Is your firm’s target market “anyone who will pay our rates”? One of the biggest mistakes that firms make is trying to market to everyone. Firms need to understand their current clients if they want to increase their client base and improve the services they offer their clients. By deciding who to target, firms are not excluding prospects that do not fit their criteria; instead they are able to focus their marketing budgets and efforts on prospective clients who are more likely to buy from them, making it much easier to decide which marketing and business development opportunities to pursue.
To define your target markets:
- Research – To find the information to evaluate your target market, look at your firm’s financial reports and assess your current client base. Review research that has been conducted on your target markets. Also, find online forums where people share their opinions about your target market. Once you have defined your target market, it will be easier to identify the right marketing and business development opportunities.
- Evaluate your current clients – Who are your clients and why do they hire you? What are their commonalities? Who are your biggest clients and why? What other companies like them could benefit from your experiences in this area.
- Look at your competitors – Who are they targeting? What services do they offer? How can you differentiate your targets from theirs? Are their sub-practices or industries that are being overlooked and present opportunities?
- Analyze your practices and industries – List the strengths of each of your practices/industries, the benefits that each provides, and who will gain from the value that you offer. Then, list potential clients that have needs that can be met by these benefits. Think about characteristics of your potential clients. Where are their geographical locations and what are their market sectors? Who are their clients (local, national, global)? What are their organizational structure and other notable attributes? Who are their employees? What are their visions and goals?
- Evaluate potential clients – Now that you have decided who your potential clients are, evaluate them. How big is the market that fits your description? Are there enough prospects? Will they benefit from your services or realize their need? What are their concerns? Do you understand how they make their decisions? Can they afford your rates? Can you reach them to market to them? Do you want them to be your client? Is it realistic that your firm can pursue them?
You can have multiple potential target markets, but do not get too narrow. If your message is similar for different targets, you might have gone too niche. If your market is too small, you should re-evaluate your targets.
- Why your firm? – Once you have decided who to market to, you need to decide why your firm is uniquely qualified to solve the problem. If you cannot answer these questions, you may have defined the wrong targets.
By Helena M. Lawrence, Senior Marketing & Business Development Manager, Orrick, for the September/October 2015 issue of Capital Ideas.