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Fortify helps professional firms determine what they should be known for, so clients, referrers and partners understand the firm more clearly.
The result: easier to choose, easier to refer, and more likely to be considered for the work the firm is now capable of.
Most firms we speak to do not have a capability problem. The expertise is real and the work has become more sophisticated. What has not kept pace is how clearly the market understands that.
Firms often reach for execution first. If the commercial position is still unclear, the result may simply be a better-looking version of the same service list.
Settle the position first. Then brief the execution around it.
A new website can improve how the firm looks. It cannot decide what the firm should be known for.
A service-led firm is usually compared on fee, responsiveness and familiarity.
A clear position gives buyers stronger reasons to compare the firm on relevance, capability and fit.
Buyers understand quickly what the firm is particularly good for.
Referrers know when to introduce the firm.
The market better understands the work the firm wants to win.
Buyers have clearer reasons to compare the firm on relevance, capability and fit — not fee alone.
The Commercial Positioning Review is the defined entry mandate. It determines whether the current position is still right and what should happen next.
Assess whether the firm's current position still reflects the business it has become, the buyers it wants to matter to and the mandates it wants to win.
See what the Review covers →For firms where the position is clear, but needs to be carried consistently across audiences, services, people and market-facing materials.
For firms where the issue extends beyond positioning into how market priorities, relationship development, BD ownership, follow-through and the wider commercial function are structured.
Ongoing principal involvement where continued market development, relationship development and commercial follow-through are useful.
Website, credentials, proposals, LinkedIn and other execution follow the commercial direction and are scoped separately where needed.
Two examples of different commercial positioning situations.
A sound proposition refined around the buyer and the situations that make it relevant.
View case →One commercial position carried through credentials, partner visibility, events and business development.
View case →A useful introduction is often triggered by a real commercial event rather than a general desire to “improve marketing”.
If the capability is strong but the commercial position is unclear, that is usually a useful conversation to have.
The person who assesses the firm is the person who makes the recommendation.
Edward works directly with partner-led professional and advisory firms on positioning and commercial development, including work inside cross-border professional-services environments.