The Art of Managing Professional Services

The Art of Managing Professional Services

Author: Maureen Broderick

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Published: 2010-10-24

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0132101815

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Today, millions of people work at over one million professional service firms generating over $2 trillion in revenue annually. These firms face unique issues that are not fully understood by management thinkers and consultants. Making matters more complex is that many of these firms stand at a crossroads, searching for new strategies and practices to succeed in a radically new economy. In The Art of Managing Professional Services, Maureen Broderick offers the solution. Broderick has brought together modern best practices for these and other crucial areas of professional services management: · Building, communicating, and maintaining shared vision, values, and culture · Recruiting, training, and evaluating people · Crafting the right strategies, portfolio, and mix of clients · Innovating and sharing knowledge · Financial planning, metrics, and reporting · Positioning: brand, marketing, and sales · Defining effective partnerships: equity, selection, and compensation · Ensuring responsibility and accountability · Organizational design, structure, governance, and systems · Leading effectively, and growing the next generation of leaders This book reflects Broderick & Co.'s unparalleled research into professional services management, including 200+ executive interviews with leaders and innovators in organizations of all sizes and types.


Managing The Professional Service Firm

Managing The Professional Service Firm

Author: David H. Maister

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-12-11

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 1471109658

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Professional service firms differ from other business enterprises in two distinct ways: first they provide highly customised services thus cannot apply many of the management principles developed for product-based industries. Second, professional services are highly personalised, involving the skills of individuals. Such firms must therefore compete not only for clients but also for talented professionals. Drawing on more than ten years of research and consulting to these unique and creative companies, David Maister explores issues ranging from marketing and business development to multinational strategies, human resources policies to profit improvement, strategic planning to effective leadership. While these issues can be complex, Maister simplifies them by recognising that 'every professional service firm in the world, regardless of size, specific profession, or country of operation, has the same mission statement: outstanding service to clients, satisfying careers for its people and financial success for its owners.'


The Art of Managing Professional Services

The Art of Managing Professional Services

Author: Maureen Broderick

Publisher:

Published: 1900

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"High praise for Maureen Broderick ... Her book gives firm leaders a step up in competing on the global landscape."--James Turley, Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young "Anyone involved in the management of a professional service firm will find real value here." -David Childs, Global Managing Partner, Clifford Chance "Maureen Broderick brings shape and clarity to the vital, but abstract, essence of professional service firms." -Ralph Shrader, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Booz Allen Hamilton "Broderick's book is filled with best practices that will help all kinds of companies-w.


The Art of Consulting

The Art of Consulting

Author: Jose Herrera

Publisher: FriesenPress

Published: 2018-06-22

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1525525492

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“WE ARE ALL CONSULTANTS one way or another—most people just haven’t realized that yet. Anyone providing knowledgeable advice or services to others, independently of their profession, is a consultant. There are certain characteristics that we must all nurture to become better at establishing a relationship with our clients to serve them successfully.” From knowing yourself and developing common sense, to negotiating skills, client care, a professional presence, and leadership, this book covers it all. Regardless of your industry or years of experience, this book will help your career. It focuses on the consultant in you, and is aimed at generating ways to grow based on your specific circumstances, location, and culture. With hundreds of tips, checklists, and self-evaluation tools to drive the self-learning home, this book will help readers find motivation and inspiration within themselves, while maintaining a business-centric perspective. This approach will entice the reader to explore new ideas and guidelines that will improve their professional performance as consultants, while adhering to the culture of their clients and developing a solution focused perspective.


Client at the Core

Client at the Core

Author: August J. Aquila

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2004-07-29

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0471681873

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Clients At The Core is an essential blueprint to helping usall take the next steps. The authors, battle scarred by theevolution of professional firm management and marketing from thento now, have captured the changing needs of the firms in thisturbulent new economic era. This is a well-written book that usesplain language to convey practical, well thought-out ideas." -Patrick J. McKenna, a leading international consultant toprofessional service firms "The authors have captured the changing role of professionalservices marketing and firm management. There is valuable insight[in this] down-to-earth guide to competing successfully in the newenvironment." -David Maister, author and consultant "The book is a masterpiece! Aquila and Marcus have produced theessential guide for managing a professional services firm. They'vemarshaled their considerable real-life experiences and far-reachingvision into a veritable operating manual for the successfulfirm." -Rick Telberg, Editor at Large, American Institute ofCertified Public Accountants "At its heart, this book is the running shoe for legal andaccounting professionals who want to put the client first.Following the evolution of the industry over the past twenty-fiveyears, this must-have for every professional services firm is thekey to leading in the turbulent and highly competitive watersahead." -Richard S. Levick, Esq., President, Levick StrategicCommunications, LLC coauthor, Stop the Presses: The Litigation PRDesk Reference "Client selection and retention is one of the critical successfactors for a professional services firm, and Aquila and Marcus doa masterful job at educating us on the necessary ingredients ofeach. The chapters on firm governance and paying for performanceare thought provoking and certainly challenging to the conventionalwisdom. If you want a better understanding of marketing and leadinga professional firm in these turbulent times, this book isessential." -Ronald J. Baker, author, Professional's Guide to ValuePricing and The Firm of the Future "Client at the Core is a commonsense approach to keeping yourprofessional services firm relevant in the twenty-first century'sclient-driven economy. Aquila and Marcus have hit a home run withtheir insightful analysis and poignant prose." -Jeffrey S. Pawlow, Managing Shareholder, The GrowthPartnership, Inc.


