Tip #6 - Cultivate referral sources

Professional practices count on referrals for new business. Don't neglect this important part of your effort to bring in new clients. As you build a referral network, keep in touch with them.

• Communicate regularly through an e-mail or e-mail newsletters

• Call at regular intervals - perhaps monthly or quarterly. Tell them about your latest success and any new services that you have.

• Gain insight from them about the needs of prospective clients. Consider sending a survey.

• Send PDFs of white papers or case studies (let the results speak for themselves).

• Share media coverage, online articles or other news about your profession that will help your referral sources know who to refer to your practice.

• This may seem basic, but it helps to describe the type of client you are looking for. In my business, I seek out VPs of philanthropy departments at universities, health care systems and nonprofits so I can help them create case statements, donor information and proposals. For my professional service practice, I seek out owners of medical offices, other health care providers, lawyers, accountants and recruiters with practices of around 8 to 12 or more professional staff. Then I can develop a marketing plan and implement it. For marketing departments at corporations, I seek out the marketing director to produce community reports, annual reports, newsletters and brochures and write speeches.

Tip #5: Tell your success stories

Professional practice groups - mediators, attorneys, CPAs, engineers, recruiters – should tell their stories of success. You don't need to brag, just point out how your service has helped your clients - especially in ways that your competitors can't match.

• Let prospects and referral sources see how your service works for people in tough situations.

• Tell stories that show how you've dealt with a common problem or a specialty case - both types of stories can lead to referrals for similar types of business.

• If your story has enough impact (tell the truth), people will remember it. Add important details, such as how you streamlined a process, saved money for the client, solved a problem that perplexed other professional providers, brought about a quick resolution, etc.

• Educate prospects and clients; they often don’t know the full range of how and when your professional service can be applied.

Tip #4 - Seek media coverage

For professional service groups seeking new & repeat business, here's another tip.

What item of your business can you “pitch” to the media as a news story? Given the recession of 08-09, the media wants to know what’s coming down the pike in terms of job creation. Have you hired someone in your office lately? Or created a new position that you are filling with a contractor? Found a good niche market for your services? Why not share that with the appropriate media - maybe it’s not your daily paper but it could be good material for an industry journal or your local chamber magazine/online blog.

Small business news has its own panache. Consider teaming up with another professional service group or your association to report trends affecting your industry.

Tip #3-Find your trigger

This is the third of seven tips designed to promote your professional service practice - whether it's a law firm, accounting firm, recruitment firm, mediation practice or engineering group:

Tip #3. Identify the “triggers” that prompt your services. Leverage these and bake them into your marketing plan.

• A trigger is an event, occurrence or other identifiable item that provides a logical time for you to sell your service/product.

• It could be a time or season when an event occurs (e.g. back to school, tax season)

• Review your quarterly sales to see when peaks occur and why – these could reveal unknown triggers

Marketing Tip #2 for professional service groups

To promote your professional service practice - whether it's a law firm, accounting firm, recruitment firm, mediation practice or engineering group – here is another tip:

Tip #2. Point out the benefits of your service in your sales presentation and your marketing materials

• repeat your key messages – benefits and advantages – in your brochure, newsletter, direct mail, etc.

• when talking to prospective clients and referral sources, let your "benefits" line become your mantra.

• Add a tagline to your business card that tells what you do. Mine says, "Strategy, writing and design." While my main service is producing marketing materials to help professional service companies sell their service, I also write case statements for nonprofits, universities and health care companies trying to raise money. These skills are also being applied to produce anniversary books for large corporations - a new product line called "Minted Memories®". But the main benefits: "professional writing, pleasing design that helps tell the story, and strategy to determine the message, format and audience" can be applied to different markets. My advantage: very few companies do what I do. I have a niche business that is part public relations, marketing, and project management of print and web-based projects. These benefits and advantages are used to help solve the client's problem.

Sales and marketing tips for professional practices

I presented a seminar “Marketing and Sales Team up for Mediation Business Success” on Nov. 13, 2009, at the Marriott Hotel in Pontiac, sponsored by Oakland Mediation Center.

I will do a series of seven take-away points that can be adapted by any professional practice:

Tip #1. Seek out and act on opportunities
• The more you know about your clients – their likes and interests – the more you can meet them on their turf. Find out what groups they belong to. Check the membership directory to see where members work.

• If you’re not generating leads and support from a certain group…try another group. Go to groups where you will get leads to business or better yet – people who need your services right then and there.

• Read newspapers (whether online or printed), keep abreast of local and national news and trends. Talk to people – find out where their pain is. What problem will your service solve? Then, act on those opportunities.

New anniversary line launched

My company’s new offering, Minted Memories®, has been launched. It’s a product line of unique anniversary booklets and videos for companies celebrating milestone anniversaries. My first batch of letters to prospects went out today. I was prepared to send them last Friday, but thought that day might be too ominous – like stepping on a crack, breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder – since it was 9/11. So, good things can and do occur on Mondays.

Mark Salloum, of VideoMagic, and I are eagerly awaiting some orders for Minted Memories® videos. My graphic designers and I are ready to put our unique stamp on booklets ordered through the program. Their skills at designing annual reports, newsletters and brochures will be just as amazing when applied to this format.

Meanwhile, the memory book for my mother is in the layout stage. When completed, it will be a fitting personal tribute to a woman who has had an incredible impact on just about everyone that she met and, most especially, her children.

These projects reflect solid values, hard work and the ability to overcome adversity to reach prosperity. In their own way, each offers a tribute and sense of hope. Best of all, these stories allow us to get a closer look at the amazing people who have brought some great things to life. Whether successful companies or close-knit families; in times of turmoil, we need more of both.