How to Build a Brand | Marketing Strategy

Building a brand can be a powerful force in your practice if your firm truly operates as one firm. Most firms operate as a collection of practitioners sharing overhead. Operating together as one firm enables you to create synergy when communicating with clients and prospects.

Synergy from One Firm

How can you tell if you are operating as one firm? Ask yourself a few questions:

• Is the partner compensation system built on the book of business mentality rather than each partner’s total contribution to the firm?

• Does a significant amount of our revenue come from partners introducing other partners’ services to clients?

• Do we have a system in place that will consistently achieve good service from partner to partner and from office to office?

Even beyond the desire to operate as—and present—a one- firm image, every professional firm needs to “reposition” them- selves in the minds of the customer.

Using Branding

Branding can be the key to extending your most trusted advisor status to the new service areas you’re offering. Do your clients think of you first when they need human resource services?

Business advice? If you haven’t extended your brand in a way that redefines who you are, I guarantee you the answer is “no.” Branding is a method to build a larger—and possibly rede- fined—space in the minds of your customers. Successful branding connects what clients are passionate about buying with what you are passionate about delivering.

Branding is not just advertising or promotion. Your brand must permeate your entire operation. In order for your branding campaign to have impact, your marketing messages should express your firm’s culture and values. Your messages should be clear and your operations should be consistent and congruous with the message.

Conclusion

Your brand may be an intangible asset, but never doubt that effective branding can deliver bottom-line results. Successful branding will enable your firm to obtain premium pricing, to receive more opportunities to serve clients and prospects, and to become recognized as a market leader.