How To Develop A Winning Go-To-Market Strategy For Your Firm - Hinge Marketing

How to Develop a Winning Go-to-Market Strategy for Your Firm...
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How to Develop a Winning Go-to-Market

Strategy for Your Firm
BY LEE FREDERIKSEN, PH.D. (HTTP://WWW.HINGEMARKETING.COM/BLOG/STORY/AUTHOR/LEEF)| JUNE 6, 2016
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10/06/2016 17:18
In our recent posts weve been sharing our perspective on the best strategies to drive
organic growth (http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/story/how-to-drive-organic-growth(http://www.hingemarketing.com )
5-proven-strategies-for-professional-services-firms) and merger-and-acquisition-based
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growth (http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/story/mergers-and-acquisitions-as-partServices
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/programs-services
)
of-your-growth-strategy). InPrograms
this post &
were
going
to turn our attention to your firms go-to-
market strategy.
Hinge University
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/hinge-university
)
Go-To-Market Strategy Defined

Some people confuse a go-to-market (GTM) strategy with a business plan. While they are
Library(http://www.hingemarketing.com/library
)
Blog (http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog
)
related, they are different. A business plan is broader in scope and considers every aspect
of a business, while a go-to-market strategy is focused specifically on delivering a product
or service to an end customer.
About Hinge(http://www.hingemarketing.com/about-hinge
)
A properly developed, carefully considered GTM strategy delivers actionable answers to

some tough questions, including:
Research Institute(http://www.hingemarketing.com/research-institute
)
How do you connect with potential clients?

How do you offer a compelling value proposition?
Careers(http://www.hingemarketing.com/careers
)
How do you distinguish yourself from competitive firms?
Contact(http://www.hingemarketing.com/contact
)
How do you deliver on what youve promised?
You often hear go-to-market strategies associated with manufacturers and companies
703 391 8870(tel:+17033918870
targeting specific markets with a particular product or products. To be
sure, GTM strategies )
are crucial for new product launches, but they can be linked to professional service firms,
as well.
Professional Services Are Different
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(http://www.hingemarketing.com )
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Programs & Services

)
Hinge University
)
)
)
(/landing-pages/visible-firm-feasibility-review) Just as
)
there is a major difference between computer chips and corn chips, there can be
significant differences between various disciplines within professional services. For

example, corporate and divorce
lawyers.
Research
Institute(http://www.hingemarketing.com/research-institute
)
To make things even more challenging, professional services can have special
considerations, such as complicated purchasing processes
that can be made even messier
)
because youre dealing with an intangibleexpertiserather than a tangible product that
can be defined and compared. This, of course, makes developing a go-to-market strategy
)
for professional services that much more challenging.
With that in mind, lets take a closer look at what it takes to develop an effective go-tomarket strategy for a professional services firm.
703 391 8870(tel:+17033918870

)
5 Steps for Developing a Professional Services Go-To-Market Strategy

At Hinge, weve refined the GTM strategy development process down to five steps that fit
nicely with professional services firms. Heres a brief summary:
1) Define your target markets. If starting here seems odd its because most firms start
with what services they want to offer. Better to start with the kind of problems you want to
solve. Or better still, the kind of markets you want to be in.
Growth, geographic location, existing client base are all examples of important
considerations that go into selecting markets. Secondary research
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/library/article
10/06/2016 17:18
/hinges_professional_services_guide_to_research) on market size, growth and dynamics

can be very helpful here.
2) Profile your target client. Within a broad market there are typically a wide range of
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clients. Which segment are you likely to add the most value to? Which segments are most
Programs & Services
)
likely to be a good fit with your firm? These are your target clients.
Its not a matter of who can use your service. Its quite likely that many prospects could. But
Hinge
University
)
that doesnt mean you should target
them
all. You
will likely have no advantage, just a very
difficult time closing prospects.

3) Position
your brand in the marketplace. How
your firm to be seen in
) do you
Blogwant
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog
)
comparison to your competitors? Do you want to be the innovator? the thought leader? the
low price alternative?
)
Each of these alternatives would, of course, be very different market positioning.

For example, if you are trying to reach young, innovative firms, your positioning and
)
services mix should align with that focus. Young, innovative and exciting.
Low price positioning? Dont try to tout your superior client service.
)
SEE ALSO: How to Drive Organic Growth: 5 Proven Strategies for Professional Services
Firms (http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/story/how-to-drive-organic-growth-5-provenContact(http://www.hingemarketing.com/contact
)
strategies-for-professional-services-firms#sthash.YAAWnVkO.dpuf)
4) Define your service offerings. Most firms start here and search for the right target
703 target
391 8870
(tel:+17033918870
)
audience. Thats a mistake. The services you offer should flow from the
and
positioning, not the other way around.

