MARKETING IN THE RESTRUCTURED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIELD

Many well‐qualified professionals feel that the quality of their services should be high enough to permit them to “hang out a shingle” and wait for clients to come. In doing so, the professional is exerting no control over his or her type of practice. The controversy surrounding the issue of advertising in the professions has clouded the larger issue of professional services marketing. The article describes in depth the challenges of one profession, law, in order to demonstrate the perspective and challenges for marketing. Lawyers have been selected since they deal with many changes — the impact of redefinition caused by changes in the regulatory environment, the overabundance in the field, new methods of competition, the consumerism movement, and a poor public image. Practical methods are described to help the professionals understand their business better. By recognizing their practice as both a profession and a business, professionals can develop an ethical, dignified marketing plan — which may or may not include advertising — in order to place themselves in a better position to utilize their unique expertise with clients who can best appreciate their talents.