Managing Professional Services Communications: Reputation, Brand and Leadership

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Managing Professional Services CommunicationsRe
putation, Brand and Leadership

• December 6, 2007
• AMCF Global Consulting Leaders Symposium
• Peter Verrengia, President and Senior Partner
• Communications Consulting Worldwide

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Challenge Grow Value Everywhere . . .
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Against a background of global complexity. . .
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Priorities?

• Visibility for the firm
• Global
• National
• Regional
• Local
• Credibility for the practices and partners
• Lead generation
• Recruitment and retention
• Lateral, direct entry
• Summer associates, associates

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Questions and Complexity

• How should we be known, what should we say?
• Why do our competitors get more attentiondoes it
  matter?
• Should we focus on practices, geographies or at
  the firm level?
• How do we convert our experience into demand?
• Does criticism or a link to negative issues hurt
  our revenue now? Will it hurt in the future?

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More questions

• Can we increase productivity and quality if
  employees understand our strategy better?
• Are we trusted, seen as innovative, expected to
  succeed? Is that view the same in every country
  and every service segment.
• Should our leaders be visible, should they be
  thought leaders? Is the time and personal
  exposure worthwhile?
• Shouldnt our results speak for themselves?

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Challenges of Business Development Communications
in Professional Services Firms

• Shared
• Disintermediation of editorial function, decline
  of endorsed expertise
• Speed, fragmentation of information sourcesshift
  away from control
• Desire for linearity in a non-linear
  decision-making environment
• Scope and scale of global business
• Lack of confidence in large organizations,
  personal credibility as a substitute

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Challenges of Business Development Communications
in Professional Services Firms

• Unique
• Partner time
• Partner expectations
• (Unlike clients, partners are never wrong)
• Cant easily use clients as examples in public
  communications
• Expertise versus personalities
• Lead generation in a relationship context
• Business strategy vs. marketing strategy vs.
  partner priorities, reactions

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Variety Of Effective Tools

• Most programs involve the same tactics
• Segmentation by practice, vertical industry, and
  geography

Integrated Communications Program
Controlled
Uncontrolled
Custom Publishing
Speeches, events, seminars
Advertising
Interactive engagement
Direct
Media relations
Books, by-lined Articles
VISIBILITY
CREDIBILITY
Content Dependent
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Objective? Conflict?

• Personality dependent

Super Fully Integrated Strategic
Communications
If I could just get into the room
Super Tactical, High Volume Splashy
Buzz Communications
Chaos?
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Organizations Must Tackle Communications
Alignment and Integration Issues

• Organization How does it connect inside?
• Effectiveness, Efficiency How well are
  reputation and brand projected and protected?
• Alignment How well does the organization support
  its own professionals and their objectives?
• Benchmarks Scope and spending on communications
  activities and how does this compare to best in
  class?

Integration New, Innovative, Strategic
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Long-Term Opportunity
Collaboration Together, Better, Faster
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Near-Term Initiative
Coordination Functional, Independent, Parallel
1
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Reputation and brand

• Brand what we say about ourselves or our
  products
• in the context of a buyer/seller relationship
• Most often through controlled communications
• Reputation What others say about the company
• In the context of its own actions and statements
• Statements of competitors, and the issues and
  concerns that create the economic, public policy,
  and social trends environment
• Wherever the company operates or plans to operate
  in the future.
• Most often through uncontrolled communications
• Brand Visibility Reputation
  Credibility
• Credibility Experience Expectation

In professional services, brand and reputation
are very closely aligned
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Managing Reputation Brand Value
Uncontrolled Communications
Opportunity Platform
Partners

Reputation and Brand
Value
Performance
Firm
Safety Net
Controlled Communications
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Brand, Reputation and Thought Leadership

• The firms reputation is a composite and
  reflection of its partners reputationsand
  potentially more
• Institutional qualities, attributes
• Communications from the firm requires the
  personal participation of the partners
• Especially at the level of thought leadership
• Live the brand???

same at any scale partner, practice geography,
or firm
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Reputation and Branding Priorities

For the Partner
For the Firm
PERSONAL CREDIBILITY
TIME FOR VISIBILITY
TIME FOR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
High Effort, High return
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Two rules

Thought Leadership Need a thought Need to lead
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Essential Ingredients
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
NEWS
EXPERTISE
Content is king in professional services
communications
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How do we know what matters?

• In an increasingly complex world, attributes of
  our reputation, and what issues, are important?
• Do we have, in our reputation, a sustainable
  competitive advantage?
• What attributes to emphasize?
• What attributes to protect?
• How do we create and maintain visibility and
  credibility
• Program messages, tactics, duration
• Spending levels
• What are the metrics we should use?

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Practical Considerations

• Motivate partner participation
• Respond to partner priorities and desires
  (demands?)
• Justify budgets

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Practical Considerations

• Motivate partner participation
• Respond to partner priorities and desires
  (demands?)
• Justify budgets

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REPUTATION VALUE MEASUREMENT
ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN PERFORMANCE
BD Comms. Management
MESSAGE POSITIONING DEVELOPMENT Program
strategy tactics
LEADERSHIP REPUTATION GROWTH AND DEFENSE
This is the easy part
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Create Reputation Value Model

• What outcomes matter most to you as a business?
• What is the value of reputation overall? What
  metric should be used over time to measure
  progress or threats?
• Which reputation attributes or messages
  contribute most to your reputation, sales volume,
  other outcomes?
• Which should be emphasized more?
• Which reputation attributes or messages about the
  company should your protect?

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CCWs Approach to Measurement

• An approach using multivariate statistics and
  econometric modeling
• A model using causal equations to link intangible
  drivers to an overall score that links to
  corporate performance

Intermediaries
Outputs
Inputs
Components
Possible Data Points
Potential Business Outcomes
Possible Message Themes
Possible Elements
Publicly Available Financial Data
Strategy Execution
Media Relations Data
Corp. Culture and CEO Messaging
Revenue
Brand Data
Management Strength
Sales Volume/ Growth
Stakeholder Survey Inputs (Customer, Employee,
Other)
Reputation
Customer Retention
Employee Relations
CSR Data
Financial Position
Awards, Patents, Ratings
Innovation
Market Share
Product/Service Quality
Marketing Data
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Leadership Defense

• Understand the environment and risks
• Cross-border political and economic issues
• Relevance
• Competitor initiatives
• Timing24 hours a day
• Appropriate response
• Sometimes no response is correct
• Create just enough leeway for initiative
• Focus and repeat (consultants get bored easily)
• Measure
• Involve knowledge owners
• Always seek communications annuity programs and
  develop franchises