Targeted Marketing for Safety and Industrial Hygiene Consultants

By Carl Woychuk

This is not just another “how to” article on consulting. This article identifies the target groups to be considered in your marketing strategies. This is information to be shared among all EHS consultants to strengthen the credibility of the safety and industrial hygiene profession vis à vis our potential clients. We are not competitors, but rather professional peers within a specialized discipline.

Is Consulting for You?

Consulting is not for everyone, but it can be good for those who can cope with competing demands on their time. You may need to work on several projects while, at the same time, preparing reports and putting together proposals—not to mention all the day-to-day aspects of having your own business, such as managing mail, e-mails, phone calls, invoices, payments and accounting.

Even the founding members of larger, established consulting firms will periodically reassess their desire to stay in consulting. But especially for independent consultants and those who are just beginning, there are other issues at stake. Financial resources may be needed to fall back on during dry periods, which can be three months or longer in the start-up year.

An independent consultant must be able to work alone for long periods. There are no clients across the hall, and you may not have co-workers for some time. If you need camaraderie, you may prefer a regular job.

To work independently you must be resilient. On occasion, you must work even harder to convince clients of recommendations and approaches to problems. True, this is experienced when working as an EHS professional for a large manufacturer, but the tact and energy expended during the convincing process is much greater for the consultant. Pushing too hard for implementation of recommendations risks losing a client, but you risk missing out on doing good prevention if you don’t push hard enough. If setbacks are discouraging or make you brood or lose your temper, stay away from consulting.

Setting the Game Plan

Keep in mind that quality and service are now top-priority issues for North American companies. Large corporations are very concerned with price but, in our field of expertise, we understand that it is imperative to be thorough—quality is job one. Some companies will even consider a competitive bid from a firm or people with the credibility and expertise to deliver a quality service or product over the proposal of the lowest bidder.

To offer service to a client means that they do not have to run after you for updates. Like a true project manager, it is up to you to keep your client informed throughout the project.

In any event, you have now established that you are suited for consulting and have acknowledged the importance of quality and service. You must now target your marketing efforts on sectors that can use your help. So how do you find where the need is?

Targeting Your Market

Conduct internal research on your present clients and know their demographics. Identify your best or favorite clients with the idea of finding others like them. You must then step out of the box and conduct external research. Look for potential clients that don’t fit into your ideal demographic but still represent a group that is not being served. These potential clients will fall into three target groups:

Group 1: As you build your list of potential clients, some may need to learn about your expertise and what you can do for them. These people are totally unaware of your services and the potential benefits you offer, and you will need to educate them.

Tell them about the field of health and safety in general terms (see sidebar, “What Is an Industrial Hygienist?”). Explain to them the various certifications that you hold (CSP, ROH, CIH, etc.) and why these are important. You may even need to show them the economic and social/moral benefits of health and safety programs. Once they understand you, they may be categorized into one of the next two groups.

Group 2: This is a transitional group. They understand you and the services you offer but believe they don’t need your services or products. Maybe they are skeptical.

You must tactfully work on convincing them by use of success stories, explaining your special capabilities, equipment and expertise from which they may benefit. Get to know them and learn why they are hesitating. Be very patient. Keep in mind that they may doubt you simply because they wonder, “Why haven’t I heard of this before?” or fear doing something for the first time. After passing through this stage, these clients go to the next and final group.

Group 3: This final group is made up of the users and potential users of your services and products. Included in this group are the potential clients that were already using a service provider or consultant before you came on the scene. That’s OK; we’re all in this together for the betterment of our profession.

Let them know why you are different or better for them. Emphasize your years of experience, list of clients, field of expertise, training, education, professional development, professional affiliations, use of certified laboratories, fee structure, lab fees, the fact that you’re an independent consultant or from a large firm, etc.

I wish you success with your targeting efforts. I trust this information will be helpful to fellow consultants, as well as EHS professionals within a large company.

Woychuk, an MHSc, ROH and CIH, has a comprehensive practice of industrial hygiene in Ottawa, Canada. He can be reached at (613) 220-2540; carl@healthandsafety.ca; www.healthandsafety.ca.