If you have ever wondered whether professional services buyers really use the web to help determine which firms and professionals to work with, then look no further than the recent webcast from The Brand Research Company and Greenfield Belser on “Finding & Choosing Professionals on the Web” (you can watch a recording of the webcast here).
Burkey Belser and Sue Allison present real data from real world clients of professional services firms that clearly demonstrates these folks are using online resources to shape their decisions. There is a wealth of information in their webcast on the different factors at play which I encourage you to take the time to learn about, but I wanted to highlight a couple of findings.
Industry Expertise Matters!
This is an issue that we’ve been beating the drum on for a long time. Our data continues to show that over 50% of the insights from leading law, accounting and consulting firms has no industry focus. Yet, Greenfield Belser’s data shows in several places, including the chart below, that industry expertise ranks very highly in the information that buyers are looking for.
Source: Greenfield Belser
Thought Leadership Matters!
We believe that demonstrating you have distinctive insights on critical client issues is a fundamental element of professional services marketing and business development. It seems buyers agree:
Source: Greenfield Belser
The message here from just these two excerpts from Greenfield Belser’s thought provoking research is clear.
Firms must invest in developing and distributing, online, industry specific knowledge and insights if they are to increase their chances of engaging with clients and prospects around solving their business issues.
It’s easy to fool yourself into thinking that the online world (and all this social media stuff) is at best incidental when it comes to professional services. The reality is that the online world is very real to professional services buyers – and they are looking for real insight and real substance to what these firms have to say about themselves and their professionals online.
Does your firm’s online presence have substance over form or is it all sizzle and no steak?
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