Marketing Professional Services in Asia

Robert Sawhney sets the scene in chapter one of Marketing Professional Services in Asia by citing that in Hong Kong alone there are over 10,000 professional services businesses employing over 80,000 professionals. The professional services sector - including doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, business associations and the like - has been singled out by the SAR government as one of the four pillar industries that give Hong Kong a distinct competitive advantage in the region. Legal services providers - comprising lawyers and law firms, both local and foreign ?make up almost 10% of the sector.

Asia is the fastest developing region in the world and Hong Kong lawyers have been fortunate to leverage off this growth in recent years. In the boom times Hong Kong lawyers could be excused for thinking all they needed to do was hang out a shingle and the world would beat a path to their door. But these myths break down in periods of economic recession when many firms experience decreased work flow, decreased billings and clients insisting that their professional services advisers share their pain by reducing fees. The majority of clients however don掐 voice their concerns; they quietly find another law firm that better suits their needs and the lawyer is left wondering what went wrong.

Sawhney's book is timely, given the current economic downturn, and effectively challenges many long held beliefs and exposes various myths about the marketing of law firms. Supported by extensive research, the author addresses key strategic marketing issues such as understanding the market and client value; the role of marketing and business development in professional services firms; developing effective business and marketing strategies including segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning; and then putting it all into action and making it work. The lessons on offer are relevant to both the professional services practitioner and the professional services marketer.

While the book specifically addresses these issues in the Asian business and cultural context it is relevant to firms and organisations in other regions. It is particularly relevant to the senior management and marketing professionals of international firms headquartered in the West with branch offices in Asia, many of whom erroneously believe that what works in their home market will work in Asia. Having been based in Asia since 1995, the author demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the Asian business culture and how it differs from that in the West. The chapter on managing growth and globalisation is particularly relevant here, given the recent moves by international firms to merge with Hong Kong firms (eg Mayer Brown with JSM and Reed Smith with Richards Butler; also Norton Rose's acquisition of Deacons Australia) as strategies to increase penetration and consolidation within the Asian region.

Unlike many books on professional services marketing written by academics and consultants, Sawhney demonstrates a well-developed understanding of the day to day challenges that senior partners and marketing professionals face in law firms. The book is easy to read and avoids the excessive use of marketing jargon. Well-selected illustrative case studies are used throughout. The book is also written to be relevant to both the large professional services firm and the more numerous smaller professional services firms which lack the time, information, money, expertise, skills and human resources of larger firms. It is written to help the owner/operators of small firms to overcome these barriers and to compete effectively.

Throughout, the book keeps its sights squarely fixed on the challenge of developing and integrating a 'marketing culture' into the fabric of the firm. Many professional services firms in highly competitive markets, such as the Australian legal market, have recognised this need and have taken steps, with varying degrees of success, to do this as a means of developing competitive advantage. Many law firms in Asia, operating in a legal market that has grown at 10% per annum for the last few years, have not seen such a need, and if they did they would not necessarily have known how to do it. The leaders of law firms, and their marketers if they have them, languishing in the doldrums of the current recession would do well to read this book to assist them in charting a course back into the trade winds. For firms with developing or established marketing cultures, this book provides a valuable set of benchmarks against which they can measure their progress.

Marketing Professional Services in Asia should be on the desk of every lawyer, accountant, engineer, architect and other practising professional in Asia, as well as those of their marketing and business development professionals.

Phillip McDonald 
Head of Business Development 
Deacons

August 2009 - Hong Kong Lawyer (Journal)