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How Clients Buy: 2009 is published by Monadnock Research partner the Wellesley Hills Group. To purchase a single copy of the report for $349, follow this link. Enterprise licenses for the report can be purchased by selecting the "add to cart" link on this page.

"Understanding how clients buy services can make or break a professional services business, and RainToday's researchers have cracked the code on this essential issue. How Clients Buy won't sit on your shelf. It will become a key ingredient to your business development strategy." - Michael McLaughlin, Principal, MindShare Consulting LLC, and author of Guerilla Marketing for Consultants

To be successful in growing your service business, it is not enough to know how to market and sell; you have to understand how your clients buy.

As an accountant, lawyer, consultant, architect, marketing guru, technologist, or any other professional service provider--the value you provide is not always easy to communicate to potential new clients. It's hard to discover who needs your service, how to reach them, how to approach them and what they really think of you, for better or worse.

To help you demystify the professional services purchasing process, we asked more than 200 buyers of 8 service areas (accounting and financial consulting; architecture, engineering, and construction services; human resources consulting; IT consulting and services; legal services; management consulting; marketing, advertising, and PR; and training services) how they find out about potential service providers and what factors influence their decision to choose one provider over another.

How Clients Buy will provide you with the answers to these questions and many more...

* What is the professional services spending outlook in your service area for 2009 - 2010?

* How has the purchasing (and selling) environment for professional services evolved since 2005?

* Which methods - referrals, cold calls, print advertisements, direct mail, seminars, etc. - are buyers most likely to use to identify professional service providers?

* What factors go into buyers' ultimate purchasing decisions? Which factors have a greater influence on decision making processes now than in 2005?

* What are the most common problems buyers experience during the sales process, and which ones, if improved, have the biggest impact on winning new clients?

* How open are buyers to switching to a new provider in your service area?

* How important are brand...referrals...industry expertise...fees...and other factors in the decision making process?

* What are the most compelling ways to build initial trust with buyers?

* Does client satisfaction lead to client loyalty?

* How has the influence of websites on the buyers' decision to contact a service provider changed since 2005? What elements on your website have the biggest impact on a buyer's decision to contact you?

How Clients Buy takes an in-depth look at the vehicles, factors, and litmus tests clients themselves say they use when evaluating service providers before doing business with them. Our goal is not only to provide you with the data and data analysis to answer these key questions, but to provide you with the knowledge you need to:

* Understand buyers purchasing tendencies from where they go to find service providers to the factors that influence their ultimate decision to choose one firm over another.

* Make decisions about your marketing and selling mix including which tactics to use to generate leads, build brand, and win new clients.

* Identify areas for improvement in your own marketing and sales processes that will have the greatest impact on your ability to succeed in the market.

* Paint a picture of the service purchasing landscape in 2009 - 2010 from service spending outlook to client satisfaction levels (including how client satisfaction affects a buyer's propensity to switch to new providers).