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Professional Services Marketing Handbook

A practitioner-led handbook arguing that marketing and business development professionals in professional services firms should become 'client champions' who understand, represent and deliver client needs to drive growth, deepen relationships and elevate the influence of the marketing function.

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What it’s about

Professional Services Marketing Handbook is a curated collection of expert essays from marketing and business development leaders at leading global firms (Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, PwC, White & Case and others). Cast around five leadership themes—Growth, Understanding, Connecting, Relationships and Managing—it addresses not the 'why' and 'what' of marketing theory but the practical 'how' of marketing practice in law, accountancy, engineering, property and consulting firms. Its central thesis is that clients now demand full-service, commercial solutions and relationships, not just technical excellence, and that marketers can and must step up from being 'discipline specialists' to becoming 'client champions'—the voice of the client inside the firm. Rich with case studies, lessons and frameworks, it equips both marketers and technical practitioners to grow their firms, listen to and understand clients, connect through thought leadership, build lasting relationships, and manage the marketing organization with measurable impact.

The through-line

Who it’s for: A marketing or business development professional (or technically-minded practitioner) in a professional services firm who wants to have a material, measurable impact, grow the firm and advance their own leadership career.
The problem: Clients are more demanding—wanting commercial solutions and relationships, not just technical advice—while marketers are pigeonholed as support-function communicators kept remote from clients. They feel undervalued, blocked by a 'glass ceiling', frustrated at lacking the influence, status and client knowledge that would earn a place at the top table.
The plan: Understand the changing client and the characteristics of professional services firms.
Define a clear growth strategy—why, what, how, at what pace and risk—with brand clarity.
Run structured client listening to understand and act on client needs.
Connect through trusted, engaging, multi-channel content and thought leadership tied to sales.
Build long-term, mutually beneficial client relationships supported by (not dominated by) CRM systems.
The payoff: The firm builds deep, mutually beneficial client relationships and a sustainable path to growth and prosperity; clients flourish too. · The marketer earns peer status with partners, a seat at the top table, and demonstrable influence and impact. · Marketing and business development is measured and respected on a par with other functions.

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Additional reading

The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully · Gerald M. Weinberg
The book is cited for its 'Raspberry Jam Rule,' a marketing principle stating that the wider you spread your efforts, the thinner the impact. Maister applies this directly to advise PSFs to focus their marketing on a narrow, well-selected audience.
The Soul of a New Machine · Tracy Kidder
This book is used as a case study in motivating professionals. The author highlights its story of recruiting and leading a team by framing the work as an immense challenge, tapping into the professional's intrinsic need to prove their abilities.
The Evolution of Cooperation · Robert Axelrod
The author explicitly credits this book for providing the theoretical underpinnings for his chapter on creating collaborative firms. It informs his view that cooperation stems from durable relationships and repeated interactions, not just shared goals.
Process Consultation Revisited: Building the Helping Relationship · Edgar H. Schein
Schein's work on process consultation is foundational to the book's emphasis on the consultant-client relationship and the collaborative role over the expert role.
Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change · Chris Argyris
Argyris's pioneering work on authentic behavior in organizations underpins the book's central claim that authenticity is not just a virtue but a highly effective consulting strategy.
Future Search: Getting the Whole System in the Room for Vision, Commitment, and Action · Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff
This book provides a specific methodology for the 'whole-system discovery' approach that Block advocates as a powerful way to build widespread commitment to change.
The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World’s Toughest Problems · Richard Pascale, Jerry Sternin, and Monique Sternin
This work details the 'Positive Deviance' methodology, which Block presents as a prime example of a gift-based approach that focuses on existing solutions within a system rather than its problems.
In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies · Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
Cited as an extremely influential book that originated from McKinsey, demonstrating how the Firm's thinking is disseminated to the broader business world.
Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Successful Presentations · Gene Zelazny
Written by McKinsey's long-time guru of charts and presentations, this book is referenced as the definitive resource for the Firm's philosophy on data visualization.
The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms · L. Empson, D. Muzio, J. Broschak, and B. Hinings (eds.)
The author recommends this as a comprehensive compendium of state-of-the-art research in the field, providing broader context for the leadership-specific issues discussed in her book.