Red Star Kim

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

At the end of January, I attended a PM Forum (with Icon and Managing Partners Forum ) webinar where Alastair Beddow | LinkedIn of Meridian West presented the latest international benchmark results. In its 12 th year – it obtains the opinions of around 100 CMOs from professional service firms. The panel discussion that followed commented on: huge pockets of difference in sentiment, lots of unknowns across the board, the need for martech to be used beyond the MBD team, the need for everyone to ski

Marketing 130

Marketing Leadership Profitability Digitalization 130

Red Star Kim

JANUARY 28, 2024

Last week I was excited to lead an MBL session on “Tackling Change Management – A Workshop for Professional Firms”. Having facilitated this session many times in the past in face-to-face workshops, it was exhilarating to experience the change in running it on-line for the first time. We welcomed delegates from legal, accountancy and financial services firms.

Emotional Intelligence 130

Emotional Intelligence Leadership Management Facilitation 130

Red Star Kim

JANUARY 26, 2024

Delegates from law (including the Crown Prosecution Service) and finance firms joined a workshop on “Boost Your Confidence at Work – A toolbox for professionals”. They held various roles including: head of department, partner, trainee solicitor, paralegal, legal executive, business development, recruitment and technical writing. Delegates asked lots of questions – and shared their knowledge and ideas generously.

Meetings 130

Meetings Digitalization Communication Management 130

Red Star Kim

JANUARY 22, 2024

A chance encounter with Helen Kensett at a recent conference reminded me about her 2016 sales book. I’ve reviewed several books on selling (see the list below) and this one is different as, rather than focusing on the stages in the sales process, it provides pragmatic tips to help. It develops your understanding of the psychology of selling to help create a sales mindset.

Value Proposition 130

Value Proposition Emotional Intelligence Sales e-Learning 130

Red Star Kim

JANUARY 8, 2024

I’m starting 2024 with some exciting news! After many years of studying and training, I’ve just received news that I qualified as a psychotherapeutic counsellor. This supplements my existing qualifications in psychology and professional coach mentoring. Kim Tasso qualifies as a psychotherapeutic counsellor. Setting up a psychotherapeutic counselling practice I am now in the process of setting up a new psychotherapeutic counselling practice.

Emotional Intelligence 26

Emotional Intelligence Management Marketing Profitability 26

Red Star Kim

DECEMBER 19, 2023

I keep an eye out for case studies in professional services marketing and share them at workshops. This post describes some case studies from veteran legal PR expert – Clare Rodway at Kysen. I’ve known Claire for more years than either of us care to remember and her long-established agency is known as one of the best for legal PR. Legal marketing case studies – Law firm media relations and integrated campaigns (Kysen).

Media 130

Media Insurance Marketing Emotional Intelligence 130

Red Star Kim

DECEMBER 18, 2023

In early December we welcomed 15 delegates to a PM Forum “Be more strategic” workshop. The delegate aims, views and key takeaways are shown below. The workshop covered strategic thinking, business strategy and marketing and business development (MBD) strategy. We looked at case studies from professional services firms. From the animated discussions I selected a few topics of focus – Be more strategic: Top-down or bottom-up, marketing and sales integration and property marketing.

Marketing 130

Marketing Strategic Thinking Artificial Intelligence Stakeholders 130

Red Star Kim

DECEMBER 15, 2023

Part of a psychotherapist’s toolbox is psychoeducation. This is helping therapy clients to understand themselves better and access tools to effect the change they desire. There are a few books that I recommend to my therapy clients and this is one of them. Their reaction is usually positive so here is a book review: How to do the work (recognise your patterns, heal from your past and create your self) by Dr Nicole LePera.

Emotional Intelligence 130

Emotional Intelligence Meetings Communication Leadership 130

Red Star Kim

DECEMBER 12, 2023

In early December (and despite the train strike), we gathered at the offices of London | Simmons & Simmons (simmons-simmons.com) for a workshop on “Future Marketing and Business Development Manager”. Training – PM Forum. It was an energetic and exciting day where everyone took away different ideas and actions. Future Marketing and Business Development Manager: Connections, Collaboration, Context, Creativity, Cause and Continuous learning.

Marketing 130

Marketing Emotional Intelligence Management Leadership 130

Red Star Kim

DECEMBER 7, 2023

This book review was published in Magazine – PM Forum way back in 2008. However, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) has arisen a few times at recent training workshops so I thought I would publish the review as a blog post. Book review – Can we start again? The patterns of NLP applied to business interactions by Daryll Scott. Can we start again?

Emotional Intelligence 130

Emotional Intelligence Publishing Communication Negotiation 130

Red Star Kim

DECEMBER 5, 2023

In November it was a full house for the PM Forum’s Proactive marketing and business development executive online workshop. It was on budget day so those from accountancy and tax practices had a lot going on. These sessions are experiential – with much use of social learning so many insights are generated during group discussions. Proactive marketing and business development executives – CRM, internal engagement and career insights.

