Transforming Firm into an Engagement Machine

Client Situation

Client was operating behind a firewall, issuing reports and producing the odd consulting assignment without actively engaging their market. Industry segment where they were operating was undergoing a rapid expansion phase and firm was at risk for being crowded out.

To transform the business, we instituted a full-scale market engagement process designed to securely position the firm within their market and boost revenues. The reasoning was that direct, one-on-one interactions are how analysts develop connections and longer-term relationships that provide a defensible market position for their firms. But simple phone calls for Q&A were not going to work, the firm had to own communication and interaction as a fundamental element of its operating procedures. Engagement had to be an ongoing process with measurement and follow up key aspects.

Goals:

1) Establish a more secure and defensible brand for the firm in its market

2) Create new sources of material for reports and build trade currency (the anecdotal yet interesting information gleaned from interactions that insiders are known for)

3) Boost revenues by inserting sales into the process

We took the following steps:

Defined a universe of companies where we felt there was the greatest potential for Return on Time Invested (ROTI) for both revenue and research potential. We then set out to engage as many companies as possible on a one-to-one basis.

We assigned staff to partner with and support analysts to obtain briefings, track engagement responses, assign value to engagements and determine the appropriate future follow up actions.

We made the point including sales and business development as part of the process. Sales people sat in on briefings to ensure opportunities for business development were not missed and that the sales team had a better feel for account viability and opportunities. When it was only analysts involved, we made sure to have them collect referrals for business without having them push for the sale.

All info logged into CRM and relevant marketing automation process.

What made this effort successful?

Presenting the firm as committed to the space and informing engagement targets that not only would the company possibly be showing up in reports but also in publicly available content and media engagements. This incentivized companies to participate and message to the best of their ability.

Analysts were well prepared for the calls, they questioned and offered challenges to what was presented to them. They also shared their own takes on the market. Both parties gave and received value. Sales was fully part of the process. Analysts were expected to introduce business possibilities into the discussion at an appropriate time when operating alone and refer the lead to sales with some value attached to it. Important to note who is authentically interested vs simply saying the right thing in order to not appear rude or simply curry favor.

The follow ups were also important. There is simply no point in making a connection if the interaction will not be leveraged in the future provided, of course, that there was value or potential for more.

• Each person with whom there was an interaction was sent:

• A follow up to express thanks for the time,

• Acknowledgement of take aways from interactions,

• Requests to communicate again and

• Recent articles, papers or report summaries forwarded to build on engagement

• Reminder that sales team would be in touch to follow up on authentic interest

This process took place over a full year.

Results:

Engagements with 200 companies that boosted sales per report by over 30%

Generated three major consulting engagements of over $50,000 and several short-term assignments of $10,000-$15,000 value.

Launch of the firm on a 3-year run of strong market position in fiber optics market research and analysis that saw several competitors disappear while they remained