Generating interest
Staying front of mind with existing customers and new prospects is an important tool in any successful sales arsenal. Building an online presence to showcase your experience and expertise allows you to subtly infiltrate your buyer’s ecosystem so that, when your approach becomes more tailored, they will already recognise you as a name within your chosen field. So, how do you generate interest in you and the services you can provide? This week, we look at three tried and tested methods for success.
#1. Take a view
Many professional services firms issue regular market updates on landmark deals, regulatory change and important court decisions. Whilst these summarised versions may hold some value to the reader if delivered quickly (see KISS below), the increased use of Gen AI to deliver these summaries to the same, or better, level of quality will make differentiation even more difficult going forwards. Taking a view or position on a topic provides the reader with your perspective and allows them to agree or challenge the view you have taken. In an online environment such as LinkedIn, this can prompt others to chip in with their perspective, instantly creating opportunities for you to engage with new prospects.
#2. Keep It Short & Speedy (KISS)
Attention spans online are incredibly short. If you haven’t hooked the reader in the first 15 secs then you’ve probably lost them. Short punchy articles which clearly articulate the topic in question, the impact on your customers and your view of next steps are the way to go. Leave the weightier articles to legal journals and/or specialist industry publications. A short but well written piece delivered quickly to key customers puts you ahead of the competition. FACT. In our experience, perfection and review by committee have got in the way of many a critical update resulting in the competition being in front of your customers quicker than you. In some circumstances, speed to market might just be your only 90% and good is much better than 100% and late.
#3. Repeat and reuse
Generating content takes time. To maximise the exposure of anything you produce, consider the various channels available for distribution of that content and how the content might differ slightly between audiences. For example, a decision has just been handed down which will impact your customer base. What do you do?
- Conduct a quick impact analysis with the team: get some heads together and work out the top 3-5 implications of the decision on your client base. Then ask a team member to draft up a short (400 words / 2 mins reading time MAX) impact statement. Review quickly and publish on your website/LinkedIn. Ideally, this needs to be done within ½ business day of the event you are talking about being released (see KISS point above).
- Phone/email TOP 10 clients: prioritise your most important customers to receive special treatment. It’s a great opportunity to pick up the phone and say “Have you seen the latest decision in XXX vs. YYY? I think it will have implications for your business and am happy to talk them through. Have you got 5 mins for me to run you through it?” If you don’t feel comfortable doing this then, (i) learn to get comfortable doing it!, and (ii) at the very least, send your top customers a link to your article (or a personal message on LinkedIn) and take the time to add a sentence or two on how you think the decision could impact them.
- Decide if there is a media angle: talk to your PR/Comms team. Journos are always keen to talk to professionals who will have a view on the decision. Be careful to tread the line between having a view (great) and taking a line which your firm and customers might think is sub optimal.
