Telephone Area Codes

Marketing Your Professional Services is NOT Optional
By Meredith Hamilton

I frequently hear professionals say, “I don’t market my services; I rely on word-of-mouth to get business.” They don’t seem to realize these two statements are contradictory -— if they are getting plenty of referral business, they have marketed their services quite well! The issue is not a decision of whether or not to market your services, but is instead a decision of whether to assume responsibility for it and become more effective at it.

Actions you might not realize are marketing decisions:

• What you name your business

• What information you print on your business card

• How you let people know you are available

• How your resume or company brochure looks

• Who answers the telephone and how

• How you dress for encounters with prospective clients

• How you respond when someone asks what you do

• How you treat not only clients and prospects but also

employees, associates and competitors

All of these factors contribute to the image people form of you and are far more critical to the success of your business than you might realize.

For instance, does your business name indicate what services your business performs? If it doesn’t, is your business name accompanied by a tagline that states your field of work?

Does your business card provide all necessary data such as the type of work performed and your complete contact information? As a marketing consultant reviewing and analyzing professionals’ marketing materials, I see cards with important information omitted, such as the email address and even telephone area codes. I’ve seen two cards with no zip code after the address. What do these cards say about the professionals, i.e., what impression does their marketing create?

Particularly if you have chosen not to advertise your services, how did you announce that you had opened a business or practice? However you did it, and whether you did it effectively or not, it was a marketing action.

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

Fortunately, you’re not expected to already be knowledgeable about marketing, any more than you would expect people in other professions to be proficient in your discipline. Marketing help is available from books, magazines, the Internet, knowledgeable friends and marketing professionals. The key point is to realize that the decisions and actions that create others’ perception of you should be planned and well thought-out, as they constitute your marketing.