5 Marketing Strategies to Increase Your Fees -- Self-Assessment Worksheet
Howvisibleisyourexperts?Areyourfeesincreasing?Areyouseeingareturnonthemarketingeffortsofyourtechnical
professionals?Usingthefive-pointscaleanddescriptivereferencepoints,scoreyourfirmforeachindicator.Thenaddupthescores
foreachindicator,andwritethesumintheboxattheendofeachsection.CategoriesAssessed:
-PerceptionResearch:Howrelevantisyourfirminthemarketswhereyouoperate.
-BrandStrength:Howvisibleareyourtechnicalprofessionalstoyourtargetaudiences.
-ClientSelection:Howeffectiveyourfirm’sprocessisforincreasingengagementwithpotentialclients.
-OptimizedReferrals:Towhatextentyourfirmisenjoyingtheimpactsexpectedwithastrongbrand.
-VisibleExperts:Howeffectivelyyourfirm’sexpertiseisdemonstratedtoyourtargetaudiences.
PerceptionResearch
1.Yourfirmdoessystematic,primaryresearchonyourtargetaudienceregularly
1
2
3
4
5
Wedon’tfeelthe
Wehavedoneresearch
Weconductprimary,
needtodo
onourclients,butdon’t
originalresearchonour
researchonour
doitregularlyor
targetaudienceatleast
targetaudience.
frequently.
quarterly.
Score:_____
2.Youhavespecializedsolutionstoissuesthatareimportanttoyourclients. 1
2
3
4
5
Firmoffersawide Wearespecialized,but
Wehavevery
varietyofservices
otherfirmssharethe
specializedservicesand
&canaddress
samespecialization.
solutionsthatnoone
manyissues.
elseoffers.
Score:____
3.Youhaveasolidunderstandingofyourcompetitivelandscape.
1
2
3
4
5
Wearefairlysure, Wehavelearnedofsome Weareveryclearonour
basedonyearsof
competitors,fromour
competitivelandscape,
anecdotal
clients,butwewerenot
asidentifiedbyourstaff
evidence.
awareofthemourselves.
andbyext.audiences.
Score:_____
Section:PerceptionResearch
TotalScore:
TotalPossibleScore:15
BrandStrength
1.Yourfirmhaseasytounderstandandprovabledifferentiatorsthatareimportanttoyouraudience.
1
2
3
4
5
We’renotsureif
Wehavedifferentiators
We’resureour
wehavetheright
webelievearegood,but
differentiatorsareeasy
differentiators.
aren’tsureaswegetalot
tounderstand,
ofpushbackonprice.
believable&,important
toouraudience.
Score:_____
2.Yourprofessionalscontributeguestblogposts/articlesregularlytooutletsreadbyyourtargetaudience.
1
2
3
4
5
Wedon’t
Wedoitasoftenaswe
Ourfirmorpracticeposts
contributeblog
canbutnoteverymonth
ablogatleast1x/mo.in
postsorarticlesto
ornotnecessarilyinthe
outsidepubsreadbyour
outsidepubs.
rightpublications.
targetaudience.
Score:____
3.Yourprofessionalsdoregular,frequentwebinarsorotheronlineeventsattendedbyyourtargetaudience.
1
2
3
4
5
Wedon’thostany Wedoasmany
Wedooneormore
webinars.
webinarsaswecan;
webinarseachmonth.
frequencyvaries.
1
Section:BrandStrength TotalScore:
Score:_____
TotalPossibleScore:15
ClientSelection
1.Yourfirmhasenoughbusinessleadsseekingyououttoallowyoutobeselectiveandmaintainmargins.
1
2
3
4
5
Wecoulddefinitely Weareconsistentinlead Wehaveplentyofhigh
usemoreleads
generationorlead
qualityleadsandcanbe
and/orbetter
quality,butnotboth.
selective.
qualityleads.
Score:_____
2.Yournewleadsareeducatedabouthowyoucanhelpthemandthekeyadvantagestoworkingwithyourfirm.
1
2
3
4
5
Wehaveto
Wehavesomeleads
Ourleadsarewell
educateour
thatarewelleducated
educatedandunderstand
leadsaboutour
aboutour
ourservices/valuewe
services/culture.
services/value.
offer.
