3 Reasons Why Consultants Need White Papers

Ask any small and medium-sized consulting firm and they’ll likely tell you—winning more clients is one of their biggest priorities.

Consultants want to be seen as trusted advisors and for clients to trust them and listen to them. And no matter the industry, everyone wants to stand out from the crowd. Marketing with a white paper is the exact way to accomplish all of those goals.

White papers tend to be on a higher level talking about an entire problem that affects an entire industry or a whole niche, offering helpful information for prospects considering a product or service. According to the 2018 DemandGen Report Preferences Survey, 71% of respondents stated they used white papers during the past 12 months to research B2B purchasing decisions.

While consulting firms have their own unique challenges, this post discusses 3 benefits a white paper can offer your consulting firm.

Differentiate Yourself from Competitors

One of the biggest marketing challenges for small and medium-sized companies is standing out from the crowd. Everybody in your niche will use the same lingo and speak in a similar manner. And when your competitors have similar prices as you, it’s hard for your company to get an edge and gain any kind of advantage over them.

It doesn’t matter the size of your firm and it doesn’t matter what niche you consult for. Consultants should use white papers to differentiate themselves from other competitors in the marketplace.

When B2B buyers consider a service for their business, the first thing they do is research it on the internet. Having a white paper on a topic of interest shows prospects that someone understands clearly a problem that they are facing and that there are actionable steps to solving this problem.

Also, you can print your white paper out so that you have a physical object that’s simple and accessible. When the salesperson goes into a meeting and places a physical, printed white paper on the table, it gets people's attention and makes you stand out. And if you put out useful information that helps your prospects solve a problem or understand an issue, or explain the benefits of your offering that prospective companies may enjoy if they buy from you, they are going to eat it up.

Earn the Trust of Prospects

When prospects are choosing between consulting firms, they want to work with the firm that offers them the most assurance that their money will be well spent. With B2B sales becoming more complex and taking longer, buyers are becoming more risk averse. More and more people are roped into the buying process, and nobody wants to make a mistake.

When hiring the wrong consulting firm or buying the wrong system can be a career-limiting problem, executives are cautious and they watch their pennies. However, you can make their decision process easier by addressing their pain points in a white paper.

Let's say that Bob is looking at three different consulting firms, and one of them offers a white paper discussing six factors to consider before buying. Who is Bob going to trust more? The firms that are saying, "We're so good that you should sign here," or the firm that says, "Here's something you must understand before you spend your money and here's some useful information I've learned in my ten years of experience?" Like most buyers, Bob is going to trust the company that gives him some useful information instead of trying to get him to sign on the dotted line. This is especially applicable to small consulting firms.

Although most B2B sales begin online, many prospects feel that companies don't understand their needs. According to the 2018 Accenture B2B Digital Commerce report, although 61% of B2B transactions start online, only 22% of customers acknowledge that B2B companies they transact with deeply know their needs. Without showing that you understand the needs of prospective customers, it becomes harder to earn their trust and gain their business.

Generate More Leads

White papers allow small and medium-sized consultant firms to provide an excellent customer service experience to prospects, nurturing them with useful educational content until they become customers.

Because the point of contact with buyers comes later, today's companies must present their value to potential customers much earlier and articulate it in a straightforward manner.

According to Forrester Consulting's 2016 survey, How B2B Sellers Win In The Age Of The Customer, more than half (59%) of buyers say they prefer not to interact with sales reps as their primary source of research, while 53% believe that gathering their own information online—via sellers’ and third-party websites, social media, ratings and reviews, etc.—is superior to talking to sellers.

By hosting a white paper on your website, your make it possible for new prospects to discover your business as they do research. Also, your website will also rank higher on search engines as prospects search for solutions to the challenges they are facing.

Prospects love downloading white papers, as these documents show that your consultancy understands clearly a problem that they are facing and have some useful advice and solutions for them .

For consulting firms of any sizes, well-written and visually engaging white papers are proven prospect magnets, as they can travel across the desks of dozens of people and multiple departments in a single company.

This post is an excerpt from a longer white paper. To download the whole paper and learn more, click here.