Marketing mentoring for professional services and B2B firms
In most professional services firms, the marketing team is one person. Sometimes two.
You’re expected to write the strategy, run the campaigns, manage the website, organise the events, chase the partners for their thought leadership and report on all of it. And there’s nobody above you who’s done the job, so when you’re not sure whether you’re making the right call, there’s nobody to ask.
That’s what mentoring is for. Someone who’s done the job, in your kind of firm and in your corner.
What is marketing mentoring?
Marketing mentoring is regular one-to-one support for a marketer, focused on their development rather than on a specific project. Sessions cover whatever the mentee brings: a live challenge, a skill they want to build, a decision they’re weighing up, or where their career goes next. The agenda belongs to them.
What we’d work on
Whatever you bring, but these are the things that come up most.
Strategic thinking. Moving from doing marketing to deciding what marketing to do. Setting objectives that connect to what the firm actually wants, choosing tactics deliberately, and being able to explain why.
Getting partners on side. Probably the hardest part of the job and the least trained for. How to get partners to engage, how to say no to the ones with pet projects, and how to make it look like their idea when it needs to be.
Measurement and reporting. Which numbers matter, how to collect them, and how to report to a leadership team in a way that gets you listened to rather than politely thanked.
Keeping up. New tools, new channels, AI. What’s worth your attention and what’s noise.
Working across the firm. Getting alignment with BD, HR, finance and the sector teams, which in most firms is more of the job than anyone admits.
Confidence and career. Where you’re heading, what you need to get there, and how to make the case for the resource, budget or title you’re asking for.
A second opinion. Sometimes you just need to check your thinking with someone who isn’t in the firm.
Who I mentor
Marketing assistants, executives, managers and heads of marketing in law firms, accountancy practices, consultancies and B2B businesses.
Some are solo, and need someone to think with. Others sit in a larger team and want objective support that isn’t tangled up with their appraisal. I also mentor managing partners and directors who’ve ended up responsible for marketing and would rather not learn it by trial and error.
How it works
Packages start at two to three hours a month over four months, and can run for as long as they’re useful. You set the agenda for each session, so we cover what’s actually on your desk rather than working through a syllabus.
The first session is mostly me listening: where you are, what your firm is like, what you want to be doing in two years. Everything after that builds on it.
Who pays, and what stays private
Most mentoring is paid for by the firm, on a retainer, as part of developing their marketing person. Some people fund it themselves.
Either way, what’s said in a session stays in the session. If your firm is paying, I’ll confirm with them that we’re working together and that sessions are happening, but not what we discussed. Mentoring only works if you can say “I’ve got no idea what I’m doing with this” out loud, and you can’t do that if it’s going to be repeated.
How this differs from my other services
Mentoring develops you. It’s about your judgement, your skills and your confidence, over time.
Marketing consultancy answers a specific question. You bring a problem, I advise, you decide.
Fractional marketing director and CMO puts me in your firm running the marketing function, which includes managing and developing your team.
If you’re a managing partner reading this and wondering which your marketing executive needs, it’s usually mentoring. If nobody senior is setting direction either, it’s usually the fractional option.
Who this is for
This works best for marketers in professional services and B2B firms who’ve got the job but not the support: solo marketers, first-time managers, and people who’ve been promoted into a role nobody has trained them for. It also works for firms who want to keep a good marketing person and know that development is most of how you do that.
It’s less useful if what’s needed is an extra pair of hands. Mentoring doesn’t reduce your workload, at least not straight away. If the real problem is that one person is doing the work of three, that’s a resourcing conversation and I’d say so.
It’s also not the right fit if your firm wants me to report back on how someone’s performing. That isn’t mentoring.
Get in touch
If you’re the only marketer in your firm and you’ve been working it out as you go, you’re doing better than you think. It’s just quite lonely, and it doesn’t have to be.
Book a discovery call and tell me what you’re dealing with.
I work with B2B businesses, law and solicitors firms, accountants and consultancies in London, the UK, Europe and the USA.
FAQs
Consultancy answers a question about your marketing. Mentoring develops you as a marketer. In practice a session might cover both, but the purpose is different: consultancy is about the work, mentoring is about the person doing it.
Usually monthly, which gives you time to act on things between them. We can go fortnightly if there’s a reason, and some mentees drop to every six weeks once they’re more settled.
They start at two to three hours a month over four months. Plenty run considerably longer. Four months is enough to make real progress on one or two things without asking anyone to commit to a year upfront.
Most often the firm, as part of developing their marketing person. Some people pay themselves, usually when they’d rather their firm wasn’t involved in the conversation.
No. I’ll confirm the sessions are happening, and I’m happy to agree broad development goals with your manager at the start if that’s what the firm wants. But what’s said in a session stays there. I won’t be asked to assess you, and I wouldn’t accept the engagement on that basis.
es, and firms sometimes do this for two or three people at different levels. Each relationship stays separate and confidential.
Not necessarily. I mentor managing partners and directors who’ve found themselves responsible for marketing without ever having done it.
Very common, and it’s not a problem. The first session is mostly me asking questions, and the shape of what you need tends to become obvious quite quickly.
It’s a free 30 minutes for me to understand where you are and work out whether I’m the right person to help. If I’m not, I’ll tell you and point you somewhere better.
Happy clients
Helen supported me in shaping up the firm wide marketing plan
Helen brought innovative ideas and solutions to the table and supported me in shaping up the firm wide marketing plan and various channel strategies. I would highly recommend Helen’s services and (hopefully) will have the pleasure to work with her again in the future!
Maggie Strumelieva , Marketing Executive at Buckworths
Played a pivotal role in my professional development
On a personal note, Helen has also played a pivotal role in my professional development, providing tailored advice and guidance that has allowed me to flourish in the dynamic field of marketing. I wholeheartedly endorse Helen for her marketing expertise, creativity, and unwavering support as both a mentor and Marketing Director.
Roseanne Ganley, Marketing Manager, Goldenhill International
Case study highlight
Helping an accountancy firm grow with focused marketing mentorship
Learn how I teamed up with an accountancy firm to kickstart their marketing journey. They reached out for guidance on how to begin their marketing journey, seeking my expertise to support and mentor their marketing assistant.
Let’s talk…
For more information on any of my services, get in touch and let’s talk.