Kim Tasso, founder and principal consultant of Practical Marketing Consultancy, who has over 20 years’ marketing experience, says that marketing is dead.
In a recent article in the Summer 2005 issue of pm magazine, the worldwide journal for marketing professional services from the PM Forum, Ms. Tasso asserts that professional service firm marketers should be ready for the new era of business development.
She warns:
... dear Marketers, wake up and smell the coffee - you had your chance and failed and your days are now numbered. Partners are demanding faster and more obvious results.
The entire paragraph reads:
Whilst some may dismiss the trend as a flirtation with a new management fad, others will recognise it as what economists call a weak signal - which have a nasty habit of turning into harbingers of major change and sometimes crises. It may be an expression of the disappointment and dissatisfaction with the lack of accountability, return on investment and the torrent of ivory tower missives from marketing teams that have lost touch (if they ever had it) with the needs of their partners and, more importantly, the needs of the clients. In which case, dear Marketers, wake up and smell the coffee - you had your chance and failed and your days are now numbered. Partners are demanding faster and more obvious results.
I agree with her wholeheartedly. Our firm is experiencing this change - moving from a traditional institutional marketing focus (newsletters, speeches, etc.) to one devoted to relational business development activities. And I'm happy to say that I, the SVP of marketing, am leading the charge. Why? To compete in this world of heightened competition and information bombardment, we have to get back to personal relationships. Everything else is merely bells-and-whistles.
Kim goes on to say:
And I'm delighted to witness the revolution. Call me a traitor but it's a fantastic opportunity - and one that some of us have fought hard to win. We [marketers] are finally being freed from the shackles of behind-the-scenes support and taking our rightful place alongside the fee-earners as we participate in meaningful dialogues with clients about how they want their professional services delivered in the future.
She is right on target. This is a fantastic opportunty for marketing professionals to stretch and learn and grow. Proactive marketing professionals who think and act strategically are a tremendous asset to a professional services firm. The days of being reactive are over. You cannot wait for the fee-earners to provide all the direction. You have to be on the team making things happen or you have already become obsolete.
Kim says that "marketing is dead. The future is business development." Amen.
Hallelujah! As a business consultant to small and solo law firms I disabuse lawyers of the whole concept of "marketing." Even the term is cold and detached, something you cannot be when building relationships. The key to success in the service industry is relationship building, leveraging those relationships, and then leveraging them, again. To understand they are "the product" being purchased is fundamental to a solo's success in this highly competitive legal services industry. The 21st century has arrived sans marketing and no poorer for it. Thank you for telling the world.
Posted by: Susan Cartier-Liebel | July 27, 2005 at 01:24 PM