How do I help my partners embrace different ways of marketing?

In this blog, Heather explores the problems that many aspiring partners face - how to get their partners to see the need for change in the firm's marketing and general business development processes, systems and practices.

This is not an unusual problem - and I see it happening all the time. You have a keen director or senior manager wanting to build their own client portfolio. They still want to be seen as one of the club, but can see that there are newer and more effective ways of marketing the practice. How to make their partners sit up and take notice, without alienating them?

Your numbers and results, initially, need to do the talking for you. What I mean by this is gain permission to set up a trial or pilot for what you want to do. You may need to seek forgiveness and start something up without permission just to get it going. One of my favourite managing partners told me that the rest of her partners really sat up and took notice of what she was doing on social media after she brought in a £100k+ client. This is what I mean by letting your results do the talking for you. Another of my friends who is a future managing partner of her firm started her own blog and Twitter account without the rest of her partner's knowing. She had some explaining to do when they found out - but by then she also had concrete evidence to show the value of what she was doing. Her managing partner is now using Twitter as a result of her actions.

Many of the more traditional practices are dragging their feet when it comes to really committing to marketing by sector. This doesn't stop you externally and internally growing a reputation for a niche specialism. Yes, your client portfolio may only contain 10-15% of clients who fit your 'niche', but over time your reputation will develop and this proportion will grow. (Read here for advice on adopting a niche) When you start to be classed as a rainmaker for your practice, your partners will be keen to understand how you are doing this. This is NOW the time to suggest a few changes to the way the practice markets itself.

You may find our FREE guide to surviving your firm's politics and FREE assertiveness self assessment and FREE guide to being more assertive useful in this situation.)

If you find that your partners still don't appreciate how you are going about doing things - even though you are bringing in new clients with your marketing methods, then are you in the right firm for you for the future? The good thing about this strategy is that you will be far more valuable to another firm if you come with a client following...

To help you with your marketing, you may like to download our free (email required) step-by-step guide to writing marketing plan

How have you helped your partners change their marketing and sales processes and systems?

About Heather

Heather Townsend helps professionals become the Go-To-Expert. She is the author of the  award winning and best-selling book on business networking, the ‘FT Guide To Business Networking’ and the co-author of ‘How to make partner and still have a life’. 

Heather Townsend will be appearing at the 'How to make partner' conference in London on the 24th April 2013.