Market your Practice on a Shoestring
The most common concern raised with us by the owners of accountant practices is the growing difficulty of finding new clients.
One says, “as my clients retire and close down, I’m not getting replacements” Another says, “new businesses aren’t appointing accountants, they are joining start up clubs which tell them to buy software instead”. And a third complains “I used to get referrals every week now it’s monthly”
As we discuss potential solutions, we hear objections like “I’m not comfortable with selling; I wouldn’t know where to begin with marketing; I tried a telesales outfit at great cost; we’re on social media but it isn’t bringing worthwhile enquiries; we used to do newsletters, but it was too much work; I joined all the networking clubs but I kept meeting other accountants; I paid for a new website but it has no visitors”
So, there is a big desire amongst accountants to market their practices to gain good new clients but disillusion with the classic marketing processes and the consultants who offer them.
It’s natural to look for magic bullets in this online world of instant solutions, but marketing does not lend itself to that.
Let’s start by asking Wikipedia to explain what marketing is:
‘activities a company undertakes to promote the … selling of a product or service. In 2017, The New York Times described it as "the art of telling stories so enthralling that people lose track of their wallets.’
When I started my own consultancy practice in 1988, I thought I knew all about marketing because I’d been a director of a corporate, making decisions to spend £millions on ad agencies, PR consultants, designers, exhibition organisers, sales campaigns, etc.
But suddenly I didn’t have those budgets. I had a small cash reserve and not enough time on my side to try everything. So which method to choose became a life and death decision because I could only afford one channel and one message, so it better had be the right one. I was also selling something I’d never sold before, ‘business consultancy’
Mercifully, I was introduced early on to one of the very, very few good marketing consultants that I’ve ever met, and he said the following:
“Don’t spend any time or any money on anything that does not get you face to face with a decision maker who has a need for what you do and a budget to spend on it”
That became my touchstone and guided me to decisions that led directly to £millions of work and building the UK’s biggest small business consultancy practice.
So how does that experience translate into a straightforward practice marketing strategy for an accountant?
These were my key experiences and lessons:
Research. Find out who your market is and what it wants
Competition. Find out who they are, what they sell, to whom and how
Prospects. Ask them frankly why they didn’t buy from you
Clients. Ask them what more you can do for them
Past clients. Ask them why they left and what would have stopped them
Targeting. Aim directly and only at the people you want as clients and introducers
Channels. Only use those that contain your ideal prospects
Publish. Be a thought leader giving away interesting information
Build long term relationships. Be patient and they will reward you
Solve problems. Be generous with advice – but not all of it
Keep going. It takes a year for any marketing method to get traction
Listen. 2 ears and one mouth will give you a lot of information to your advantage
These 12 features are in all that we do, turning accountants into professional marketers leading us to 3 start points:
For those who wish to master for themselves the arts of marketing a professional practice.
Practical experiences turned into 9 online modules taught by role play and through practice with real businesses.
Building confidence in accountants to do something that doesn’t come naturally, ie the understanding that good marketing is something that business owners actually welcome and that selling is only a dirty word when done badly.
A complete package of all the resources, tools and systems needed to market a professional practice without having to do the legwork to create them.
And a worked-out detailed plan to implement, saving accountant time spent in learning curves, for faster results.
Outsourcing implementation of the practice marketing plan. Permanent or temporary until flying, then handed over with training.
Fine, but that sounds like lots of money. Can these 12 lessons actually be applied without outside help?
Yes, because any business-experienced accountant has the brain power and will learn by doing. As Chairman Mao said “25000-mile march starts with first step” so get researching!
And remember, the best marketing will always be free. Be suspicious if it isn’t.
By Duncan Collins
Founder & CEO of Runagood.com Ltd