The Art of Support

The Art of Support

Author: Francoise Tourniaire

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2016-02-02

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 1329873319

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Are you a customer success or support executive curious about adapting industry best practices to your organization? Are you a newly-promoted customer success or support manager with plenty of ideas, but not much management experience? Or are you an executive with no hands-on experience with customer success, but wanting to learn more about how to decrease churn and improve revenue expansion from existing customers? The Art of Support is a practical guide for managers and executives that answers your questions. In it, you will find: - Best practices for customer success and support, from designing customer lifecycle journeys, to managing day-to-day activities, to measuring results. - Nuanced recommendations to build or improve your organization. - Dozens of practical tools you can use right away such as customer scorecards, sample support portfolios, hiring checklists, decision trees for selecting support models, job ladders, and budget templates.


The Practice of Professional Consulting

The Practice of Professional Consulting

Author: Edward G. Verlander

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-09-28

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1118283112

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Practice of Professional Coaching Change is the life-blood of consulting just as organizations endure only through successful change. The reality of this mutual need lies at the heart of what consulting is all about. Consultants solve problems created by the powerful forces of change in an organization's environment and in so doing, create change themselves. The Practice of Professional Consulting is a comprehensive examination of what has been called "the world's newest profession." In this practical resource Edward Verlander offers an overview of the industry and includes the most useful processes, tools, and skills used by successful consultants to produce solutions for their clients. The book also reveals why consulting is a growing and attractive career option. The best practices used by leading consulting firms are included in the book as well as the capabilities skillful consultant use in each stage of engagement. Verlander also recommends ways to ensure a consultant can solve a client's problems in a systematic, professional way. At the very heart of the book is the emphasis he puts on what is needed to become a truly trusted consultant. Filled with a wealth of must-have information from a wide range of consulting professionals, the book includes: a model of the consulting cycle; a diagnostic instrument for assessing consulting roles; ideas of how to develop political intelligence to navigate client organizations; tools for managing consulting meetings, risk assessment, and skills transfer; techniques in communications, emotional intelligence, presentations, and listening; and much more. Written for anyone wishing to start a consulting business, new employees at established consulting firms, facilitators of consulting training programs, and faculty at business schools, this important resource provides an easy way to understand the stages, roles, and tasks of consulting found in any type of consulting and it provides simple and easy-to-use techniques and templates for implementation.


Professional Services Marketing

Professional Services Marketing

Author: Mike Schultz

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-06-04

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 1118604342

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A proven approach to revenue-generating marketing and client development Professional Services Marketing is a fully field-tested and research-based approach to marketing and client development for professional services firms. The book, now in its Second Edition, covers five key areas that are critical for firms that want to grow and become more profitable: creating a marketing and growth strategy; establishing a brand and reputation; implementing a marketing communications program; executing lead generation strategies; and developing business by winning new clients. You will also read real-world case studies that illustrate major points, as well as quotes and stories from well-respected professionals in the industry. The Second Edition features new research and updates throughout, including new chapters on social media and online marketing, as well as new case studies and interviews Authors Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr are the coauthors of the Wall Street Journal and Inc. Magazine bestseller Rainmaking Conversations and Professional Services Marketing; Lee W. Frederiksen is coauthor of Online Marketing for Professional Services Will be widely promoted via multiple online routes and direct mail marketing Firms of any size can use this proven approach to marketing and client development to attract new clients and grow their professional service businesses.


The Seven Principles of Professional Services

The Seven Principles of Professional Services

Author: Thomas McGrath

Publisher:

Published: 2014-12-01

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780986210716

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book details the prerequisite knowledge every consultant must master when delivering complex professional services. Coupled with the author's and his industry colleagues' real life examples of success and failure, these principles provide every consultant with actionable guidance to improve their service quality. Professional services consultants are walking a dangerous high wire between the success of their customers and the ongoing success of their firm. To maintain balance and walk this tightrope successfully, a consultant needs a strong set of principles that can be relied upon in the heat of a customer engagement. Through detailed analysis of his own experience as a consultant, a customer, and a professional services executive, Shane describes in detail the seven principles of professional services that have led him and others to repeated success. If you have been a consultant for ten minutes or ten years, this book will help you assess how well you deliver your service today and enable you to identify ways to elevate it in the future. Doing so will benefit your customer, your firm and your career.


Aligning the Stars

Aligning the Stars

Author: Jay W. Lorsch

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Published: 2002-04-26

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1422163180

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Most businesses rely on talent to succeed, but none so much as professional service firms. Within this rapidly expanding, trillion-dollar industry, professionals--and how they're managed--are the primary source of competitive advantage. In fact, success in this sector is determined more by the people you pay than the people who pay you. This path-breaking book provides readers with a practical and integrated perspective on how to win in the unique and tumultuous world of professional services. From strategy to organization to culture, it offers customized insights for businesses in which professionals drive bottom-line results and long-term company success. Respected academic Jay W. Lorsch and accomplished practitioner Thomas J. Tierney apply their broad experience to the realities of "Monday morning" decision making. Their work reflects decades of personal experience, combined with a rigorous study of outstanding professional service firms in industries that include law, information technology, accounting, advertising, investment banking, executive search, and consulting. Aligning the Stars explains what differentiates the "best of the best" within professional services. By describing how to attract, retain, motivate, organize, and lead the stars that shape a company's destiny, this book provides valuable lessons for the current and future leaders of every talent-driven business.