Building a sector position for a mid-tier accountancy firm
What the firm had A partner already acting for a number of credit unions, picked up over the years with no strategy behind them. What we did Built from what was already there. A benchmarking report from the firm's own files, a survey of the sector's concerns, website content, articles in the sector's publications, speaking slots at its events. What changed The firm became the one that sector went to. The partners did the work. I wrote his words.
The problem
A partner already acted for a number of credit unions. Those clients had arrived over the years rather than by design. The firm was doing the work without being known for it, which is the most common form this problem takes.
What I did
- Find the sectorLooked at the existing client files rather than at the market. The concentration was already in the building.
- BenchmarkBuilt a benchmarking report from the firm's own client data, which gave it something to say that nobody else could say.
- SurveySurveyed the sector on its own concerns. The launch and the results gave two reasons to go to market rather than one.
- PublishWebsite content, articles in the sector's own publications, speaking slots at its events.
- ConveneAn annual national event for the sector, which made the firm the place that conversation happened.
The outcome
The firm became the one that sector went to. Press and commentary, writing in the sector's own publications, speaking at its events, and a working relationship with its association groups. The new work was genuinely new clients rather than expanded work inside the existing base.
The partners did the work. My part was the structure and the writing behind it.
