Whatever professional services industry you are in, you collaborate with your clients every day. So it’s not unreasonable to believe you know all about them. After all, that’s a feature of expertise.

But you are probably wrong.

While you know more than 99.9 percent of people about how to solve specific problems, you aren’t well equipped to notice the changes—sometimes slow, sometimes fast—reshaping the people and businesses that buy your services.

5 Reasons You Don’t Know Your Buyers as Well as You Think

There are five main reasons why professionals and their firms misread their audiences:

  1. Technology. The rise of the commercial internet was a turning point in professional services marketing. Suddenly, every firm had a central, easy-to-access place to describe services and provide access to thought leadership content. Search engine optimization and online advertising allowed firms to reach audiences across domestic and international boundaries. Social media provided a free, or inexpensive, way to communicate with audiences and network—without leaving the office. And today, AI is about to radically transform the marketplace again. Buyers are beginning to use it to research their business problems and to find service providers. At the same time, it promises to revolutionize the way services are delivered, with all the disruption powerful new technologies bring. Do you know how they use these technologies today? Or how they will use them tomorrow?
  2. Demographics. The workplace is getting younger, and the new generation of decision makers have different expectations from firms. They expect to be able to sample a firm’s expertise for free, whether by reading expert articles and white papers, watching a webinar or listening to a podcast. They are also more tech savvy and can be more likely to trust and rely on online information than older generations. The days of cutting deals primarily on the golf course are fading fast.
  3. Evolving Behavior and Preferences. For at least a decade, buyers have been relying less on referrals and more on online sources to find, evaluate and select professional services providers. But buying behavior can change in many other ways, too. Certain services, messages and business models can go out of vogue, leaving a firm out of touch and clueless why their business begins to sag.
  4. Marketplace. Today’s professional services marketplace is always in flux. Economic uncertainty, a polarized political environment, fast-changing regulations and a host of other factors create an environment that, like a roller coaster, can be a stomach-churning ride. Adapting to new conditions—and planning for the future—isn’t easy. Perhaps the hardest part is recognizing how your audience will react to this maelstrom of change. Are they feeling good about the future, or anxious? Are they about to snap shut their pocketbooks? Or are they inclined to invest now to weather a possible storm later? The answers could have profound implications for your business.
  5. Anecdotal Evidence. It’s very tempting to assume that information you receive from one or two clients applies universally to your target audience. This type of thinking drives many poor decisions. Relying on anecdotal evidence is perhaps the most common bias we encounter in our work with professionals.

How to See Your Buyers More Clearly

I’ve worked with hundreds of professional services firms, and when we research their clients, we almost always uncover significant blind spots, gaps and misalignments. Most likely, you have them, too.

To get a true picture of your buyers, you’ll need to conduct research of your own. In a previous issue of Pivot, I’ve covered some of the questions you should ask your clients. Armed with this knowledge, you can deliver more relevant messages—and services—to your audience. And you can put your business into a new, more efficient, gear for the climb ahead.