Change is a result; evolution is the process.
By Bruce Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0
EDITOR’S NOTE: CPA Trendlines was privileged to have a long relationship with Bruce W. Marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. We are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.
It’s not difficult to understand, in this economic environment, why the word change looms so large in professional services dialogue. The nature of the professions, rooted as they are in history and tradition, can be fairly rigid, and resistant to innovation. But the times seem to have accelerated the need for new ideas and structures to cope with new economic and social problems and opportunities.
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The accounting profession, even as we know it today, is practically prehistoric, and is now so bound by traditions, rules, regulations and laws that any suggestion of serious structural change is seen as a virtual assault on the professions. The codification of laws and the legal profession go back about as far, and are just as resistant to innovation. In both cases, the rigidity in the professions is designed to maintain integrity and probity, as well as efficiency in firm governance. If the nature of products allows for constant and rapid change to match changing tastes and fashions, the nature of professional services requires a measure of uniformity and predictability. But now, there are cracks appearing in the wall. The potential for conflict between the ethical rules and their protection of integrity, and the need for successful competitive marketing, can be intense.
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