CRM 130

CRM Marketing Interpersonal Skills Client Relationships 130

Red Star Kim

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

For over 20 years I have attended and reported on the annual Professional Marketing conference. Sometimes I have also presented sessions. The latest conference was reported in the winter edition of PM Magazine. Thanks to editor Matt Baldwin for his assistance. The theme of the 28 th conference this year was “ Harness the power within your firm – creating stellar marketing for the future”.

Digitalization 130

Digitalization Leadership Marketing Brainstorming 130

Red Star Kim

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

At training workshops, people often ask me for case studies of successful marketing and business development strategies and campaigns at professional services firms. Both to support their competitor analysis and to see what good strategies and campaigns look like. I scour publications and awards to pick up as many as I can. Here I summarise brand, referrals, research, key account management (KAM) and new service development case studies.

Marketing 130

Marketing Key Account Management Innovation Account Management 130

Red Star Kim

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It was good to meet the private client lawyers – some recently promoted to head of department – for a workshop on “ Managing and growing your private client practice” earlier this month. This post summarises the key themes discussed, provides an additional learning resource for the delegates and includes further information – as promised – to some of the questions posed by delegates.

Business Planning 147

Business Planning Emotional Intelligence Marketing Management 147

Red Star Kim

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Being easy to read, short and jargon-free The Strategy Book (FT Publishing, 2012) is a considerable achievement bearing in mind the subject matter. I deliver and facilitate strategy workshops and it’s always good to be able to recommend strategy books to delegates. This one is equally helpful for experienced leaders and students first grasping the principles of strategic thinking.

Strategic Thinking 147

Strategic Thinking Decision-making Innovation Facilitation 147

Red Star Kim

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

As an fan of Challenger sales (and the variant Insight Selling Insight selling – building on consultative selling models (kimtasso.com) I was delighted to see that one of the originators – Matthew Dixon – turned his focus to selling in professional services. His research on rainmaker best practice is helpful for those providing sales training and coaching to lawyers, accountants and other knowledge-based professionals.

Client Relationships 130

Client Relationships CRM Financial Services Decision-making 130

Red Star Kim

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

At the recent PM Forum workshop on “Selling processes and sales skills for marketing and business development professionals” we focused on sales and selling challenges in professional services. Delegates from legal and accountancy practices in the UK and overseas (Brussels and Amsterdam) shared how to tackle those challenges. What is surprising is that despite having demanding sales roles for new and existing clients, many professional services marketers have received little formal sales traini

Key Account Management 130

Key Account Management Account Management Value Proposition Client Relationships 130

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 25, 2023

CogniClick is a nifty system (backed by an expert team) to enable you to conduct fast, quick polls and pulse surveys amongst your clients and stakeholders and to also develop maturity assessments and similar thought leadership content. It has the potential to transform client communications, fast-track the generation of research and thought leadership and fuel content management campaigns.

Banking 130

Banking Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity Key Account Management 130

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 20, 2023

At the October PM Forum writing workshop we welcomed delegates from law, accountancy and forensic firms to the City offices of Simmons & Simmons (thank you for hosting!). The workshop covered writing basics, the psychology of persuasive writing and how best to adapt to different media and channels. We explored writing from professional services firms and looked at how to improve our firms’ written content.

Media 130

Media Communication Marketing Digitalization 130

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Accountants, lawyers, paralegals, patent attorneys and financial advisers (both professional advisors and dedicated business development professionals) joined me at an MBL workshop on telephone skills for client service and selling. We explored the fundamentals of relationships, managing inbound calls and planning outbound calls. This article supplements the learning resources from the session.

Emotional Intelligence 130

Emotional Intelligence Value Proposition Decision-making Digitalization 130

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 16, 2023

This article is a summary of the conversation and key takeaways from a workshop in London for MBL. Delegates included both partners and business development professionals (some with a banking background) from law firms (employment, criminal, disputes, offshore), accountancy practices (audit, forensic, insolvency and restructuring and financial services.

Management 130

Management Emotional Intelligence Onboarding Communication 130

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 13, 2023

At the 28 th PM Forum Annual Conference in September I (in my capacity as Head of Training and Learning Transfer of the Managing Partners’ Forum and PM Forum), co-presented breakout sessions with Julie McConnell of international law firm White & Case. Our focus was on the accelerating change in the market, the professions and marketing and the challenge this presents in anticipating future training needs.

Supply Chain 162

Supply Chain Emotional Intelligence Construction Innovation 162

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 10, 2023

The role of learning and development (L&D) becomes more critical as firms try to ensure that their people are equipped with the latest skills to be agile enough to adapt to the fast-changing work environment. Learning & Development is often a key tool in employee retention. For those involved in training and coaching, here are some current learning and development themes.

Artificial Intelligence 130

Artificial Intelligence Emotional Intelligence Decision-making Digitalization 130

Red Star Kim

OCTOBER 1, 2023

I first mentioned SCARF in an article about neuroscience and leadership Leadership: Lessons from Star Trek and Neuroscience – Kim Tasso back in 2012. There David Rock talked about the neuroscience of leadership – the need to still your mind, improve emotional regulation, watch non-verbal signals and take care with feedback. On feedback he mentioned research by Naomi Eisenberger showing that the brain treats social pain much like physical pain.

