Why is thought leadership increasingly critical to the success of
professional services firms? Why do market leaders also tend to be thought
leaders?
As a growing number of firms across the professional services spectrum
have discovered, thought leadership can strengthen your market positioning,
enhance your perceived value to clients and generate more business overall.
Thought leadership can be defined as the presentation of insightful,
provocative and compelling perspectives that frame the way people think about
key issues and even guide them to smarter decisions.
The reason that thought leadership is now so important to the performance
of professional services firms can be traced to several factors.
The first factor is trust and authority. Considering the turbulent state
of the economy and trepidation of today’s buyers, the premium on trust is
higher than ever. In fact, research on “loss aversion” suggests the threat of
losses looms far larger than the benefit of corresponding gains. As a result, prospects
are unlikely to become clients unless a high level of trust has been
established, particularly in this economy.
By presenting compelling perspectives and backing them up with
convincing evidence, thought leaders become trusted authorities and earn the
confidence of their prospective clients and other market influencers.
The next factor is the changing dynamics of client buying decisions. In
the past, buyers might have been more open to the unsolicited pitches of
professional service firms. The seller once had a great deal of information
that was not available to the buyer – and a seller’s offer might initiate a
buying process. But now buyers are increasingly relying on the Internet to
conduct their own research and facilitate their own decisions. Firms that fail to provide relevant content
on the Internet and in other forums are unlikely to be found much less respected.
Even firms engaged in active outreach and business development efforts need to
be able to point to resources that establish credibility.
Continue reading "Want to Build Trust? Want to be a Market Leader? Be a Thought Leader" »


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