing with selling and advertising... Don't just go after everyone. Define the target market carefully through segmentation and then really position yourself as different and as superior to that target market. Don't go into that target market if you're not superior."

3. Own your branding

"We are not in a state of competition anymore; we're in a state of hyper-competition. So people are desperately looking for handles -- functional features, emotional appeals -- that will draw people to their product. We should think of owning a word or a phrase that helps to build customer retention and loyalty."

4. Stay ahead of the competition

"The worst thing is that if something works, your competitors are going to clone it and before you know it anything that you had as a differentiator is imitated by the others. So you're in the business of constant innovation. Constantly asking yourself, 'Three years from now, what will our differentiator be?' ... Markets change, so marketing has to change."

5. Make it an experience

"There's a big movement to say, 'we're not just adding services to our business and our product, we're actually trying to design an experience.' You'll see that language being used. We're in the experience design business."

Havens on Branding

Andy Havens is my hero. I wish I could write like this man. He delivers his messages with such style and humor! That's why I love his Legal Marketing Blog. I've enjoyed his discussion list posts for a long, long time, but his blog is "Andy unleashed"!

See his post on branding. He covers lots of excellent points on the subject including the fact that advertising isn't a necessary element of establishing a brand: a common misconception. He explains why.