© 2019 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc.
Building Your Fraud
Examination Practice
Branding, Advertising, and Networking
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Introduction
▪ Marketing—concept of reaching a target and
making the target understand they want to hire
the fraud examiner
▪ Three components:
• Branding
• Advertising and public relations
• Networking
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Components of a Successful
Marketing Strategy
Branding
NetworkingAdvertising
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Marketing
▪ Never stop marketing.
▪ Effective marketing will lead to referrals.
▪ It is a continuous process.
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Branding
It’s this simple: You are a brand. You are in
charge of your brand. There is no single
path to success. And there is no one right
way to create the brand called You. Except
this: Start today. Or else.
—Tom Peters
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Four Yardsticks for Self-Evaluation
1. Be a great teammate and a supportive
colleague.
2. Be an exceptional expert at something that has
real value.
3. Be a broad-gauged visionary—a leader, a
teacher, a farsighted “imagineer.”
4. Be a businessperson—be obsessed with
pragmatic outcomes.
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How Do Fraud Examiners Do This?
▪ Identify qualities or characteristics that:
• Make the fraud examiner distinctive from
competitors—or colleagues.
• Add remarkable, measurable, distinguished,
distinctive value.
• The examiner can take credit for, is proud of, and can
brag about.
▪ What does the examiner want to be known for?
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Constantly Market the Brand
You only get one chance to make a good
first impression.
—Unknown
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Personal Branding
▪ Dress for business—business formal or
business casual.
▪ It is preferable to be dressed traditionally than
casually.
▪ Bottom line: the attorney is sizing up how the
fraud examiner will appear before the jury.
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Important Personal
Branding Considerations
▪ Hair
▪ Shoes
▪ Jewelry
▪ Styles
▪ Facial hair
▪ Dress
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Presentation
▪ Business cards
▪ Website
▪ Telephone numbers
▪ Social network
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Communication Skills
▪ Good communication skills are absolutely
essential.
▪ They are necessary for negotiation.
▪ They let the attorney know that the examiner is
the right choice for the next case.
▪ Associations, coaches, or universities can help
with developing communication skills.
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Personal Commercial and the Introduction
▪ When promoting a brand, everything the fraud
examiner does—and everything the fraud
examiner chooses not to do—communicates
the value and character of the brand.
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Advertising and Public Relations
▪ PR is often confused with advertising.
▪ Both activities increase visibility to targeted
audiences.
▪ The distinction is simple:
• Control
• Credibility
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Advertising
▪ The world has changed.
▪ Paid advertising is not the same as PR.
▪ A website is a must-have.
• First place prospects look
• Must be of the highest quality
• Fraud examiner controls the website
• Big part of brand
• Search engine optimization
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Public Relations
▪ Different from advertising
▪ PR activities used to influence:
• Feelings
• Opinions
• Beliefs
▪ About a company or its products and services
▪ Fraud examiner makes it happen
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Critical Elements of Public Relations
▪ Objective
▪ Audience
▪ Message
▪ Media
▪ Measuring results
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Uses of News Releases
▪ Recent or upcoming public speaking
engagements
▪ Announcing new hires
▪ Relocating the business
▪ Expanding services offered
▪ Obtaining new certifications
▪ Awards or honors
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Standards of a News Release
▪ Journalistic style
▪ Who, what, when,
where, why, and how
▪ Quotes
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News Release Sample
Contact
Information
Body of the
Document
• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• How
End with
###
News
release,
special logo,
or your
firm’s logo
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Become a Media Source
▪ Local, regional, or national news
▪ Newspaper, journal, or periodical
▪ Social media
▪ Credible publication
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Specific Media Relations Opportunities
▪ Fraud examiners should be prepared for
situations such as:
• Selling a story idea to the editor
• Being interviewed by a reporter or staff writer
• Positioning themselves as an expert resource
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Enhance Professional Profile
▪ Teach a class:
• College
• Adult-education program
• Local community
▪ Contribute a column or opinion piece to a local
newspaper.
