By Greg Baranszky
In a previous KIA Corner article, KIA Managing Director JJ Sendelbach presented a cogent view of the current consulting marketplace: trends driving (or inhibiting) consulting work and what the most adept, best-prepared, and more realistic firms are doing to thrive in the downturn.
The motto “never let a good recession go to waste” is these firms’ battle cry and we at KIA are witnesses, sometimes “up close and personal,” to some remarkable success stories in what is admittedly a very difficult market. JJ’s article garnered exciting feedback from consultants and industry experts across the world and KIA believes that to now focus on one aspect of superior firms’ performance in the downturn is the best use of this space we can imagine. This aspect comprises the tactical (short-term) and strategic (longer-term) methods firms are employing to boost their top lines, strengthen existing client relationships, and “meet and greet” new prospects and successfully convert them into clients.
Observed through custom strategy and research engagements KIA is performing for consulting firms of all sizes, we see that the smartest marketers are using a mix of methods that are designed to 1) win business in the short term, 2) begin to mine longer-term opportunities, and 3) train their own staff to see marketing and client development as everyone’s job in the organization. In short, the long-time exponents of “consultative selling” are now, often under increasing pressure, coming to understand what people in other industries have long known: when it comes to driving revenue, “it takes a village” of people for whom marketing is ingrained in their DNA.
Here are the six most common and effective marketing/sales tactics KIA has observed:
- Downturn Differentiation: sharpen competitive differentiation & leverage “hot” service areas.
- Relationship Marketing: coordinated relationship marketing along multiple touch points.
- Tactical marketing: a mix of traditional direct response and viral marketing.
- Pricing play: undercutting competitors to “steal” business or block adversaries.
- De-Coupling Services: allowing clients to purchase more “bite size” assignments.
- Procurement Play: engage with corporate procurement departments to gain advantage.
One particularly nimble firm that has put into practice several of these strategies and tactics is Exponential Edge Inc. The firm is led by one of Silicon Valley’s most respected (if not the most respected) strategist Adrian Ott. Exponential Edge is driving sales by developing innovative ways to help clients bridge to new market opportunities and increase revenue despite the downturn. “Our clients are savvy and are using the downturn to change the game. They are asking for our help with strategies to do just that,” says Ott.
Exponential Edge has been researching pain points of their client’s customers and providing breakthrough ideas to serve unmet customer needs quickly and with smaller up-front budget and capital requirements than usual (in other words, employing strategy #5—de-coupling services and allowing clients to purchase “bite-sized” engagements). Exponential Edge identified and built a creative on-line channel strategy for an e-commerce client where the client is already realizing a return on investment after the first month of operation. The client is ecstatic because they are exceeding revenue targets despite a down economy.
Exponential Edge is also assisting
Fortune 500 clients to position market and product initiatives for the upturn when they can execute against strategies being developed today (powerfully leveraging tactics #1 and #2, downturn differentiation and relationship marketing). “Just because budgets are cut, doesn’t mean clients are not spending. Executives want to use their limited resources to bet on the right winning initiatives instead of pursuing the status quo.” Ott adds, “If we help our clients to win in the marketplace no matter what the economy is doing, we win too.”
Greg Baranszky is a managing director of Kennedy Information Advisors, the advisory and custom research unit of Kennedy Information, which provides applied marketing intelligence about markets, competitors and clients.
