Yes, there really are some things that all professional services firms should keep in their marketing and business development plans from 2020....

2020 was the year we listened. 

For some this was true pre- 2020, but there seems to have been a universal acceptance this year that we need to listen more deeply and more honestly. I have heard many say that hard times call for soft skills and active listening seems to have been at the top of many firm’s list of where to start. I would say all times call for soft skills, which is why this is a keeper!

This is not something that landed in 2020, but this year does seem to have been the one where LinkedIn has come into its own. Gone are the days were LinkedIn was merely a place to connect with clients and contacts. Interaction has moved beyond posting firm updates or shouting about the latest industry award that their firm has won.

2020 generated an authenticity on social media that was not there before. Yes, some struggled, but many have embraced it whole-heartedly. LinkedIn is more than just an online C.V. now. LinkedIn has become a place to network, and not just with people you know. It has become a space where you can reach out for virtual coffees or where you can create links that strengthen and enrich your brand. 

I hope this newfound love for LinkedIn is one of the keepers!

Events? Hang-on, how can 2020 be the year of events? 

Okay, so whilst events (virtual alternatives excluded) have been the big absentee this year, something rather special has happened in 2020. We have started to question “why?”. Prior to 2019, many professional services firms had fallen into a rut. Events took place “because we always go there” or because “our clients expect an invite to [fill in as appropriate]”. 

Despite the rush of firms putting on webinars in April, by the end of 2020, when attendance started to trail off, firms started to be creative. They have had to think hard about what will draw their audiences in. “Because we have always done it” was no longer a safety net to hide behind. I hope that this creative thinking around events will be here to stay. 

2020 was the year we realised we are stronger together. There have been so many collaborations that we have seen that empower and delight. Burger King encouraging people to buy a Big Mac? Okay, so there perhaps there has not been anything quite so extreme in professional services arena. However, from cross-over podcasts, through to joint webinars, examples abound.

Collaborations for me are a keeper.

Everyone is just a little bit more human. Cats on laps, were accompanied by children on zoom. The virtual backgrounds in March, gave way to children’s duvets and the vase of dried flowers in the spare room come May. The ties and suits changing to slippers and jumpers. 

Everyone is just a little bit more human. Let’s hope that is the biggest keeper of them all!

This article is abridged from a longer blog that can be found here.