▪ Join a panel discussion at a conference.
▪ Present at a workshop.
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Before Speaking to the Media
▪ Practice
communicating the
message.
▪ Rehearse it.
▪ Reduce it to writing
and be clear and
concise.
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Making Good Use of PR
▪ Send an article to clients, potential clients, and
referral sources on the mailing list.
▪ Add the article to the company website.
▪ Enclose it with a marketing package when
communicating with prospective clients.
▪ Include the article listing in the curriculum vitae.
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Media Relations
▪ Develop and maintain a media contact list.
▪ Build a relationship with media sources as with
clients.
▪ Develop a standard news release that can
easily be modified.
▪ Develop endorsements and quotes from third-
party sources.
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Branding and PR: A Hybrid Approach
▪ Speeches or presentations
▪ Blog posts
▪ Special events
▪ Sponsorships
▪ Online newsletters
▪ Trade show booths
▪ Websites
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Professional and Public Presentations
▪ Market services by giving public and
professional presentations.
▪ Remember, litigation support is a referral
business.
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Volunteering and Mentoring
▪ Guest lecture at a local college or university.
▪ Volunteer to serve in various leadership
capacities with professional, local chapters.
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Networking
▪ Networking—interacting with other people to
exchange information and develop contacts,
especially to further one’s career
▪ Not to be confused with branding
▪ Objectives:
• Build a professional network.
• Develop referrals.
• Engender trust.
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Step 1: Find a Niche
▪ Focus on a specialty.
▪ Specialize in a specific service.
▪ Consider the geographic location, location,
location.
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Step 2: Identify Sources of Business
▪ Lawyers
▪ Investigative firms
▪ Accounting firms
▪ Government agencies
▪ Business owners
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Step 3: Understand the
Elements of Networking
▪ Social network:
• Family
• Friends
• Community and social groups
▪ Professional network:
• Professional groups
• Insiders (e.g., lawyer contacts)
• Complementary services
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Organized Tracking System
▪ Contact resource management (CRM):
• What to include
• Frequent contact
• Consistent contact
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Steps to Building Trust
▪ Project confidence and a positive attitude.
▪ Make eye contact.
▪ Smile with authenticity.
▪ Maintain eye contact.
▪ Synchronize with the person—assume their
body language and key words or phrases.
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How to Be Effective in Building a Network
▪ Develop an organized
approach.
▪ Have a defined plan.
▪ Set goals.
▪ Develop a plan, work
the plan, and plan to
work.
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Leveraging Relationships
▪ Invest in the relationship.
• Be a resource for questions.
• Mentor or coach.
• Introduce to others who might be potential clients.
• Introduce to media contacts.
• Provide tips on media interviews or article
publication.
• Recommend someone to the media as a resource
for possible quotes.
• Recommend someone as a speaker or panelist.
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The Invitation
▪ Add to contacts list.
▪ Do a background
search.
▪ Find someone who
knows the attorney.
▪ Make a connection;
ask for personal
referral.
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Follow-Up Is Key
▪ After the first meeting:
• Put new contact information into contact database.
• Send a note—not an email.
▪ Thereafter:
• Find ways to refer work or strategic partners to key
contacts.
• Monitor referral sources. If the referral is from a
previous contact, be sure to thank them, take them to
lunch, write a note, etc.
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The Meeting
▪ Send a thank you and meeting confirmation.
▪ Obtain initial documents (e.g., complaint).
▪ Run a conflict check.
▪ Be prepared—based on complaint, how would
the examiner manage the case?
• Documents
• Interviews
• Claims and strategies
• Potential problems
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Out of Sight, Out of Mind
▪ It’s not a “one-and-done” proposition.
▪ Do not miss the chance to physically
advertise—get out of the office.
▪ Never get “too busy” for public relations and
networking.
▪ Find different ways to connect—everyone is
different.
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Other Networking Tips
▪ Continue training in marketing and PR.
▪ Attend seminars and workshops.
• American Marketing Association
• Association of Accounting Marketers
• Legal Marketing Association