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PM Forum - Leeds
Question Time with the Partners
It’s not very often that you are able to question the managing partner of a leading regional professional services practice about his marketing strategy, let alone quiz four at the same time! But this was the opportunity presented by the Yorkshire region’s latest Forum event which took a Question Time style format. The panel consisted of partners from four well-known organisations in Yorkshire with law firms represented by Paul Ayre of Gordons and Jonathan Oxley of Lee & Priestley; plus Kevin O’Connor of Baker Tilly and Richard Williams of Deloitte providing an accountancy perspective.
Ably chaired by James Buckley of Deloitte in the role of Dimbleby, it was a refreshingly honest session with the partners sharing some of the common challenges and frustrations of marketing within the professional services arena. They gave an interesting insight into traits they look for when recruiting their marketing team. Desirable characteristics include resilience; a ‘can-do’ attitude; creativity and enthusiasm. They agreed that they need people who will champion marketing initiatives and are genuine team players, able to work across specialisms in the firm. Whilst some of the partners stated that a background in the firm’s profession was very useful, others felt that a fresh approach with a marketer from a different sector could also give significant benefits.
There were a number of recurring themes, perhaps the most significant was the need for the entire organisation to ‘buy in’ to the importance of marketing and business development. Whilst it might not always be a practical solution to make this element part of an employees’ performance review, one of the partners stressed the importance of a top-down approach saying that because he as managing partner had a weekly meeting with the marketing team, everyone in the firm was aware that business development activities were a priority.
Making Marketing a Priority
There were comments from the audience that marketing was often seen as a secondary function to client work and also that it was sometimes difficult for marketers to challenge the opinion of partners who were senior to them, but perhaps had a limited understanding of marketing. There was a consensus that it was the responsibility of the marketer to champion the best strategy for the firm and to find a way around any resistance. It was also agreed that although every partner had to be a fee-earner, he also had a responsibility to market and promote the firm.
The importance of cross-selling services within a firm and the role a marketer could play in this process was also stressed. With the market still tough for winning new business, the opportunity to sell additional services to existing clients presented a much more attractive proposition. However, with professionals sometimes ‘blinkered’ within their own department, a marketer with a broader perspective could prove invaluable. It was also felt that those involved in business development must engage with clients.
Interestingly, all of the partners said that their marketing activities had not retracted during the recession and, in fact, some had grown although resource had been re-focussed on sales generation. Marketing and business development was acknowledged as a crucial part of the management process.
Susan Reid
Appeal PR
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