Articles

Business Development and marketing in challenging times

SUSTAINING A ROBUST TOUCH PLAN DURING A DOWN ECONOMY

Social networking is one answer

In a down economy—when you’re at your wit’s end about the highest, best use of your valuable time and your coveted marketing budget—now is an optimal time for you to create and solidify your firm’s social networking channels.

Fact: when the economy slows, many sectors limit their need for AEC services; put opportunities on hold; or just stop buying all together. Yet, seasoned business developers who have lived through previous economic downturns also realize that at some point in the future, those withholding prospects will buy once again! Lesson learned: it’s imperative to continue touching your prospects with tender-loving-care, even when the selling cycle is indefinite, and rewards are uncertain.

Many argue that a well-executed keep-in-touch plan is the most worthwhile marketing strategy in your toolbox. Why? You’re more likely to gain kudos and referrals from business colleagues and past clients if you stay in touch. Less opportunities slip through the cracks when you are in regular contact. And, your firm greatly increases its odds for selling success when it repeatedly connects with prospects to build comfort and trust.

Connect; it’s key. Connection flows two ways. It’s a dynamic form of ‘touching’—where opinions are shared; requests are made; respect is earned. Connection can be energizing, even inspiring. But there’s a limited amount of time each day to make rich connections. Further, in a poor economic climate—where competitors clamor for whatever remaining opportunities exist—business developers must increase the number of opportunities in order to close the amount of business required to balance workloads, meet growth objectives, and reinvest.

So, when time and monetary resources are scarce, what’s the best way to stay in touch and really connect? Many professional service firms are turning to social networking as an integral component of their touch plans. While the AEC industry is a little slower in this regard, signs point to the fact that if other professional service providers—law, advertising, accounting—are reaping benefits, then one day we will too.

But why wait until the AEC world is saturated with social media hounds? Why not be on the forefront? Within the massive realm of social media options—blogs, microblogs, wikis, podcasting, RSS feeds, and so on—there are lower hanging fruits that are sure to reap some level of value within the first year of launch. Two attainable channels: a company blog, along with your company’s presence on LinkedIn. Both are reasonable to execute, and both facilitate two-way connections with prospects, allowing you to execute additional touches beyond the traditional entertaining, gifts, tradeshows, brochures, and direct mail campaigns.

Let’s use my friend Justin G. Roy, Chief Operating Officer at SullivanKreiss, as an emphatic example. Last month, Justin shared: “Everything we’ve done with social media has allowed us to cut our marketing budget to almost nothing. Our articles are picked up a lot more, our website rankings and visits have increased (up 190% from 2007 to 2008). We actually spend less time on marketing activities since you can write one blog entry and have it automatically appear on a myriad of channels: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Diggo, Zimbio. Not to mention, we have a lot more control over our content and monitoring our statistics than ever before.” As an executive recruiting firm specifically in the AEC space, SullivanKreiss is an industry leader in AEC social networking success.

If you are not yet convinced that some aspect of social media should be a priority for you in early 2009, let me highlight three additional reasons:

Ability to support sales: just like any other marketing touch, well-executed social networking will increase your name recognition and respect, which will in turn make your selling efforts far easier.

Ability to listen: when you read others’ comments and questions, you can prove you’ve ‘heard’ them through your responses.

Ability to serve: provide an e-forum to bring your clients and prospects together through an open, online ‘conversation’.

Is there anything stopping you from integrating social media into your touch plans? Get up-to-speed by starting small; expand to become highly visible; and eventually evolve into an AEC industry leader in social networking. Don’t wait, or later you’ll be catching up. Make a commitment to do this in early 2009; I have.

Consider these sites when determining which social media channels are best for your firm (to name just a few):
LinkedIn.com
Wordpress.com
Twitter.com
Digg.com
Feedblitz.com
FeedBurner.com
Technorati.com
Slideshare.com
Friendfeed.com
Sixapart.com
Scribd.com
Jaiku.com