The
Marketplace MasterTM
is a monthly email publication on professional service
marketing from Expertise Marketing, LLC.
About This Issue
This month we ask a very basic question: what
is marketplace mastery? Why should this be a goal
of every professional service firm?
Follow-on issues will explore the issues of marketplace
mastery in greater detail, starting with the hot
topic of differentiation.
Talk Back: Has your firm achieved
marketplace mastery? Have you mastered one or
more of the 11 competencies for marketplace mastery?
Let
us know. See below for last month's Talk
Back feedback. 
Suzanne
Lowe
Author, Marketplace Masters: How Professional
Service Firms Compete to Win
President, Expertise Marketing, LLC
What is Marketplace Mastery?
We talk about marketplace mastery, but what does
it really mean? How is a professional service
firm that has mastered its market different from
one that has not? Why is it such an important
goal?
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In a nutshell, marketplace mastery is the ability to
achieve a competitive advantage on a daily basis. Firms
that have achieved marketplace mastery are:
- Better prepared to face changes in the market
- More adept at maneuvering around short-term crises
- Ready to make decisive, informed decisions about
marketplace opportunities
- Capable of taking incremental steps that prove right
over the long-term
Can your firm really manage the movements of its market,
dictating its ability to be competitive in the future?
Absolutely. By taking the right steps, you can:
- Broaden your view of the marketplace
- Enact more deeply strategic initiatives to influence
your business arena and become more competitive within
it
- Move beyond random acts of marketing and deliberately
master your marketplace
One of the firms I profile in Marketplace
Masters is Winstead
Sechrest & Minick, one of the largest law firms
in the southwestern U.S. The leaders at Winstead moved
beyond random acts of marketing and mastered their web
marketing strategy by doing qualitative research with
their clients before revamping their website.
The firm's work resulted in an award-winning, customer-focused
website that effectively communicates the Winstead brand.
Research revealed new ways to use the web to service
client needs. And the information gathered helped the
firm develop behind-the-scenes features that augment
attorneys' business development and marketing activities.
Learn more about Winstead's story in Chapter 5, called
Looking Out, in Marketplace Masters.
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Talk
Back
Segal,
a benefits, HR, and compensation consulting
firm with offices all over the country, is one
of the ones that "gets it." Acting
Chief Marketing Officer Teri Schram wrote us
with this observation:
"The culture of our firm is part of
what makes us unique. A climate of mutual
respect, responsiveness and trust pervades
our organization and our client relationships.
Clients get what we promise. By identifying
what makes us different and incorporating
that into the ways that we approach our marketplace,
we have been able to achieve some of the highest
satisfaction ratings in our industry. We don't
try to come off like something we're not.
We are who we are; that's our strength. Our
culture is one of the ways we differentiate
our firm."
Does your firm "get it?" We want
to hear from you and feature your firm in an
upcoming issue. Write to us at talkback@marketplacemasters.com.
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Your feedback is important to us. Please contact
us with your comments and questions.
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