Market Development Plan

Most firms have more opportunities for growth than they realise. The challenge is deciding which are worth pursuing, getting the right people involved and maintaining momentum alongside the demands of running a busy practice.

I have developed this simple market development plan to help managing partners, partners and service line leaders focus their efforts. The aim is to help your firm win more of the work it wants, strengthen client relationships and build a reputation in markets where it has something valuable to offer.

It brings together eight questions covering people, clients and markets. Use it for an entire firm, a particular sector or an individual service line. The printable version is at the bottom of this page. There is no registration and no form to complete.

What is a market development plan?

A market development plan is a short, agreed statement of where a firm intends to grow, who is responsible for it and what will happen over the next twelve months. In professional services it covers three things: the people who will do the work, the clients already in the firm who can open the way, and the market the firm wants to be known in.

It differs from a marketing plan. A marketing plan describes activity. A market development plan settles direction first, and the activity follows from it.

What a firm gets out of it

Two hours, not a strategy day. Short enough that partners will sit through it, specific enough that something comes out the other side.

Three priorities, each with a name and a date against it. A priority with a name against it is the one that moves.

A decision about what you are not doing this year. Usually the harder half, and the part that makes the rest survive.

Four review dates in the diary before anyone leaves the room.

Who it is for

Managing partners and partners in accountancy, law and advisory firms, service line leaders, sector leads, and the marketing and business development people who need the partners in the room rather than a plan written for them. It works for a firm of ten and a firm of two hundred. The questions do not change. The answers do.

The eight questions

Start with the evidence

What work have we done most of over the past three years, and for which kinds of clients? Look at the records rather than relying on memory. Then ask which of those strengths you want to build on.

1. Direction of travel | 30 minutes

1. Looking at our track record, what work do we want more of, and why?

2. Where will we concentrate our effort? Will we lead with an industry sector or a particular service?

Choose one primary focus, with the other supporting it. A firm that leads with everything is remembered for nothing.

2. People | 30 minutes

3. Who genuinely wants to help develop this opportunity, and what time can they realistically commit?

4. What support will they need?

Consider partner leadership, internal marketing and business development expertise, outside support where useful, and the client-facing work that partners themselves need to do. Name the people involved.

In my experience, the firms that make progress choose a manageable number of priorities, give people clear responsibility and keep returning to them. Partners have clients and teams to look after, so the plan needs to fit the realities of a busy firm.

3. Clients | 30 minutes

5. Which existing clients are likely to need broader advice over the next twelve months?

What may be changing in their businesses, which colleagues could help and who will start the conversation?

6. Which clients can help us understand and reach this market?

Consider conversations about their priorities, introductions, testimonials or case studies where appropriate, and the networks and events they value.

4. Markets | 30 minutes

7. How will we keep close to the issues that matter in this market?

Start by listening to clients and people who work in it every day.

8. Which two activities will we commit to over the next year?

For example, useful writing, speaking, participation in established networks or hosting a focused event. Put dates and names against both.

How do you know whether it is working?

Choose one commercial objective, such as more instructions from a chosen sector, a stronger pipeline for a service or more referrals between departments.

Then track a small number of useful signals: relevant enquiries, introductions, opportunities created, additional services used by existing clients and, ultimately, work won. Reputation measures such as speaking invitations and specialist referrals can also help.

Review progress quarterly. Early reviews should establish whether the agreed activity is happening. Commercial results may take longer.

Leave with three priorities

Before anyone leaves the room, write down three priorities. Each one needs a first action, an owner, a date and a way of knowing whether it is moving. Three is the number.

Agree four review dates of 90 minutes each while everybody is still in the room. Record what you are choosing not to pursue this year.

A short plan with clear ownership is more likely to survive a busy year than a long list of good intentions.

What makes the difference

In my experience the plan is rarely the difficult part. Keeping it going is.

Two things help. The first is treating the weekly time as a standing commitment in the diary rather than an intention. The second is having somebody alongside it who has done this before, whether that is someone within the firm or brought in from outside. The months when the work would otherwise quietly stop are the ones that decide whether any of it builds.

Two examples

The industry route: credit unions

A partner in a mid tier Irish accountancy firm acted for several credit unions and believed there was more work in the sector than the firm was winning. The firm already had relevant clients, knowledge and data, as well as a sector with its own associations, publications and events.

The first step was a benchmarking report based on information the firm already held. This was followed by a wider survey asking credit unions about their concerns and the changes they faced. The survey gave two opportunities to go to the market, one at launch and one on the results.

Over time, the initiative developed into an annual event bringing credit unions from across the country into one room. It also supported commentary, articles in sector publications, speaking opportunities and working relationships with the association groups. The firm became the one the sector went to.

The lesson: the firm did not need to invent a new area of expertise. It needed a focused way to make its existing experience more visible and valuable to the market.

The service route: management buyouts

A corporate finance team in a UK firm had substantial experience of management buyouts and was doing relatively little to communicate it. The team began publishing practical insights about the process, the pitfalls, the opportunities and the tax position, drawing on the experience of the professionals doing the work.

The team also ran an event with the Employee Ownership Association, built around somebody who had been through a transaction and could talk about what they expected and what the process actually involved.

Most importantly, the team developed a repeatable approach to every completed deal, subject to client consent and confidentiality. A photograph with the client and the team, usually outside the client’s own office. A short piece on the deal, or on something plainer such as how long diligence took. The other advisers named so that each announcement reached their networks too. Every deal without exception, with photography that was human and engaging rather than a handshake shot.

The lesson: each completed piece of work became an opportunity to show prospective clients and referrers what the team could do. The consistency of the approach mattered as much as any individual announcement.

Download the plan

The printable version is a four page working document with space to write against every question, the three priorities table and the review dates. Print a copy for everyone in the room.

No registration and no form to complete.

Download the Market Development Plan (PDF)

This is one of several free working tools in the Marketing Clever toolkit.

About Mary Cloonan

I am the founder of Marketing Clever and have spent more than twenty-five years working with accountancy and legal firms on marketing, business development and growth.

I work with managing partners and leadership teams to sharpen their commercial priorities, develop opportunities, and turn plans into practical action. My approach is collaborative, straightforward and grounded in an understanding of how professional services firms actually work.

Built around the People, Clients, Markets framework. Mary Cloonan | Marketing Clever