What services speak to the unique needs of the niche you have decided to focus on? How
do these offerings reinforce your positioning? If you are positioning yourself as innovative,
are your services truly innovative? Be honest.
If you are positioning yourself as a low-cost alternative, do you have high-value, low-cost
services that are not available elsewhere within your market? Be careful not to paint
yourself into a corner with a low-price GTM strategy. That could come back to bite you
when you want or need to raise prices. Not to mention the potential for brutal, no-win
pricing wars with competitors.
5) Develop an appropriate marketing strategy. Just as your service offerings should
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deliver on your brand promise, so too should your marketing approach align with your
target clients preferences. A marketing campaign that speaks their language and
specifically addresses their pains will be far more effective in reaching and motivating
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them.
Programs & Services
)
That means you should be discussing the issues that are important to your target clients.
Your guest articles should be in publications they read and your speaking engagements at
events they attend. Your blog posts
should
feature
keywords they are likely to search for.
Hinge
University
)
But most important, your marketing plan should be built around making your firms
expertise visible to your target audience. This is where we shamelessly plug our Visible
)
)
Expert (http://www.hingemarketing.com/library/article/the-visible-expert) book as a quick

and easy way to learn more about developing true thought leadership within your industry
and target market.
)
If you are new to developing a go-to-market strategy all this may seem a bit overwhelming.
So where do you start? Usually
the bestInstitute
answer(http://www.hingemarketing.com/research-institute
is with research, and there are two types of )
Research
research that are most helpful:
Secondary research. This is finding research
information
that has been published.
Careers
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/careers
)
Secondary research is most useful for sizing and evaluating markets in which to
compete. Its ideal for creating context and to help frame what you want to do and
where.
)
Brand research. This is research, where you (or a firm you retain) collect original
data about your firm and your competitors. This is helpful for the other four steps of
703 391 8870(tel:+17033918870
)
your GTM strategy.
Ready to Go to Market?
The five steps weve outlined here are a great place to start on the road to developing an
efficient, effective go-to-market strategy for professional services. For any plan to be
successful, though, it must be flexible and current.
As your market and industry conditions change, be ready and willing to revise your go-tomarket strategy to keep pace. Nothing should be carved in stone.
Additional Resources
Find out more on becoming a sought-after expert in your industry by downloading a
10/06/2016 17:18
free copy of The Visible Expert (http://www.hingemarketing.com/library/article

/the-visible-expert) book.
How do you develop a robust marketing plan that covers all your bases? Learn the
secrets with our free Marketing Planning Guide for Professional Services Firms
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(http://www.hingemarketing.com/library/article/the-marketing-planning-guidePrograms & Services

)
for-professional-services-second-edition).
Learn the key insights weve gleaned from 10 years of research into high-growth
firms in our Visible Firm course
Hinge University
)
/courses/visible-firm-course) through Hinge University
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/hinge-university).
)
)
How Hinge Can Help

Hinge has developed a comprehensive plan,the Visible Firm
)
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/programs-services/visible-firm/) to address these issues

and more. Itis the leading marketing program for delivering greater visibility, growth, and
Research
Institute
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/research-institute
)
profits. This customized program
will identify
the
most practical offline and online
marketing tools your firm will need to gain new clients and reach new heights.
)
)
703 391 8870(tel:+17033918870

)
(/landing-pages/visiblefirm-feasibility-review)
LEE FREDERIKSEN, PH.D. Who wears the boots in our office? That would be Lee, our
managing partner, who suits up in a pair of cowboy boots every day and drives strategy
and research for our clients. With a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, Lee is a former
researcher and tenured professor at Virginia Tech, where he became a national authority
on organizational behavior management and marketing. He left academia to start up and
run three high-growth companies, including an $80 million runaway success story.
10/06/2016 17:18
INDUSTRIES & TOPICS

Any Industry (http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/industries/uncategorized)
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Strategy (http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/topics/strategy)
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May 16, 2016
)
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)
(http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/story/why-clients-are-not-the-referral-sourceto-count-on)
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(http://www.hingemarketing.com/blog/story/why-clients-are-not-the-referralsource-to-count-on)
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May 9, 2016
10/06/2016 17:18
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SYLVIA MONTGOMERY, CPSM
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