YOUR BRAND
IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER
March 2024
Within professional services, small to medium-sized firms deserve every chance at winning proposals when up against the larger firms.
Fact 1: Professional services firms provide a service that is delivered through staff competencies. Professional services do not rely on 'products', but rather on 'services' to deliver value.
Fact 2: It’s not uncommon for people working in professional services to be employed by larger firms and then shift to smaller firms during their career.
Armed with that knowledge, it would then make sense that if an individual’s competencies are the same, regardless of the size of the firm they are working for, then why is the strike rate on winning proposals at small to medium-sized firms not as successful compared to the larger firms?
One answer to this conundrum could be the perception of trust that the smaller firm's brand holds.
As brand trust can be built through strong brand delivery, we can then seek to change the perception of a small to medium-sized firm through branding.
Let’s unpack.
Larger firms often have solid structures in place to ensure efficient turnarounds on proposals are possible. They have templates that work for them and easily retrievable knowledge management content and processes that make sense to the whole firm.
The small to medium-sized firms often do not.
The larger firms often have dedicated design, brand, and marketing teams. These teams ensure the execution of the firm’s branding stays consistent and on message.
The small to medium-sized firms often do not.
Larger firms often spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on rebranding and then follow through with firm-wide efforts to ensure the brand stays consistent and strong.
The small to medium-sized firms often do not have the capacity for this.
But this shouldn’t be a barrier to winning good work.
A brand’s impact is felt through the collective experience someone has from every interaction and touchpoint of your business. That means that every presentation, interpersonal interaction, website visit, proposal submission, and more tells a story about your brand. This collective story feeds into the perception of trust that someone has with your organisation.
And if they don’t trust you, why would they hire you?
Building trust stems from a strategic and intentional brand that is executed consistently.
The ingredients for this are:
Good branding: Is your brand solid, contemporary, and functional? Is your visual brand saying the right things about the company?
Templates: Does your firm have professional templates that are working for you (and that nobody curses at)? Does everybody know how to use them? Do they make turning around proposals quick and efficient?
Content: Do you have reusable content stored in a retrieval way? Does your content reflect the firm’s values and tone of voice?
Systems and processes: Does your firm have systems and processes that support operational efficiencies, especially during proposal submissions? Are you turning around proposals efficiently and effectively?
Consistent execution: If you lay out multiple pieces of brand collateral on a table, does the visual brand look cohesive?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of the above questions, read on.
Small to medium-sized firms can look as good as larger firms without the need for permanent additional design, brand, or marketing hires.
It just takes an investment in planning, execution, and ongoing maintenance to achieve this.
Our advice to firms that want to win more work is:
The above is all wrapped up in what we call a ‘brand ecosystem’. A brand ecosystem should be built specifically for your organisation’s needs. And the supporting templates, processes, and knowledge management requirements should be built to account for everything your specific organisation is going to need, both now and in the future.
So we pose you this question: Is the health of your brand ecosystem preventing you from winning good work?
BrandOps exists to help small to medium-sized professional services firms with their branding needs.
We want you to succeed in your business. We exist for this purpose.
Contact us for an obligation-free discussion.
March 2024
Within professional services, small to medium-sized firms deserve every chance at winning proposals when up against the larger firms.
Fact 1: Professional services firms provide a service that is delivered through staff competencies. Professional services do not rely on 'products', but rather on 'services' to deliver value.
Fact 2: It’s not uncommon for people working in professional services to be employed by larger firms and then shift to smaller firms during their career.
Armed with that knowledge, it would then make sense that if an individual’s competencies are the same, regardless of the size of the firm they are working for, then why is the strike rate on winning proposals at small to medium-sized firms not as successful compared to the larger firms?
One answer to this conundrum could be the perception of trust that the smaller firm's brand holds.
As brand trust can be built through strong brand delivery, we can then seek to change the perception of a small to medium-sized firm through branding.
Let’s unpack.
Larger firms often have solid structures in place to ensure efficient turnarounds on proposals are possible. They have templates that work for them and easily retrievable knowledge management content and processes that make sense to the whole firm.
The small to medium-sized firms often do not.
The larger firms often have dedicated design, brand, and marketing teams. These teams ensure the execution of the firm’s branding stays consistent and on message.
The small to medium-sized firms often do not.
Larger firms often spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on rebranding and then follow through with firm-wide efforts to ensure the brand stays consistent and strong.
The small to medium-sized firms often do not have the capacity for this.
But this shouldn't be a barrier to winning good work.
A brand’s impact is felt through the collective experience someone has from every interaction and touchpoint of your business. That means that every presentation, interpersonal interaction, website visit, proposal submission, and more tells a story about your brand. This collective story feeds into the perception of trust that someone has with your organisation.
And if they don’t trust you, why would they hire you?
Building trust stems from a strategic and intentional brand that is executed consistently.
The ingredients for this are:
Good branding: Is your brand solid, contemporary, and functional? Is your visual brand saying the right things about the company?
Templates: Does your firm have professional templates that are working for you (and that nobody curses at)? Does everybody know how to use them? Do they make turning around proposals quick and efficient?
Content: Do you have reusable content stored in a retrieval way? Does your content reflect the firm’s values and tone of voice?
Systems and processes: Does your firm have systems and processes that support operational efficiencies, especially during proposal submissions? Are you turning around proposals efficiently and effectively?
Consistent execution: If you lay out multiple pieces of brand collateral on a table, does the visual brand look cohesive?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of the above questions, read on.
Small to medium-sized firms can look as good as larger firms without the need for permanent additional design, brand, or marketing hires.
It just takes an investment in planning, execution, and ongoing maintenance to achieve this.
Our advice to firms that want to win more work is:
The above is all wrapped up in what we call a ‘brand ecosystem’. A brand ecosystem should be built specifically for your organisation’s needs. And the supporting templates, processes, and knowledge management requirements should be built to account for everything your specific organisation is going to need, both now and in the future.
So we pose you this question: Is the health of your brand ecosystem preventing you from winning good work?
BrandOps exists to help small to medium-sized professional services firms with their branding needs.
We want you to succeed in your business. We exist for this purpose.
Contact us for an obligation-free discussion.
