Internal Branding for Professional Services Firms: 10 Key Success Strategies

By Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D.

Internal branding is much more important for a professional services firm than for almost any other industry. There are three main reasons for this:

• Your staff is your product. Right there, you separate yourself from product-oriented companies.
• The interaction between professional services providers and clients is often more prolonged and happens over time, so the impression is strong.
• Because of the nature of the work, the need for key attributes such as trust and confidence are paramount.

Given these factors, you might expect that internal branding receives a lot of attention in the professional services. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.

Here are 10 key strategies to get your internal branding on track:

1. Remember, your brand is not your logo.

It’s better to think of your brand as shorthand for the reasons a client would choose your firm. Think reputation and visibility. Your logo, tagline and website are just tools to communicate what your firm stands for. When viewed in this light, the behavior of your staff becomes integral to your brand.

2. You really have three brands that you must align.

First, there is the brand seen by the external world. This is often what people think of as your “real” brand. Second, there is the brand that you want your firm to have. You might think of this as your strategic brand — the brand articulated in your brand strategy. It’s the brand that (ideally) you present on your website and in your pitches and proposals. Finally, there is your internal brand. That’s the brand that your executives, professionals and support staff carry around between their ears and is reflected in their daily decisions and behavior.

3. Internal branding is the key to getting these three brands to align.

When you develop your brand strategy, it’s typically founded on your current situation and your firm's aspirations. When your entire team understands, ”owns” and communicates that brand, you make it real. The brand that you are attempting to communicate to your target market is reinforced by your internal brand. When that happens, it becomes much easier for the external brand to slip into alignment with your strategy. If the internal brand is out of sync with your brand strategy, you will fight an uphill battle every day. The brand you pitch won't match the brand that clients experience.

4. Your brand rollout plan and routine marketing plans should focus on internal branding as well as external.

This is a new way of thinking for some marketing folks. We are used to webinars, blogging, emails and networking directed at potential clients. But to many firm executives, educating and motivating our own employees seems like an HR function. Well, consider this fact. The high growth, high value firms we studied were more likely to offer systematic sales training to non-sales staff. The firm that aligns the brand it is building with the brand clients actually experience has a tremendous competitive advantage.

5. Start by educating everyone on the “why” behind your brand strategy.

Share key results from your client and competitor research. Most professionals respond very well to hard data that exposes what the market wants. As professionals, we often labor under misconceptions about what clients want or how they think about issues. The more you can close that gap, the easier it is to see real changes in decision making and priorities. If staff realize that clients are more focused on desired outcomes and speed than on price, it will likely influence how they approach a potential project. We've found that firms that do frequent research on their target client group grow faster and are more profitable.

6. Don’t forget to educate them on the “how” of internal branding.

How do you actually implement the brand? What would the answer to “what does your firm do?” look like? How do you use your logo and tagline? How would you respond when a client asks X? The more specific and comprehensive you can be, the greater the chances that staff will understand what is expected of them.

7. Make sure that your internal brand is reflected in recruiting materials and hiring practices.

While fit with the internal brand is certainly not the only criteria for selecting new staff, it should be an important consideration. If you believe that flexibility gives your firm a competitive advantage you should make sure you are not hiring inflexible people. If communication is key, you better be hiring good communicators.

8. Make sure your policies and procedures do not contradict your internal branding goals.

This may seem obvious, but it is often overlooked. There is often a natural tension between marketing goals and operational efficiencies. Extra service costs more. However, make sure that there are not strong incentives or policies in place that make it difficult to deliver on your brand promise.

9. Firm leadership must be onboard.

If key decisions are made based on internal branding priorities, make it policy. When everyone is reading from the same playbook, everything becomes easier. If you do not have support from key leaders for internal branding effort, try to build it. Start with education. Many firm leaders do not have extensive marketing backgrounds. The good news is that the data are on your side. Internal branding can impact how well your firm performs in the marketplace.

10. Don’t forget the online world.

Increasingly, potential clients are going online to research and evaluate firms. Don’t neglect the online world as you plan and execute your internal branding. Your staff is already online, whether you know it or not. They have the potential to do great damage or great good there. Plan to have your brand reflected in official online communications, such as employee newsletters, handbooks and management updates. Also consider how you include unofficial online channels such as Twitter or Facebook into the overall mix.

Getting your internal branding right is an important part of any rebranding or brand-building effort. Give it the attention it deserves. For more perspectives on the branding process check out our rebranding kit below.