How you market and sell consulting, technology and professional services differs substantially from how you market products. Generating leads, closing new business, and keeping existing clients happy and continuously buying your services requires a different outlook, different tactics, and different execution.

Imagine the following situation for the marketing of a new brand of chewing gum. Would the product marketing strategy look like this?

• Branding: Make sure you publish articles or give speeches about the new gum.
• Lead generation: Networking and seminars will do the trick.
• Client acquisition: Make sure you tailor your proposals to each new chewing gum client.
• Client loyalty: At least once a year, go visit your top chewers at their office and take them out to lunch.

It's obviously inappropriate to market chewing gum like this. Why, however, do so many service businesses (or product businesses that also offer services such as technology companies) try to market their businesses using inappropriate product tactics?