Contemporary marketing in professional services

Abstract

PurposeThis empirical investigation aims to explore the nature of contemporary marketing practices in the context of the professional services business environment.Design/methodology/approachA self‐administered questionnaire based on the CMP work undertaken by Coviello et al. was employed to collect data. A total of 140 responses were obtained, representing a range of professions.FindingsThe results suggest that professional firms are finding the market environment increasingly complex and competitive. Firms in the sample also use a variety of measures to evaluate performance but primarily focus on financial measures. Firms in the sample also predominantly practice interaction marketing, and interaction marketing is associated with higher levels of marketing performance.Research limitations/implicationsTo the extent that the study is exploratory and a partial replication of the work undertaken by the CMP group, the results may be more applicable to the Australian marketplace. Nevertheless, the increasing complexity in the professional service environment is universal and the results have broader implications.Practical implicationsThe results of this research suggest that the changing marketing environment will require dynamic marketing solutions, including the development of strong relationship building and relationship management capabilities, the adoption of a market orientation, and improvements to the integrated marketing communication capabilities of firms.Originality/valueThis paper adds value to the growing body of literature on business‐to‐business professional services marketing and serves to expand the application of the contemporary marketing practices framework to this context.