As a consultant there are more limited distribution channels: building your network, performing sub-contract work and establishing strategic partnerships.
Promotional activities
Questions Actions
Advertising What specific trade publications do you read? Refer to?
How long is the ‘shelf life’ of each advertisement? What figures can the publications provide on their readership? Response rates?
Press relations What journalists do you know?
What contacts might you be able to leverage in the press?
What is a unique story that you could tell?
What subject material would help you in establishing your credibility?
Marketing communications
What is the minimum written documentation you require?
What resources could you use to help you in graphic layout?
What is the key message that you wish to include on all documents?
Free speeches What target audiences would it be worth presenting to?
What would you want to achieve from giving speeches?
Is there another way you could achieve the same goal?
What would be a worthwhile subject to present? Trade shows and
exhibitions
What are the major exhibitions for your market segment?
What speakers are presenting at each? What are the themes?
What would you want to achieve from each show? What planning can you do to ensure you capitalize on the time there?
Web site What is the key information that you would like to include on your web site?
Who do you know who could help you create your web site?
Are there any other ways you can use your web site: questionnaires, quizzes, interactive exercises, checklists, etc which would increase the functionality of your web site?
What do you want to achieve from establishing a web site?
Newsletters and mailings
What types of news, information, and articles could you communicate to your database?
What would be the best medium for your newsletter – paper? Electronic? Both?
How can you increase the possibility of a response? (Reply button on email; tear off slip in hard copy, etc)
How can you gather other information to distribute to your database?
The key to any personal branding is word-of-mouth marketing . . . so the big trick to building your brand is to ¢nd ways to nurture your network of colleagues.
Tom Peters
Your network is your prime distribution strategy. Referrals by past or present clients are the most commonly used means of obtaining new business. A survey made by the Institute of Management Consultants suggests that repeat business constitutes 70% of all business while referrals make up 15%. Networking is very important for marketing yourself, particularly in the early stages. Here are a few guidelines for establishing and formalizing your network:
X build the network
X consolidate the network onto a database. Build the Network
T|me out!
Your network should number between 200 and 400 people. It will be a dynamic, constantly changing promotional tool that you can expect to turn over approximately 25 % (and up to 50 %) per annum.
Although this sounds like a large number of people, you create a network by identifying all the people you know (your primary contacts) as well as your secondary contacts, (those people you have been referred to).
Your network comes from:
X friends X family
X colleagues, past and present X university, alumni associations X trade organizations
X neighbours X the pub X sports clubs
Marketing Your Business / 105
X people you meet when travelling X prospects from presentations
X contacts from exhibitions and conferences X vendors/suppliers from previous jobs.
Coaching point
The best criteria to consider are: X you personally know the person X you respect the person
X the people on the list would probably like to hear from you
X you ensure that there is a mutual exchange of bene¢ts/information
X the person on your network would remember you i.e. that you probably have met them more than once.
Foul!
Make sure you are not acting like the ‘networking barracuda’ who appears to always have something to sell and whom people avoid like the plague!
It is impossible to talk to 200 people often, so you might want to use one or more of the following to stay in touch:
X newsletter X email
X Christmas card/letter.
Consolidate the network onto an electronic database
The database ideally should have an individual’s name, company name, job title, phone number, fax number, email address, and some sort of contact information. It is better to record your network on some type of database/sales management tool such as ACT, Outlook, etc, not on a Rolodex or business cards because:
X it is centrally available X it is convenient to update
X it is possible to sort the database by category.
T|me out!
Try classifying your network into the following categories:
General Contacts: the world at large.
Suspects: suspects are pre-quali¢ed in some way. They probably won’t give you business, but
know someone who might. They are in£uencers and should compose about 25 % of your network.
Prospects: these are people with a current de¢ned need.
Clients: these are people for whom you have done work during the past year. There should be
about ten to 20 names on this list.
Key clients: the two to ¢ve people you are currently doing work for. This makes up the largest
part of your current revenue.
Interest in a speci¢c area: you may also want to sort your database by your contact ’s
prospective interests in your service, for instance teams and consulting.
In the next chapter we will review how this database can be used proactively in your business development process.
Case study: Marie
One of Marie’s marketing goals is to establish a database of over 200 names on Outlook. She has already established over 100 names on her database through internal clients she worked with as Director of Training, a few people from the training association she is a member of, vendors who supplied her when she was Director of Training, contacts from her previous consulting experience, other trainers and friends who are active working professionals.
Exercise 5.6 Building your network
Think about people you would like to include in your network: 106/ Be a Successful Consultant
Marketing Your Business / 107
X Whose opinion do you respect?
X Who do you think would have good ideas for you?
X Look at the different categories outlined earlier: friends, family, etc. List all the people you would like to maintain contact with in each group.
X Who are ‘influencers/thought leaders’ in their field?
X Look at your Christmas card list – who should be in your database also? Take a break and then return to the list and see if you can add more names. What automated system will you use to track your database and why?
Coaching point
X Most people initially believe that they do not know enough people to populate a database and yet when they take the time to stop and think about the people they know, they have no trouble building the database to 200 people.