At Hinge, we conduct ongoing research on organic growth in professional services industries. In study after study, we’ve seen that high-growth firms aren’t just getting lucky. These dynamic, rapidly growing organizations truly do business differently – and their success provides some crucial lessons that too many firms never learn.
Based on our research and guided by our experience, we’ve identified five key things you must do if you want to achieve more organic growth. In order to succeed, each of these approaches requires strong leadership from the top.
1. Focus on fewer markets
The marketplace exerts a host of different gravitational pulls. Clients will ask for new services to solve new problems. Partners will look to a new market for the promise of easier growth.
There is a natural tendency (or maybe we should call it temptation) to diversify markets and services. For many decision-makers this diversification feels safer, and so their firms are pulled this way and that.
The fact is, our research shows that among professional services firms, a narrower focus drives organic growth. With fewer targets, you’re able to concentrate your efforts more closely. And concentrated effort always wins. When you have a specialist’s familiarity with your market, you can balance your risk much more effectively.
2. Find a true differentiator
Without a meaningful differentiator (or two, or three), a firm lacks a serious competitive advantage. And without understanding their differentiators, firms lack a way to communicate that advantage and grow.
In our research, we’ve found that high-growth firms consistently have stronger differentiators.
What makes for a strong differentiator? In order to qualify as a true differentiator, a characteristic of your business must pass three tests. It has to be:
- True
- Relevant to your client
- Provable
Often, your differentiator will go hand-in-hand with the specialization mentioned above: this might mean a tight market focus, a unique business model, or a proprietary process. The list of effective differentiators goes on – so we compiled 21 different ways that firms differentiate themselves.
3. Research your target clients
The data doesn’t lie: research makes a difference. And doesn’t that make sense? Knowing your audience and understanding how they view your firm is absolutely essential to offering the right services in the right way. It’s how you understand what they really need and whether you’re providing solutions as effectively as possible.
Moreover, industry research helps focus your efforts and keep your team on the same page, free of illusions or battles of perception about your marketplace. When your approach is data-driven, you avoid getting mired in purely subjective arguments about the direction of your business. You can find out what’s best for your firm, what’s best for your clients, and then go where the data takes you.
4. Invest in online marketing
Our research shows that firms with a good balance of online and offline marketing grow the fastest and are more profitable.
Firms that conduct 40-60% of their marketing online are more successful. But why? The answer is simple: people are increasingly heading online to gather information. Whether they’re educating themselves on the issues, finding and evaluating new vendors, looking for insight from colleagues, or searching for a new job, a wide range of information is easily available online.
We asked professional services buyers how they “check out” vendors online, and the number of online techniques they used is instructive:
Buyers are exploring websites, searching Google, connecting on LinkedIn. “Online” isn’t just one thing anymore – it’s a vibrant and interconnected ecosystem of knowledge. Think compelling educational content from experts, guiding industry conversation across social media. It’s no longer enough to buy a domain name, plant your flag, and call it a day. And if you think your clients aren’t searching online, you’re simply living in the last century.
Online is no longer optional.
5. Create and nurture Visible Experts℠
Our previous research has shown that expertise is highly important to professional services buyers. In fact, we found that it is the most important factor in a purchaser’s selection of a provider. One of the most important ways providers speak to this need is through their own high-visibility experts.
With this in mind, we set out to understand the benefits buyers derived from engaging high-visibility experts: figures who are well-known for their expertise in their marketplace. We call these professionals Visible Experts.
We asked 1,028 buyers about the benefits they saw from working with Visible Experts as part of a larger, forthcoming study. The results were striking:
On average, buyers named 4.6 benefits to engaging an expert. Typically, they had sought a Visible Expert because they lacked the relevant expertise internally. But after the engagement, purchasers found that these experts delivered even greater value. They overcame complicated challenges quickly and innovatively. They reduced risk and increased credibility.
But most importantly, their very presence was educational. The high-visibility experts who attract purchasers and drive organic growth are natural teachers, making complex ideas simple to understand.
If you have experts on your team with high marketplace visibility – or the potential for high visibility – take the time cultivate their status as a Visible Expert. Giving these figures an online platform such as blog posts and social media can raise their profile, demonstrate the depth of their knowledge, and illustrate their power to educate. By developing the personal brands of your expert, your firm’s brand will be enriched – and that enrichment will in turn burnish the brand of the individual.
This virtuous cycle is one of the most effective brand-building tactics you can use online. In conjunction with a focused, differentiated, well-researched business, you will have the necessary components for a powerful business engine, fueling organic growth for the road ahead.
For more insights on characteristics of high growth firms, download our free book Spiraling Up.
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