Product Description

While finding and keeping a core group of clients remains the bread and butter of any consultant's business, doing so is far from simple in a field that's becoming increasingly crowded and competitive. Today, as the result of drastic shifts in the landscape—information technology, virtual organizations, telecommuting—targeting and attracting clients is a greater challenge than ever. To help you meet that challenge head on, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, the bible for consultants and professionals worldwide, has been thoroughly revised and expanded. This brand new Third Edition gives you the tools and the know-how to survive and thrive in today's tough market.

Beginning with a comprehensive overview, this updated resource keeps you abreast of current trends and issues. In addition, you'll find complete coverage of Dick Connor's innovative—and highly effective—Client-Centered MarketingTM (CCM) approach, a practical "deliverables-driven" system for penetrating specific markets. This easy-to-follow, six-part process helps you achieve a myriad of essential marketing objectives: from expanding services for current clients and capitalizing on the potential within your business to generating profitable growth and managing your image with clients and targets.

With a wealth of new information that focuses on finding and qualifying new clients—what every consultant worries about most—this new edition of Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, Third Edition provides essential information on:

• Analyzing your current business or practice—evaluating clients, assessing existing prospects, preparing a strategic profile
• Becoming "client smart"—determining how the niche industry is organized, identifying requirements for success, determining its needs
• Building market awareness—maintaining positive name recognition, establishing your firm's intended image
• Prospecting—acquiring new, high-potential clients, preparing a winning proposal, selling the value-adding solution
• Ensuring client satisfaction—handling service and relationship breakdowns with a practical recovery action sequence

Complete with helpful worksheets and checklists, as well as precise definitions of terminology and an annotated bibliography, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, Third Edition is a must for today's fiercely competitive, highly demanding marketplace.

Praise for the previous edition of Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services

"Loaded with examples, useful forms, and informative exhibits, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services is an extraordinary how-to manual that provides vital step-by-step instruction and advice on how to maximize profitability and success. . . . Marketing is a how-to you shouldn't do without." — Managers Magazine

"This is definitely a 'MUST READ' book for entrepreneurs and business professionals of all types. The attention to detail provides practical insights on the critical keys to marketing success." — Dr. Peter Johnson, Corporate Marketing Strategist

"As today's business environment becomes increasingly competitive, consulting professionals look for fresh approaches and innovative ideas to 'cut through the clutter' and increase their share of business. Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services provides highly useful information for every professional consultant. It's an essential purchase." — Jonathan D. Blum, Managing Director — Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations, Singapore

"Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services is excellent. It contains down-to-earth, indispensable tips for marketing consulting services. Vital reading for both beginners and seasoned consultants—worldwide. I wish I had had this daily guide during my rough start." — Dr. Oskar Pack, Management Consultant and Sales Trainer — Euskirchen, Germany

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #412619 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 266 pages

From the Inside Flap
While finding and keeping a core group of clients remains the bread and butter of any consultant’s business, doing so is far from simple in a field that’s becoming increasingly crowded and competitive. Today, as the result of drastic shifts in the landscape—information technology, virtual organizations, telecommuting—targeting and attracting clients is a greater challenge than ever. To help you meet that challenge head on, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, the bible for consultants and professionals worldwide, has been thoroughly revised and expanded. This brand new Third Edition gives you the tools and the know-how to survive and thrive in today’s tough market. Beginning with a comprehensive overview, this updated resource keeps you abreast of current trends and issues. In addition, you’ll find complete coverage of Dick Connor’s innovative—and highly effective—Client-Centered Marketing™ (CCM) approach, a practical "deliverables-driven" system for penetrating specific markets. This easy-to-follow, six-part process helps you achieve a myriad of essential marketing objectives: from expanding services for current clients and capitalizing on the potential within your business to generating profitable growth and managing your image with clients and targets. With a wealth of new information that focuses on finding and qualifying new clients—what every consultant worries about most—this new edition of Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, Third Edition provides essential information on:

• Analyzing your current business or practice—evaluating clients, assessing existing prospects, preparing a strategic profile
• Becoming "client smart"—determining how the niche industry is organized, identifying requirements for success, determining its needs
• Building market awareness—maintaining positive name recognition, establishing your firm’s intended image
• Prospecting—acquiring new, high-potential clients, preparing a winning proposal, selling the value-adding solution
• Ensuring client satisfaction—handling service and relationship breakdowns with a practical recovery action sequence

Complete with helpful worksheets and check-lists, as well as precise definitions of terminology and an annotated bibliography, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, Third Edition is a must for today’s fiercely competitive, highly demanding marketplace.

