Has your professional services firm been blindsided by globalization, disruptive innovations, or new competitors? Would your professional services firm benefit from the insights competitive intelligence can offer? Are you curious if your skill set and competitive intelligence experience would be a good fit in a professional services environment?
Professional services firms (e.g., legal, accounting, medical, consulting, engineering, architectural) can be rewarding workplaces for Competitive Intelligence professionals—or not. Their work forces are well-educated, licensed subject-matter experts, and many are firm owners. With multiple owners and organizations highly matrixed along lines of business, client sectors, and locations, decision-making can be a slow, black-box affair. Yet these firms badly need Competitive Intelligence to navigate today’s market changes caused by globalization, disruptive innovations, and new competitors. Successful Competitive Intelligence pros win and keep leaders’ trust, build strong intel networks, work on a wide array of issues and entities, and fend off “Hey, you!” assignments.
Learning objectives:
- Understand how cultures and clients in professional services firms vary significantly from those of large corporations or government entities.
- Recognize that Competitive Intelligence clients in these firms have high needs to (a) evaluate your worthiness to advise them, (b) critique and debate your intelligence as a means of understanding it, and (c) resolve conflicts they often feel between being a professional and managing a business.
- Analyze your personal attributes and Competitive Intelligence skills to predict whether you will thrive in a professional services firm.
Ann Lee Gibson, Ph.D. of Ann Lee Gibson Consulting advises law firms on competitive intelligence and business development. She consults, teaches, and coaches in the areas of firm growth strategies, high-stakes business competitions, and sales presentations. Dr. Gibson also helps law firms develop Competitive Intelligence and proposal systems. Since 1998, she has helped law firms compete for and win over $800 million in new business.