I’ve been pondering the notion of marketing plans for professional services firms. Creating a plan is a daunting task because it is very hard to quantify results of “campaigns” designed to attract and keep clients. Surely one can quantify views and clicks of, say, a newsletter. However, how does that translate into a measurable tally of dollars for such a company—both currently and over time? For example, how do we know that a newsletter aided in client loyalty when the client engages us for their next $100k job?
Furthermore, in my current industry—Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC)—many marketing initiatives remain traditional, not digital. Printed qualifications packages, even those personalized for audiences, continue to be the norm as an introduction to the firm. It is typically a “seller/doer” technical (billable) person who delivers the package. Moreover, it is not the priority of the seller/doer (who is focused on providing the actual services) to report back to the marketing team with results.
This week, I’m making it my goal to learn about marketing plans in the AEC industry and how folks attempt to quantify results. I will attempt to understand how the break-even point (BEP) is calculated when the variable costs and fixed costs do not follow a typical consumer model.
Stay tuned!