Managing The Professional Service Firm

Professional firms differ from other business enterprises in two distinct ways: first, they provide highly customized services and thus cannot apply many of the management principles developed for product-based industries. Second, professional services are highly personalized, involving the skills of individuals. Such firms must therefore compete not only for clients but also for talented professionals.

Drawing on more than ten years of research and consulting to these unique and creative companies, David Maister explores issues ranging from marketing and business development to multinational strategies, human resources policies to profit improvement, strategic planning to effective leadership. While these issues can be complex. Maister simplifies them by recognizing that "every professional service firm in the world, regardless of size, specific profession, or country of operation, has the same mission statement: outstanding service to clients, satisfying careers for its people, and financial success for its owners."

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
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The First Book You Must Read Before Building Your Own Professional Services Firm, 2008-10-02
Before you bother to build or "scale" a professional services firm, you must read this book. One of my mentors recommended this book to me in 1995 and it was a "must read" then. David's experience and "real talk" about the basics and then the art of building a services firm saved me many nights of lost sleep.

Specifically, I used the "brains, grey hair, and masses" model to help me understand and commit to the right business model and level of service delivery for my line of business. Other key concepts include how to market and develop business, develop and leverage talent within your organization, and consulting protocols that dictate your perception of value to your clients. Now, my firm, Performance Change Initiatives, Inc., is steadily growing and expanding because of the solid foundation beneath it. We practice in the evolving Change Implementation Consulting field, and, we have used many of David's concepts to define and differentiate ourselves in our market. By bringing the art of the "process for organizational change" together with the science of hard core business process redesign and integration, we have found the recipe for delivering tangible business results that last. I have read David's book 3-4 times over the 9 year evolution of our firm and each time, I have "caught" a potential error and taken advantage of other perspectives and practice. You cannot substitute for experience and I am positive that I will read it again.

Additionally, I recommend David's famous book, The Trusted Advisor, for all constituents of the firm. It is imperative that everyone understands the power of building authentic relationships with your clients and the negative impact of the hard sell. People work with you because they trust you and have confidence in your work. This book lays out many of the components and practices of this "art".



0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent for Law Firm Managing Partners, 2008-09-28
I purchased this book out of sheer luck, by reading a review to law firm start up book that recommended professional services firm management books.

I am a East European Lawyer and feel empowered and enlighted when reading this book. Its style is user-friendly. In particular, I liked and appreciated the chapter on what clients expect from professional servicepersons.

I have not yet read all its chapters, but those I did, I read several times and each time new helpfull skills come to my attention.

As a lawyer, new tothis type of source of information, I was not expecting I could find such a book, of such a high quality.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Great reading for beginners and experienced managers, 2008-06-01
I have 10 years experience in managing consulting company. When I red just first chapters of this book I immediatelly have started to implement some ideas described there and it gave greate results!
No matter if you plan to start new business or you are mature partner with many years of experiane in professional services business - this book is a must and greate reading. Enjoy!



0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A Great Resource, 2008-03-23
I have used this book to implement many new processes into my business. This sits in my bag or on my desk all the time. It's a great resource.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A classic, 2008-02-15
This book is worth its weight in gold. Well written, great ideas, very helpful for anyone involved in or starting a consulting firm.

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