Be a “Rock Star” For Your Firm
So, you want to be the in-house marketing rock star at your firm? Let’s discuss some classic tracks that are fan favorites and are proven to win more work.
BD/Due Diligence
Your Go/No Go form is complete and indicates you’ve met with the client before the RFP was released, you understand the scope of the project and it’s a good “fit”, and you know who your competitors are. In short, you’ve done a great job with your due diligence and confirmed your team has a great shot at winning this project. You’ll play second fiddle to nobody!
The December 2009 issue of SMPS’s Marketer featured an article by W. Bruce Lea and J. Rossi titled “The Cold, Hard Truth” has resonated with me and leadership at my firm. Using data gathered from three studies conducted over the last twenty years, it illustrates perfectly that unless you have established solid relationships with your clients, you have little chance of winning new work.
Proposal/Interview
You know this classic tune and I won’t spend much time covering better artists. I will say that even the strongest pre-RFP business development effort is unlikely to overcome a shabby proposal or interview. Identify a unique differentiator for your team, communicate it with crisp language and easily understood graphics, and, during the interview phase, have your team rehearse and be sure they’ve met each other before walking in to meet the client.
Win!
You’ve won the project! Great job! Any idea what your firm did right? I’m sure you debrief after a loss, but have you considered debriefing after a win? Wouldn’t it be great to know what resonated with the client and play that tune again on the next project?
Project Completion
Presumably, your firm has done everything it said it was going to do and the result is a beautiful project and a happy client. Great! Be sure to announce this great news to the world through a press release. Keep it short, simple and powerful. Think “Hey Jude”, not “Stairway to Heaven.” Use a distribution service such as Marketwire or PR Newswire to most efficiently spread the gospel and make your words “Google friendly.”
Also, does your firm conduct client satisfaction surveys? If not, it should. Investigate and uncover issues early so they can’t be dealt with quickly. You as a marketer (i.e. a “people person”) are the perfect client representative to conduct these surveys.
Project Photography
Working for an architect, we live or die by our project imagery. Don’t skimp on photography. Ask for recommendations from your network and price photographers against each other. Early on, coordinate with the entire project team (including the client and consultants) in order to share costs. I worked on one project where the four different firms on the project team each engaged their own photographers to shoot identical views at the same building. Cha-ching!
Design Awards
Everyone values the importance of third party recognition. For our firm, winning design awards is music to our ears. Now that you have a great project, a compelling story and strong photography, awards won’t be far behind. Deftly navigate the numerous awards programs out there and target the “right” awards. Don’t just go after every award just to have them.
Publications
You’re a marketer and therefore understand the importance of building valuable two-way relationships. If you haven’t already, use these skills to add local and national media contacts to your professional network. Don’t be annoying. Be friendly and helpful, offering to be a resource for them. Know their beats and regularly keep up with their columns and blogs. When journalists contact you, get right back with them because they’re likely on a deadline.
When the time is right, pitch a story idea to them in a smart, easy-to-understand way. Offer to lead a tour of that new project to a local media contact. Suggest getting together for a quick coffee. But remember to not be a pest. And don’t pitch the same story to multiple publications, especially if they are competitors. Here are some other ideas to score some press from a recent Wall Street Journal article.
Also remember that white papers and blog entries are great for any firm’s website. It shows knowledge leadership and is great for search engine optimization (“Google juice”).
More Opportunities
This album is sure to be an instant classic, just like your dust covered Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy LP. Play it over and over again, enjoy the melody, and be your firm’s “Rock Star.”
Brian Reilly is the marketing manager at the Washington, DC office of SmithGroup where he leads the company’s client development, marketing and PR efforts. With over fifteen years of experience, Brian has a broad interest in emerging social media opportunities for business. On his blog, One Hundred Percent Overhead, he provides advice on how marketers can break free of the overhead stigma. He can be found on Twitter @reillybri and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/reillybri.