From the Back Cover
While finding and keeping a core group of clients remains the bread and butter of any consultant's business, doing so is far from simple in a field that's becoming increasingly crowded and competitive. Today, as the result of drastic shifts in the landscape--information technology, virtual organizations, telecommuting--targeting and attracting clients is a greater challenge than ever. To help you meet that challenge head on, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, the bible for consultants and professionals worldwide, has been thoroughly revised and expanded. This brand new Third Edition gives you the tools and the know-how to survive and thrive in today's tough market.

Beginning with a comprehensive overview, this updated resource keeps you abreast of current trends and issues. In addition, you'll find complete coverage of Dick Connor's innovative--and highly effective--Client-Centered MarketingTM (CCM) approach, a practical "deliverables-driven" system for penetrating specific markets. This easy-to-follow, six-part process helps you achieve a myriad of essential marketing objectives: from expanding services for current clients and capitalizing on the potential within your business to generating profitable growth and managing your image with clients and targets.

With a wealth of new information that focuses on finding and qualifying new clients--what every consultant worries about most--this new edition of Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, Third Edition provides essential information on: Analyzing your current business or practice--evaluating clients, assessing existing prospects, preparing a strategic profile Becoming "client smart"--determining how the niche industry is organized, identifying requirements for success, determining its needs Building market awareness--maintaining positive name recognition, establishing your firm's intended image Prospecting--acquiring new, high-potential clients, preparing a winning proposal, selling the value-adding solution Ensuring client satisfaction--handling service and relationship breakdowns with a practical recovery action sequence

Complete with helpful worksheets and checklists, as well as precise definitions of terminology and an annotated bibliography, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, Third Edition is a must for today's fiercely competitive, highly demanding marketplace.

Praise for the previous edition of Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services

"Loaded with examples, useful forms, and informative exhibits, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services is an extraordinary how-to manual that provides vital step-by-step instruction and advice on how to maximize profitability and success. . . . Marketing is a how-to you shouldn't do without." -- Managers Magazine

"This is definitely a 'MUST READ' book for entrepreneurs and business professionals of all types. The attention to detail provides practical insights on the critical keys to marketing success." -- Dr. Peter Johnson, Corporate Marketing Strategist

"As today's business environment becomes increasingly competitive, consulting professionals look for fresh approaches and innovative ideas to 'cut through the clutter' and increase their share of business. Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services provides highly useful information for every professional consultant. It's an essential purchase." -- Jonathan D. Blum, Managing Director -- Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations, Singapore

"Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services is excellent. It contains down-to-earth, indispensable tips for marketing consulting services. Vital reading for both beginners and seasoned consultants--worldwide. I wish I had had this daily guide during my rough start." -- Dr. Oskar Pack, Management Consultant and Sales Trainer -- Euskirchen, Germany

About the Author
DICK CONNOR, CMC, is a consultant specializing in accounting and general business and a former associate professor of management at Northwestern Graduate School of Management. He is the author of Increasing Revenue from Your Clients and coauthor with Jeff Davidson of Getting New Clients, both published by Wiley.

JEFF DAVIDSON, CMC, is a full-time professional speaker and the author of 25 books, including Marketing on a Shoestring: Low-Cost Tips for Marketing Your Products or Services (Wiley).

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Customer Reviews

Offers Insightful Marketing Advice
This book is about as good as it gets. It lays out a very fundamental way of approaching marketing for professional service firms. I found it easy to follow, although the language sometimes was a bit stilted. This is the third edition of this book, so the authors have had plenty of time to hone and refine their insights. I like the fact that there were many, many chapters, but each of them relatively short. This fits my style of getting through a book these days, because often I can only reach for a few pages at a time.

You can find everything everything inside
Ideas, ideas and ideas. Thats what the book lack. It attempts to provide a blueprint of how to market a professional service company, without giving much useful ideas on how to do it, and more lacking is how to implement the few ideas it provides. Will be useful for planning, and not ideas generation.

Excellent Marketing tips

The book provides a comprehensive coverage on how to effectively market consulting and professional services. The skill of selling consulting and professional services is critical and is the one most often in need of improvement for professionals such as engineers, architects, lawyers, marketing, IT and management consultants, accountants, doctors, among others. The book contains useful advice and tips that all those providing consulting and professional services should find critical to winning and maintaining clients.

This is a fantastic book that is user friendly as it contains insightful examples, checklists, worksheets and exhibits that gently guides the reader through the steps that should lead to successful and profitable business.

The veteran consultant and novice should benefit from the updates the book provides on current trends and issues, advice on how to grow and expand the practice, acquiring new, high value clients and ensuring client satisfaction in the current highly dynamic operating environment.