Practice Management - 09 Marketing & Communication

9.         Marketing and Communication

·       More complex than simply advertising what you do

·       Research

·       Strategic thinking

·       Identify set of aspirations then come up with a marketing plan to achieve them ie. branching into new sector (housing health care, teaching, overseas work)

·       How would you make yourself know to this market

Marketing is the art of balancing your objectives with the reality of your operating environment.  It is all about understanding the requirements and characteristics of potential and existing clients and matching or developing skills and services to those demands

1. Environmental Scanning

The Pestle analysis

·       Political

·       Economic

·       Sociological

·       Technological

·       Legislative

·       Environmental

·       Ethical

2. Researching the Market

·       What are the requirements of our clients

·       Client Conversations – feedback, focus groups

·       Types of Clients

·       Consumer Reaction

·       Cost

·       Competition

3. Positioning, image and marketing mix

Define your product, price point, place in the market and promotion strategy

·       what image do you want clients to have of your firm?

·       What are your values?

·       What is your firms unique selling point

Marketing Plan

·       Should address who we are, where do we want to be, how do we get there, did we achieve our goals

Who are we:

·       SWOT Analysis – Sets where business in relation to its key markets

·       PESTLE Analysis – position of the business in relation to external factors that may affect trading in the long term

Where do we want to be:

·       Set objectives that are market led.  They should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed.

·       Objectives need to be clear to everyone

How do we get there:

·       A strategy setting out exactly what activities you will undertake to achieve your objectives

·       Advertising, branding, new business development, PR

Did we achieve our goals?

·       Measurement of activity

·       Point is not to be critical but to refine future plans and actions and to lean which actions were successful

Codes and Regulations:

RIBA Code of professional Conduct

Principle 1.2 – Not to allow themselves to be improperly influenced either by their own, or others self-interest

Principle 1.3 – Not to be party to any statement which they know to be untrue, misleading, unfair to others or contrary to their own professional knowledge.

ARB Code

Standard 3 – Requires all advertising of professional services to be conducted in a truthful and responsible manner.  It also requires that advertising conforms to the codes and standards of the industry