Leadership 147

Leadership Emotional Intelligence Performance Review Communication 147

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

The September PM Forum workshop on “ Professional and Practical Skills for Marketing and Business Development (M&BD) Assistants” was attended by 18 delegates from legal, accountancy, consultancy and actuarial firms. The session comprises three elements: marketing and business development fundamentals, practical marketing communication and business development skills and growing your career.

Marketing 130

Marketing Stakeholders Digitalization Communication 130

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

The Managing Partners’ Forum (mpfglobal.com) holds quarterly meetings of its Advisory Board where senior leaders discuss issues pertinent to the professional services sector. Updates are provided by Richard Chaplin, Jon Geldart and John Rowland together with the chairs of the Forum’s specialist groups: Management Teams Together; Finance & Operations; Strategy & Marketing; People, Performance & Culture.

Meetings 130

Meetings Government Management Finance 130

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

I presented a methodology to design marketing and BD team structures in November 2015. Some of the points raised then remain the same, whilst new market conditions bring additional components into the equation. Here I review recent developments and look at some case studies of how M&BD teams are structured: An update on marketing and business development (M&BD) team structures.

Marketing 130

Marketing Key Account Management Account Management Artificial Intelligence 130

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Senior law and accountancy leaders attended a masterclass workshop in London last week. The session looked at how to ease personal transitions (individual change) whilst driving organisational change (primarily through cultural transformation). As well as rational approaches (we considered several change management methodologies including Kotter’s), both elements involve engaging emotions and taking people on the change journey.

Management 113

Management Co-Creation Communication Leadership 113

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

This is a slightly different conversation book to those I reviewed previously (see list below). The first two focused on starting a conversation in a networking situation. The third focused on conversations between leaders and their people. This book – published in 2020 – is also focused on internal conversations at work. Normal, everyday work topics.

Communication 147

Communication Meetings Publishing Decision-making 147

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

I posted this on LinkedIn on 13 th September. It received such a warm and enthusiastic response that it was suggested we consider a series highlighting the giants of professional services marketing and business development. So here’s the spotlight on Richard Chaplin, PM Forum and Managing Partners’ Forum. What’s the longest time you’ve sustained a professional relationship?

Management 130

Management Leadership Innovation Government 130

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

This week’s PM Forum training workshop “Commerciality: Finance, Pricing, Innovation and Research” was attended by delegates from law, accountancy and insolvency firms. As well as marketing and business development executives and managers there were also those in specialist pricing and bid roles. Thanks to Simmons & Simmons for hosting the event at Citypoint.

Procurement 147

Procurement Value Proposition Finance Artificial Intelligence 147

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

I regularly scan the media for information relevant to professional services benchmarks and market updates. I share some of my findings to support marketers who are conducting PESTLE, competitor and commercial analyses. Here is a professional services benchmark from Unit4 and some data on the accountancy profession. Professional Services – A benchmark for 2023 An interesting report commissioned by Unit4 (the SaaS ERP provider) looks at trends in the professional services market (PSM) across Euro

Marketing 130

Marketing Financial Services B2B Media 130

Red Star Kim

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

The 2019 second edition of this book (subtitled “How to apply neuroscience and psychology for improved learning and training” ) provides fascinating insight and practical ideas to incorporate neuroscience into learning and development initiatives. It’s published by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and Kogan Page. It should be essential reading for anyone in a L&D, HR, training or coaching role.

Facilitation 147

Facilitation e-Learning Emotional Intelligence Key Account Management 147

Red Star Kim

AUGUST 31, 2023

To support my training courses and workshops, I keep an eye out for interesting marketing and business development case studies. Today I summarise professional services marketing/BD case studies – Moore Kingston Smith, Mazars, Fladgate, Travers Smith, Mills & Reeve. There are case studies of thought leadership, branding, pricing and strategy.

Marketing 130

Marketing Leadership Government Logistics 130

Red Star Kim

AUGUST 29, 2023

The EAST framework was developed by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in 2012 to help policy makers promote change. BIT is the world’s first Government institution dedicated to the application of behavioural sciences. It helps you apply behavioural science to increase the likelihood of your proposed behaviour change being effective. How might we use the EAST framework for behavioural nudges in marketing?

Management 130

Management Marketing Decision-making Government 130

Red Star Kim

AUGUST 24, 2023

I facilitate various workshops designed to increase commercial awareness. For young professionals. And it’s good to be able to recommend reliable sources of information at those sessions. This short (130 pages) information-packed book was revised in 2019. And I commend it to those looking to initiate their commercial awareness journey. And it’s particularly valuable to those working in professional services firms.

Finance 130

Finance Government Profitability Banking 130

Red Star Kim

AUGUST 14, 2023

Lawyers (compliance, anti-trust, commercial litigation, personal injury) and marketing professionals joined me at a recent MBL workshop on writing. They engaged in writing exercises. And reviewed the copy of professional services firms. They created their own writing checklist – how to plan, write and review. Persuasive writing convinces the reader of a particular point.

Artificial Intelligence 130

Artificial Intelligence Value Proposition Media Emotional Intelligence 130