BrandingWire: Right Size Marketing

This month's BrandingWire challenge in the B2B space involves a small marketing consulting firm that is losing contracts to lower priced bids and to bigger companies. After three years in business, the firm's growth has slowed down considerably -- many of their clients buy one-off projects and may not return for subsequent engagements.

The firm's client profile is important to consider

They have been working exclusively with companies that have 150 employees or less, generate revenues between $1-25MM and are based in North America. So far, they seem to have concentrated on companies that operate in the high tech and health care sectors, which are both experiencing explosive growth due to two main movements (as inspired by the Map of the Future, the Institute of the Future):

1. We have come to rely very heavily on technology -- the analyst reports (loosely Forrester) are filled with issues of corporate governance, risk and compliance, enterprise content management strategies, information leak prevention and integration-centric business processes, etc. We are also more connected, from individual to social network and empowered. What can be smart self-organized groups of productive people may turn into collective power that can alter markets, politics and society as well as provide strong feedback loops.
2. The anxiety about health and longevity is growing -- since we are more connected, challenges like pandemics will get close and personal. Furthermore, the intersection between environment, health, and lifestyle will continue to receive attention. We're aging -- many of our peers are now dealing with the difficulty of researching options and making decisions about the long term care of their parents and relatives. Although by and large we have access to many more resources on preventive health, the reality is that we live longer, and may need some form of assistance down the road.

These two forces may converge in new dynamic forms of cooperation, where technological modifications to the human body go from stigma to style, for example.

According to our brief, consumers and businesses have so many choices that high tech companies and clinics/hospitals are either showing stagnant growth or losing market share -- in other words they do not know how to differentiate themselves from each other.

Modify the Sales Approach

BrandingWire client is the small marketing consulting firm and we recommend they take a look at a couple of suggestions to modify their sales approach and map to those trends to help their customers capitalize on them:

• Take a look at studies that flesh out the trends as they are affecting current stories and then cross reference your customer base -- high tech and health care companies -- where do they fit? What capabilities do they have? Who do they have on board, what skill sets does the organization have collectively?
• Do you have the ability to source research or partner with a research company that can provide more information to help your customers make any necessary changes to *their* business plan, if they were attuned to that?
• Then you may work on helping them find a niche and build a new brand based upon that niche. Once you know who's on board and why anyone would go to them or hire them, you work on helping them formulate their value proposition.

Right Size Marketing (the strategy)

We will go the extra step to ensure that your business succeeds by partnering with you to find the right value proposition and unlocking that value to your customers. The marketing consulting firm needs to be viewed as an adviser and a partner vs. a tactical shop that can get the brochure done. That will allow the firm to command higher prices.

We will also work efficiently with you on your challenges, there is no B team, you get the "A" team and all the attention and care your business deserves. There is usually a concern with smaller organizations, like our firm's customer base, that while a large company may have greater resources, they do not pay the right kind of attention to smaller fish.

I call this strategy right size marketing. We are the right fit for you and will help you find the right fit for your customers.

Start Small, Build Referrals (the tactics)

During your research of your customer base, find one or two companies you feel confident you can help hone in their niche. In other words, find those who may already know they've got something and are looking for someone to help them unlock it. Lead with your refocusing on helping your customers find their focus within their fields given both high tech and health care are hot buttons at the moment.

Start with why this is such a great time to be in the high tech/health care industries. Lead with a story about their environment and the challenges their customers are facing in finding the right provider. When you've done your homework and started with the right companies, you will have an extra spring in your voice.

Once you begin work with one or two of your prospects and they become clients, be exceptionally attentive to their needs -- deliver, deliver, deliver. Your enthusiasm and desire to help them will shine through. Work with them on getting their story out to their customers in any venue you can -- from trade journals to the blogosphere, depending on their interest, budget and time and your creativity and skill. Make them the heroes and you will shine of reflected light.

For other contributions to this brand challenge check out the posts by fellow BrandingWire experts Patrick Schaber, Becky Carroll, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, Steve Woodruff, Kevin Dugan, Olivier Blanchard, Martin Jelsema, Lewis Green and Derrick Daye.

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

Turning around a business is an emotionally draining and challenging task. It is, as you suggest, about going back to basics -- starting small (again). It is also about unlearning or breaking the habits that drove the business to the point it now finds itself.

[Martin]

Valerie:

Once again, you've got the big picture in mind. The idea of "fitting" is more than profiling prospects, but that's where it starts. It's like targeting companies too small to have their own marketing communications manager, so perhaps your consulting/creative firm can perform all the functions required for them. And if they outgrow you at some point, be sure to get great references from them.

Martin

[Valeria Maltoni]

Gavin -- your post was just brilliant, from the title down ;-) Unlearning can be more difficult than learning.

Martin -- cultural fit and chemistry are very important to working together. They go to attitude.

[Kevin Dugan]

I like the concept of right sizing. When faced with the challenge as it was posed, many companies first instinct would be action...not well thought out. And of course that action would probably be to do what the competitors are doing. Something tells me when faced with either cutting costs or growing, a company is going to want to grow. Peter Drucker noted that growth without profit is cancer. Right sizing rules!

[Drew McLellan]

I think one of the biggest challenges a business owner/leader faces is the counter intuitive "leaving money on the table." But the ability to define and recognize right and wrong client fits is one of the cornerstone skills of a successful business.

Right sizing is just smart business.

Drew

[Patrick Schaber]

Valeria,
I like your approach because you're building the relationship and getting in good with the client which in turn makes it so much easier to get them to agree to use them as a case study.

Any advice on pitching customers to get them to do a case study. Many of ours don't like us to use their name.

-Pat

[Valeria Maltoni]

Kevin -- one cannot cut their way to greatness. Growth is important, organic is best. I really liked your take on focus at your blog.

Drew -- and yet people often leave money on the table in the long term when they do not focus on the underlying needs of their customers. You reminded me of many a conversation on sales ;-)

Patrick -- ah, you touch upon something that is universally needed and very few inspire -- the testimonial. I may do a post on this as I have enough opinion and experience... what I'd say is deliver exceptionally well and get to the story. I think the format used for case studies in by and large boring.