By Terrie Wheeler, President
Professional Services Marketing

Introduction
Strategic business and marketing planning take on a new dimension when applied to services firms. Whether legal, architectural, healthcare, engineering or any other type of service, strategic business planning sets the stage for the successful implementation of a firm's marketing program.

It is extremely important to develop a business strategy before launching into marketing tactics (brochures, website, customer communications, public relations, seminars, newsletters, etc.). A strategy before tactics approach ensures the projects implemented convey the firm's unique marketing messages and will be delivered using the proper vehicles (print, web, advertising, PR) to the firm's A-level target audiences. Focused messages delivered to targeted audiences will result in securing more work from existing clients, and attracting new clients to the firm. In addition, by applying a strategic approach to growth, a company can increase overall name recognition and awareness of the firm, its products or services and its unique points of differentiation in the marketplace.

Most business professionals know that planning is important, but few can differentiate between the various types of plans. Following is a summary of the various types of plans an organization may have in place before pursuing specific activities. This paper explores four uniquely different types of planning initiatives – all of which play a unique role in the business' overall success:

• Strategic Business Plan
• Marketing Plan
• Public Relations Plans
• Sales Plan

The Strategic Business Plan
Let's start with a strategic plan – a strategic plan can also be called a business plan. They accomplish the same thing – to help set mid-to long-term objectives for the continued growth of a company. Elements of a strategic business plan include:

• Mission and Vision Statements
• Business Goals
  • External
  • Internal
• Financials
  • Past Five Year Profitability Analysis (by practice, industry, business unit or individual)
  • Current Income and Expense Data
  • Projected Income and Expense Data
  • Analysis of New Business Sources
• External Situation Analysis
  • Economy
  • Demographics of Customers
  • Competition
  • Technology
  • Internal Analysis
  • Service Summary
  • Customer Market
  • Productivity
• SWOT Analysis
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats
• Objectives for Next Five Years
  • Overall Growth and Financial Performance
  • Human Resources
  • Operations
  • Employee Communications
  • Marketing
  • Technology
• Action Items in Support of Objectives
  • Summary of Action Item
  • Target Completion Date
  • Funding Requirements
  • Method of Performance Measurement
  • Individual(s) Responsible

Elements of a Strategic Marketing Plan
A marketing plan should be the mirror-reflection of an organization's strategic business plan. A marketing plan brings business strategies to life. While over-arching marketing objectives are referenced in a strategic business plan, the marketing plan is the tool to specifically and measurably define which initiatives should be pursued with various different audiences – and why certain strategies are pursued over others to meet the overall growth objectives of the company. Here is an electronic summary of the Components of a Marketing Plan for a professional services firm.

Elements of a Public Relations Plan
A public relations plan is the basis of a public relations campaign. Public relations plans can either be company-wide (improving the identity of a company) or they may focus on a specific product line, business unit or service. A public relations plan is developed in support of an organization's overall business and marketing plan and includes the following components:

• Summary of the business unit, product line or service to be promoted
• Discussion on newsworthy angles and PR opportunities
• Statement of public relations objectives to be accomplished
• Identification of media sources to target (print, web, TV, radio)
• Statement of key messages
• Presentation of desired outcomes
  • Article in a publication read by target audiences
  • Interview on a radio show heard by target audiences
  • Television interview
  • Develop individual as an expert source with the media
  • Day-to-day press coverage on activities at company (new hires, promotions, awards received)
• Action plan
  • Angle to focus on
  • Outlets to target
  • Specific key messages to convey
  • Key spokesperson
  • Media coverage achieved
  • Budget required to pursue plan

Elements of a Sales Plan
A sales plan is a tool used by sales managers and sales people to actively sell the products or services of an organization. The sales plan is the logical extension of a company's business and marketing plan. A successfully implemented public relations plan will set the tone for the sales force to be successful by increasing name recognition and awareness of the company. A sales plan for a services firm would likely include:

• Sales Plan Strategy
  • Sales and revenue generation goals by product, month, territory, sales person, etc.
  • Creation of prospective client list
  • Creation of referral source list
  • Number of face-to-face meetings to be scheduled
  • Trade show activities
  • Joint marketing activities
  • Other sales strategies
• Client Retention and Loyalty
  • Client communication
  • Client satisfaction feedback initiatives
  • Dealing with unhappy clients
  • Referral incentive program development so more clients refer more business
• Sales Management Plan
  • Building the group
  • Job descriptions and expectations
  • Compensation and incentive plans
  • Establishment of sales goals (by product, region, person, month)
  • Recognition and rewards plans
  • Training the sales force
  • Sales results summaries
• Lead Generation and Prospect Follow-Up
• Sales Activities Timeline
  • Activities by month
  • Costs
  • Return on investment
• Sales Results Summary
  • Sales initiatives pursued
  • Person/people responsible
  • Follow-up and next steps
  • Results generated
• Sales Tracking System
  • Total number of sales leads
  • Number of qualified referrals received
  • Average number of appointments for each sales person
  • Number of proposals or sales presentations made
  • Hit rate – number of proposals accepted
  • Closed sales and size of client
  • Cost to generate each new client
  • Gross profit of sales compared to cost to create sale