By Erica Stritch

There is little debate that marketing and selling professional services is all about building relationships in which you are seen as a trusted advisor. This is done through demonstrating your expertise in a way that builds credibility and trust.

If we can all agree that the building of relationships, trust, and credibility are essential goals of the professional services marketing process, why is that I see time after time professional services marketing campaigns and messages focused around services overviews, capabilities brochures, client lists, methodological overviews, one pagers "about our firm," and other internally-oriented communications. While all this is fine and good, it does not serve the ultimate goal: To establish yourself as an expert and a trusted advisor.

Let's take a direct mail campaign as an example. Imagine two firms who have similar services and are entering a new geographic market:

Firm A develops a list of prospects that could be good targets for their services within a radius of a new regional office. They spend a good deal of time and money developing a capabilities brochure that's been professionally designed and written.

The six-page brochure portrays their professional brand, gives a history of the firm and its origins, and includes brief overviews of key services the firm provides. The cover letter explains that, "Allan, Smith, & Associates is opening a new office in your neighborhood and would like to set up an introductory meeting." After sending these packages, a partner then follows up with a phone call to set up a time for this introduction.

Firm B uses the same prospect list as firm A and, instead of investing their money developing a capabilities brochure, they use that money to invest in new research around their service expertise area.

Based on the results of this research, the firm develops a six-page executive summary and sends that out with a cover letter explaining, "As a way of introducing Smith, Doe & Associates' services, we'd like to share some of these findings with you and offer suggestions for how they will impact your company." A partner then follows up with a phone call to schedule a time where they can walk the prospect through the findings.

Based on these two direct-mail pieces and follow-up phone calls, which firm would you be more interested in meeting?

Two Firms. Two Approaches.

The two firms—offering the same services, going after the same marketplace and spending the same amount on marketing—approach how they market themselves very differently:

• Firm A's message is likely unmemorable and neither provides value nor positions the firm as an expert in their service space. A prospect might receive this brochure, and even review the list of services, and think, "I don't need these services," or, "We already work with a XYZ service company who does this for us."

• Firm B's message, on the other hand, helps them stand out from the crowded marketplace. It offers something of value and allows them to demonstrate their expertise in an unobtrusive way. Even if a prospect company already works with another provider in this service area, Firm B isn't meeting to discuss their own services. Rather, the firm meeting to discuss research results and to begin a relationship. Firm B, through providing value, creates a much stronger relationship foundation than Firm A on which to build.

So, trash those lengthy capability brochures and focus your time and budget on value-based marketing. Not only will it help you generate better responses for your marketing efforts, it will also help you to establish trust and demonstrate your expertise—the foundation of a strong, trusted-advisor relationship.