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PM Forum - London

Using thought leadership to engage clients

“Has the publication we sent through hit your desk?” I asked the CFO. “Yes” he replied, “It hit it, travelled across it and went straight in the bin”. Wrong content? Wrong delivery? Or both?

The end game of thought leadership, as Joyce Renney of Lighthouse put it, is to ‘soften the sell’. To achieve this you must not only have the right content but the right deployment’, added Andrew Shaylor of Ernst & Young.

First to content. “Never go to a marketing meeting with a partner with a blank piece of paper” – sound advice. But how do you get those creative juices flowing?

Mind mapping, desk research, finding out what the press are interested in are all useful approaches. Try re-crunching existing data, “lots of material is left on the editor’s floor”. Develop a strong point of view. The acid test is will it resonate with your clients?

When developing content, think about the end game from the outset. Do the marketing folk really understand what the firm is selling? Thought leadership must link back to services. It must enable a discussion that drives revenue. Start at the ‘commerciality’ of the idea and work backwards – it will help you develop a compelling point of view.

Now let’s turn to delivery. Mass mailings are out; personal delivery is in, was the key message. But what do partners fear most? (No, not the tax man!). “Being made to look a fool,” asserted Andrew. They typically have a low pain threshold outside their area of comfort. So how do we lessen their pain? How de we prepare them for discussing the thought leadership with their clients? The go-to-market material supporting your thought leadership should be capable of being tailored to clients and available in multiple formats. Run train the trainer sessions. Support your partners with Q&A summaries. Seek feedback and amend material where improvements can be made. And don’t be too possessive – allow partners to adapt it – after all the market can move fast.

A thought leadership implementation should move quickly – 100 days as a rule of thumb. It avoids study fatigue and keeps the competition out. Maintaining momentum and energising the team is key – relay successes, report wins, watch the media.

Not only were the tips spot on, they were backed up with war stories that made for an enlightening talk. Put that lot into practice and the CFO won’t need his bin.

Sean Murtagh
Deloitte

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