How to Earn a Reputation as a Thought Leader
The following post is from RainToday by Susan Wylie Lanfray. What I especially like about this article is that the author talks about finding your niche, branding and using surveys to better understand your target audiences. The survey also helps the group to learn more about the industry: the results are studied within the firm to make the team more knowledgeable, and this data analysis provides content for articles, presentations, and seminars. Are you thinking like a thought leader?
In the last decade, thought leadership has proven to be a vital driver for business success and is a discipline in its own right. Those who understand and effectively apply the core principles of thought leadership are positioned to become market leaders able to take their companies to the next level of growth.
Listen up to the following advise and see if your business begins to expand.
“When you don’t have to go out and pitch, when people seek you out because of your expertise, that’s an indication that you’ve arrived.”
The concept of thought leadership has been attracting marketers, consultants, and, well, thought leaders since 1994 when Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the magazine, Strategy+Business, coined the term to designate people who had contributed new thoughts to business.
As professional services marketers, we have always been engaged in selling our partners’ expertise via articles, workshops, seminar presentations, surveys, white papers, case studies, blogs, websites, etc. Thought leadership elevates the message content delivered through these communications channels. When done effectively, thought leadership leads to market leadership.
Content that conveys actionable insights will cut through the communications clutter of everyday life and connect with customers in a way that adds value.
“It is unconventional and counterintuitive to bear down and focus on creating compelling content,” says Britton Manasco, founder of Manasco Marketing Partners. “It forces companies who are wrapped around their products to instead focus on how they are perceived – and how they can strengthen their positioning in the customer’s mind.”
A thought leader today is commonly understood to be “a person who is recognized among their peer mentors for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights,” according to Wikipedia, the online collaborative encyclopedia.
How does one go about earning a reputation as a thought leader? It begins with establishing expertise in a specific area, but then one can take many routes. Here are examples of two approaches.
Relationships that Give Value
Ten years ago Joe Guntesky, vice president and shareholder of New Jersey-based accounting firm Cowan, Guntesky & Co. (55 employees, 9 partners) saw the need for a CPA who specialized in divorce accounting. After learning everything he could about the subject matter, he began to network and build relationships with the prominent divorce lawyers in his area.
He is a good listener and remembers the little things that count, but that’s not what earned his reputation as one of the foremost experts in the state, according to Eileen Monesson, marketing director and principal at the firm. “Joe is the textbook example of a ‘trusted advisor’,” Eileen explains. “He is in demand because he uses his specialized knowledge in ways that help the lawyers shine in the eyes of their clients.”
Joe draws upon his experience in divorce and litigation-related accounting issues to build value into each networking relationship. He reads all of the legal publications to stay up-to-date on the results of court cases, but he also goes down to the courthouse to meet and greet the lawyers he knows and spend time answering their questions.
He makes himself available to lawyers for accounting-related questions whenever they call, and call him they do – from their office during client meetings as well as from court. They can count on him to be an insightful guide.
Joe’s marketing campaign is simple: continue to build relationships and provide insight. He is always with people – at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and on the phone. In each conversation he strives to give something that’s helpful in terms of his knowledge. He has a knack for taking a conversation from hello to telling a relevant story that has a thought-provoking angle and subtly plants a seed so that people ask him to “tell me more.”
Think Differently
Lou Grassi, the executive partner of Grassi & Company, a Long Island, New York-based firm (100 employees, 10 partners), began building a construction- industry niche twenty-five years ago. Today it is the firm’s largest practice with several partners focused almost entirely on serving construction clients, the firm is acknowledged as one of the main industry players in their area, and Grassi & Company is known for its thought leadership.
The thought leadership campaign in their mature industry niche is geared toward maintaining and expanding this position, says Adam Wolf, Grassi’s marketing director.
Traditional marketing activities such as writing articles on related topics, contributing bylined articles to construction publications, speaking on construction accounting rules and tax issues, and holding seminars all help to communicate expertise and keep the firm’s name “top-of-mind” within the construction community.
It is the content of these messages, however, that sets the firm apart. “You need to step out and take some pretty bold positions on some issues,” Adam explains. “A different take than the conventional wisdom can help establish your credibility as a thought leader.”
That is why the firm conducts a broad, comprehensive bi-annual survey of the industry. The niche partners know the questions that are critical to business success in this sector, and they distill the survey results and their analysis into a published executive summary that offers actionable insights.
The survey also helps the construction group to learn more about the industry: the results are studied within the firm to make the team more knowledgeable, and this data analysis provides content for articles, presentations, and seminars.
They also take seminars a step further to try to influence the influencers. The surety bonding people and bankers are closest to contractors and a deep source of referrals, so Grassi holds seminars targeted directly to them. They have hit a chord that resonates, as each seminar draws from 30 to over 50 people.
Activities are not all externally focused, however. Members of the niche group are incredibly involved in networking and ensure that the firm is well represented in every construction industry event. Instead of one person, a force of three to five people not only network, but bring back ideas from their networking discussions for the group to discuss and analyze for emerging trends.
Adam Wolf sees clear signs that their well-planned campaign is effective. The Subcontractors Trade Association has sought out Grassi as a speaker and construction companies contact the firm for help. “When you don’t have to go out and pitch, when people seek you out because of your expertise, that’s an indication that you’ve arrived.”
Susan Wylie Lanfray has over 25 years of hands-on experience in professional services marketing. She is responsible for strategic planning, marketing, business development, and communications for ERE and its affiliates. She is also a member of the Association for Accounting Marketing (”AAM”) and a contributor to the AAM’s bi-monthly newsletter Marketrends. You reach Susan at slanfray@ere-cpa.com.
