How to Lead a Values-Based Professional Services Firm

6Messages Matter: Marketing and Communications

Saying hello does not have an ROI. It's about building relationships.

—Gary Vaynerchuk, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World

Put simply, marketing is the process of attracting people to your company's services.

However, marketing as a process is not simple. It's quite complex and these days it is evolving very rapidly. Marketing relates to all aspects of your business—internally and externally. It manifests itself from the top of the organization to the bottom—from the CEO to the receptionist and all the salespeople, line employees, and middle managers in between. Internally, every employee has a responsibility to infuse their work product with your firm's brand foundation. The leader who bears the torch for this integration, and sets the standard for your brand foundation, is the CEO.

Marketing happens through understanding your ideal customer's interests. You arrive at this apprehension by listening to your customers. For larger firms, market research and analysis will add deeper layers of understanding. Still, firms of any size have the ability to listen and hear what their customers want through thoughtful conversation. Once you understand your ideal customer, marketing's job is to communicate about your service in a way that resonates directly with them. If the communication is done successfully, the prospect begins a journey that ultimately leads them to become a paying customer with ...