Marketing Asia

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A view of Professional Service Firm and SME Marketing in Asia By Robert C. Sawhney

The Strategy & Marketing of Thought Leadership for Professional Service Firms - Free White Paper
Presentation: the Strategy and Marketing of Accounting and Professional Service Firms
Last night I conducted a presentation on the above for the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs. Over forty people were in attendance and the event was a great success (you can view a copy of the presentation here). One of the major questions revolved around pricing and how to get clients to understand the value of services offered and not only the price. This is the perennial issue in particular for audit services. Both I and my associate, Geoff Trotter (former partner at E&Y) believe this is a firm culture issue and revolves around understanding the clients business and industry...
Consolidation in the Accounting Industry: the case of Singapore and the difficulties with accounting firm mergers
The recent proposals by the Committee to Develop the Accountancy Sector (CDAS) that suggests the Small and Medium sized accounting practices (SMPs) should seek consolidation to become more competitive has sparked a number of concerns among the industry in Singapore which were highlighted in a Business Times report on 9th February. The real question lies in the potential efficacy of the CDAS recommendations. From the perspective of managing mergers and acquisitions, the suggestions have inherent problems. Despite the trend towards consolidation in the global accounting industry, the results are not pretty. The rationale for mergers includes: Benefit from access to...
News and Happenings in Asia in the Legal and Professional Services Market: a recent roundup
Below is a varied selection of the latest happenings in Asia and elsewhere related to law firms and the legal sector. This is for those who may have missed the stories or would like the key ones in a single place for ease of reference: Shearman, Paul Weiss Advise on Indian Investment in U.S. Asset Manager Stephenson Harwood acts on $500m Indonesian airline financing Allen & Overy Takes Lead Role for Vietnam Government on $1 Billion Bond Offering CC brings in former Ashurst Asia chief to head up Tokyo corporate Shin & Kim fights off Bae, Kim & Lee, Lee...
Service Quality and Client Satisfaction in Professional Service Firms: it really is an elephant
We all know the story of the blind man and the elephant, well service quality in professional service firms (PSF) is pretty similar as many people touch part of the beast but lack of understanding and integration throughout the firm means no one knows the true nature of the beast. By the time the client leaves, it is too late. In Asia, cultural differences play a role as well. The following is extracted from my book: Marketing Professional Services in Asia (Lexis Nexis, 2009). I What is Service Quality? Service quality has attained some sort of mythical status in the...
Toyota, Kaizen, and Professional Service Firms
The business and consumer world seems to have been truly shocked by the recent quality problems faced by Toyota and their problematic gas pedal. Over the last few decades, Toyota has become the leading car manufacturer in the world with a reputation that is synonymous with quality. Not only has Toyota innovated in terms of manufacturing practices, they have done so in management with concepts such as Total Quality Management (TQM), quality circles, and Kaizen (a word meaning continual incremental improvement). During this time they have become the envy of numerous organizations and touted as an example of best practice...
Free White Paper: the Competitiveness of Hong Kong & Asian Law Firms
Given the recent GFC and the stresses being placed on law firm revenues, as well as their overall business model, we thought it was about time someone published a detailed but succinct guide to some of the factors shaping law firm competitiveness in the region. The white paper is 16 pages long and can be downloaded here: Free White Paper: the competitiveness of HK & Asian law firms. The paper covers a number of factors including: The role of the Hong Kong law society Globalization Marketing and strategy Alliances Pricing and alternative fees Firm culture and governance Comments and questions...
Diversity in Professional Service Firms
Diversity has been at the forefront of many leaders minds for a number of years. Racial, age, gender, and demographic diversity are thought to be good for firms as people from different backgrounds think differently and hence it is believed this will lead to alternative views in the workplace and greater innovation. In law and other professional service firms, there has been a major drive by some firms to increase the numbers of women partners and a good example of this is the new part time working arrangement offered by Allen and Overy on a global basis. Asia Legal Business...
Indian Legal Market
Much talk about the changes in the Indian legal market and the opportunities and impact on foreign firms that want to access the market. Here are a few articles that I thought my readers might be interested in on the subject: Indian Corporate Law-a round up of 2009 Internationalisation of the Indian Legal Market Bombay court rules against foreign law firms in India
Business Model Innovation in Law and other Professional Service Firms: mind set and culture
The GFC has led many to say that the current model of law and other professional service firms (PSFs) is broken. The focus on hourly rates, realization, and leverage has left many clients demanding more value from their service providers rather than a focus on time. At the same time, this has left many PSFs scratching their heads about what to change and how to break free of tradition. The firms that are trying to change are doing a number of things: Moving to alternative billing such as fixed fees and value pricing Elimination of hourly billing and time sheets...

Click here to contact Sean Hocking and SRC Associates

About SRC
Based in Hong Kong and working throughout Asia (with a worldwide office network of over 50 countries), SRC Associates is a consultancy that provides strategic management, marketing, and leadership advisory services for Professional Service Firms (PSFs) and SME’s.

Traditional strategic management and marketing methodologies do not fit well within professional service firms and require significant modification that suits the unique operating nature and cultural context of such firms.

About Robert C. Sawhney
Having worked with dozens of PSFs, many of whom are law firms,in Asia and Europe, conducted training for many more, and written numerous articles (see our recently published book: Marketing Professional Services in Asia by Robert C. Sawhney, published by Lexis Nexis) for various professional publications, we are one of the very few consultancies internationally that have a deep understanding of the management of PSFs and are able to provide advice that is both tailored and actionable.

Robert C. Sawhney is the founder and Managing Director of SRC Associates Ltd, a pioneering Hong Kong based firm in the areas of marketing and management of professional service firms. The author of numerous articles for a wide variety of publications, he has consulted and provided training for dozens of professional service firms across Asia and Europe. He is also the author of ‘Marketing Professional Services in Asia’, published by Lexis Nexis in 2009.

Having been based in Asia since 1995, he has developed a deep understanding of the Asian business culture, in particular, how marketing must be adapted not only to the specifics of professional service firms and SME’s but also within the context of the unique Asian business environment. A firm advocate of marketing’s role in firm success, he believes that marketing must be embraced on a firm wide level which abolishes the idea that marketing is about promotion and handled only by marketing people and be accepted by the most senior partners and executives on a truly strategic level

Robert has provided continuing education courses for lawyers and accountants in Hong Kong accredited by both the Hong Kong Law Society and the HK Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also taught marketing and management subjects at institutions such as HKU SPACE. He has a bachelors degree from Brunel University (London), an MBA from the University of Lincoln, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK).

SRC Associates Global Network
SRC also works with the internationally recognized authority on law practice management, Patrick McKenna has, since 1983, worked with the top management of premier law firms around the globe to discuss, challenge and escalate their thinking on how to manage and compete effectively. He currently serves as co-Chairman of the Managing Partner Leadership Advisory Board (the LAB), a forum for new firm leaders to pose questions about their burning issues. McKenna has authored a pioneering text on law firm marketing, Practice Development: Creating a Marketing Mindset (Butterworths, 1989), recognized by an international journal as being "among the top ten books that any professional services marketer should have." His subsequent work includes Herding Cats: A Handbook for Managing Partners and Practice Leaders (IBMP, 1995); and Beyond Knowing: 16 Cage-Rattling Questions To Jump-Start Your Practice Team (IBMP, 2000), both of which were Top 10 Management bestsellers. One of the profession's foremost experts on practice leadership, his book (co-authored with David Maister) First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals, topped business bestseller lists in the United States, Canada and Australia, has been translated into nine languages & is currently in its sixth printing.