Score:_____
3.Yourfirmisgrowingmanytimesfasterthanyourindustryasawhole.
1
2
3
4
5
Wearegrowing
Wearegrowingatabout Wearegrowingfaster
slowerthanthe
theindustryaverage.
thantheindustry
industryaverage.
average.
Score:_____
Section:ClientSelection TotalScore:
TotalPossibleScore:15
OptimizingReferrals
1.Yourfirmhasamodernwebsitethatreflectsbrandpositionandshowsvisitorshowyoucanhelp.
1
2
3
4
5
Ourwebsiteisout Ourwebsiteisnotbad,
Ourwebsiteismodern,
ofdateand/ornot
butiscouldcertainlybe
easytonavigate,
veryeffective.
improved.
mobile,andshows
visitorswhatwedoand
howwecanhelp.
Score:_____
2.YourfirmhasCRM/MarketingAutomationtoolsthatallowyoutomage/tracktheimpactofefforts.
1
2
3
4
5
Wedonothave
Wehavesomeofthese
Wehavethesetoolsand
thesetools.
tools,butdon’tgetthe
usethemtoimplement,
mostfromthem.
track,andadjustour
marketingefforts.
Score:_____
3.Yourfirmhasaccurateanduptodatesocialmediaprofilesforyourfirmandkeyprofessionalsonallplatformswidelyusedfor
businessbyyourtargetaudience.
1
2
3
4
5
Ourfirmisn’ton
Ourfirmhassocialmedia Ourfirmhasactive,
socialmedia.
profilessetup,butare
robustsocialmedia
notupdatedregularly.
profiles.Weupdate
regularly,atleastwkly.
Score:_____
Section:OptimizingReferrals
TotalScore:
TotalPossibleScore:15
2
VisibleExperts
1.Yourfirmhasnationallyrecognizedexpertsintheservicesthatyouoffer.
1
2
3
4
Ourfirmhas
Ourfirmhasexpertsthat expertsonstaff
arebeginningtobe
recognizedinrecognizedonaregional
houseasthe
ornationalscale.
“resident”expert,
butnotoutoffirm.
2.Yourfirmoryourexpertshaveabookreflectingyourspecializedexpertise.
1
2
3
4
Wehavenot
Wehavepublisheda
publishedabook.
bookrelevanttoour
industryexpertise,butit
isnotabestselleror
standardreference.
5
Ourfirmhasoneor
morenationally
recognizedexperts
whosenameisknown
byalmostallinthe
industry.
Score:_____
5
Wehavepublisheda
bookrelevanttoour
industryexpertisethat
hasachieved“best
seller”statusorisvery
widelyrecommended
throughoutindustry.
Score:_____
3.Expertswithinyourfirmareinvitedtodopresentationsandkeynoteaddressestoyourtargetaudience.
1
2
3
4
5
Wearenot
Wedosomespeakingbut Expertswithinourfirm
regularlyaskedto
needtoevaluateitand
areinvitedtogive
dopresentations
maynotalwaysreceive
keynotespeeches
orkeynote
topbilling.
(nationalinternational)
addresses.
conferences.Theyare
THEgo-toand
commandtop$$.
Score:_____
Section:VisibleExperts TotalScore:
TotalPossibleScore:15
BenchmarkingYourFirm
Foryoursumtotal,writethescoreforeachsectioninthe“Score”columninthetablebelow.
Section
Score
TotalPossible
PerceptionResearch
15
BrandStrength
15
ClientSelection
15
OptimizedReferrals
15
VisibleExperts
15
TOTALSCORE:
75
Whatdoesmyscoremean?
Ascoreof68-75=Congratulations!Yourfirmisdoingtherightthingstoincreasevisibilityofexpertsandthefirm.
67-53=Yourfirmisontherighttrack,butcouldimproveinkeyareas.
52andBelow=Yourfirmfacesimportantopportunitiestobuildyourvisibilityandgrow.
AboutthisSelf-AssessmentWorksheet:
Thisself-assessmentispartofHinge’sVisibleFirmbenchmarkingprocess.Thecompletebenchmarkinganalysisaccounts
formanymorevariablesingreaterdepth,weightingeachdata-pointbasedonaproprietaryalgorithm.Haveadditional
questions?Youcanreachmeat:[email protected].
3