In 1967, David Ogilvy from the famous advertising agency, Ogilvy and Mather in New York, prepared a list of questions that all organisations were faced with from potential clients and referrers alike. That list is probably as relevant now in 2023 as it was back then fifty six years ago.
Essentially, every time anybody meets you or your organisation whether that's online at your website or in person at an event or a networking meeting, they're all going to have similar questions.
Who are you as an individual, who's the firm that you are representing and what products and services are you actually trying to sell me?
What does your organisation stand for?
Why do you exist beyond making profit? As Simon Sinek discusses on his Ted X Talk.
Who are your clients, what do you do for them?
What’s you track record in dealing with challenges and problems similar to the ones that I'm currently facing?
What's your reputation in the marketplace?
All professional services firms have two main challenges. The first one is around visibility. No one will hire you if they haven't heard of you. The second one is credibility. Once they have heard of you, why are they going to choose you rather than someone else?
So, you owe it to yourselves to sit down with your group of stakeholders and work out the answers to those questions in advance and make the information available in places like your website and your online histories and biographies on LinkedIn and other social media.
It will lead you to a better position, as we move forward from what is currently, a very difficult period.