How traditional
marketing of Accounting services has been rendered inefficient
Times change.
While Accounting technology, application, rulings and methods
have constantly evolved with the change of times, the principles
of traditional marketing of Accounting services have remained
the same for decades.
New applications
of the traditional marketing principle are constantly being evolved.
Many of these are very innovative indeed.
But it is the
BASIC PRINCIPLE of traditional marketing that the change of times
has rendered inefficient and nonfunctional.
That basic
principle of traditional marketing is OFFERING SERVICES FOR SALE.
This principle
derives from the middle of last century. After the war, there
was a scarcity about everything. Informing that you HAD something
to sell was often all it took to get clients.
Once products
were abundantly available, pricing became the main message. After
that, the quality. After that... nothing new.
Since then,
we've had all kinds of utterly clever employments of the traditional
marketing approach. In fact, entire industries have been born
just to develop new tricks and messages of the traditional marketing
approach.
Unfortunately,
it doesn't really matter how innovative
these applications are. They still won't work well. No matter
how interesting or clever they sound they won't bring you RESULTS
in a profitable way.
In fact, the
lifespan of those applications has become very short. Today,
it is widely accepted that any approach, any message, any company
image "wears out" within a very short period of time.
An image may only last six months. An ad campaign only six weeks.
Fifty years
ago, a marketing strategy and message would last for several
years. It worked and kept on bringing results.
But not so
today.
Once the trick
is known, it loses its effect
It's no use
trying to hide the intention to sell. That is precisely the thing
that gives away ANY traditional marketing approach and renders
it ineffective.
There's
just too much of the traditional type of marketing push.
Your average
business owner is hit by hundreds of innovative messages doing
their best to override his own power of choice, to TELL HIM what
he should do.
All those cleverly
planned attempts to manipulate his decision are met with ever
increasing disapproval. Let's face it. It's just TOO obvious
what every vendor wants from you, isn't it?
What do all
these cleverly worded messages attempt to hammer into your mind?
"Just
sign here and everything will be OK..."
"Trust
me, I'm the best there is..."
"If
you don't want to be considered stupid, you should think this
way..."
...and so on.
See the common
denominator? It is always, always and always TELLING THE CLIENT
WHAT HE SHOULD THINK AND DO.
DECADES of
this, hundreds of times EVERY DAY. TV, radio, direct mailing,
newspapers, flyers, magazines, visits to retail outlets, salesmen,
(and nowadays, also the Internet and your e-mail)...
How is this
NOT going to turn every person off traditional marketing? How
is it NOT going to create an instant rejection mechanism that
just makes you want to get RID of whatever it is?
And above all
- how could it produce RESULTS in any meaningful ratio?
For decades,
we've been subjected to this sales-oriented marketing. Can you
imagine how good we've become to smell a rat in ANY approach?
One whiff of
that "you need this and you'd be silly not to take it"
-type of message and we know what it is all about. The thing
to do is to get rid of it and fast.
If it's a passive
form of approach - a letter, an ad... something that doesn't
talk back - we just IGNORE it within 0.3 seconds.
If the contact
is human, we have other means of handling it. Sometimes we just
let the person have a piece of our mind - especially those that
really rub us the wrong way - and close the phone.
But more often
than not, we let the person speak for a while - without ANY intention
of listening in on what he actually SAYS - and then get rid of
him in a polite way.
When offered
Accounting services the traditional way, business owners use
all kinds of polite methods to get rid of you.
"We
are fully satisfied with our current Accounting firm" is one. Only... survey
shows the majority aren't satisfied!
"We're
not currently planning to change Accountants" is another. Only...
more than 50% ARE.
"It
isn't possible to change right now, call me next year..." is one more common
explanation. But... by survey, we know that business owners think
ANY time is fine to change Accountants!
It's always
LATER, some other time... anything but NOW.
See, they know
all the tricks and they don't LIKE the traditional approach.
And in marketing, what the target group thinks is ALL that counts.
So, does the traditional marketing approach work if you "spice"
it up with new, clever concepts and wordings?
No? And right
you are. Only... it is the principle of TRADITIONAL marketing
techniques that is the culprit, not the applications of it. It's
not YOU that's at fault but the PRINCIPLE of the system that
you apply in marketing.
And, by the
way, just because it doesn't produce DESIRED results, don't think
it doesn't do ANYTHING.
For it does
- and you're not going to like it!
What traditional
marketing approach has done for you
The main problem
caused by traditional marketing principles is that the money
you invest in marketing doesn't bring results with any certainty.
You're paying
for services, such as design, postage, printing, ad space in
a media - and none of this guarantees you new clients.
Traditional
marketing always tries to SELF assert superiority. If you use
the principles of traditional marketing, you cannot but say "I'm
the best" in one way or another.
Go ahead, check
out any message of an Accounting firm and you'll find those self-asserted
superlatives there. Sometimes they're hidden well... but the
problem is there's no way to hide it.
It's the approach
that gives you away.
Thus, those
artful presentations designed to create TRUST and INTEREST end
up causing a totally opposite image than intended.
And that's
where the traditional marketing approach "betrays"
you, rendering perfectly viable and competitive service concepts
apparently inefficient and undesirable.
You've seen
how it seems like almost NOBODY is interested in Accounting services.
Yet, it's not the truth.
It isn't you.
I've yet to
see an Accounting Professional that doesn't have some great service
and marketing ideas. The fact that you're READING this already
puts you in the top five percentiles of your industry - the 5
percent that are still trying to FIND a way to get those ideas
and concepts understood and wanted.
The culprit
of this story is the basic principle of traditional marketing.
It's the traditional
marketing that appears to drain out all the desirability and
value out of your hard work and good ideas.
It is the traditional
means of marketing that make it APPEAR like no one is interested,
nobody cares... well, you know what I mean.
That's why
it appears as if marketing doesn't WORK at all. That's why it
is apparently impossible to actively find potential clients with
reasonable cost and style.
And that's
the reason why the vast majority of Accounting Professionals
KNOW marketing is a waste of money!
See - you try
it over and over again and don't get the response and results
you expect... and somewhere along the line, you're bound to get
somewhat... eh, well, SCEPTICAL, right?
I mean, it's
a FACT that marketing doesn't work, isn't it?
Or - is
it?
Well, if you
survey Accounting Professionals in public practice, then about
95 percent firmly believe that any investment in marketing has
no direct influence on the number of new prospects or clients
that the firm obtains.
The same number
also believe that it is impossible to influence the number of
new clients ACTIVELY at all. Additionally, we don't even believe
that any investment in marketing could really be returned at
all, let alone in any reasonable schedule.
Well, what
is that if not "marketing doesn't work?"
And that's
the worst part of it - because anyone who believes it's impossible
to actively influence the future of his own firm, won't bother
even to try, see?
Why would he?
Time and time again he has tried and not received results, so
why throw good money after bad?
But that's
the wrong lesson to learn. For it isn't YOUR service, YOUR ideas,
YOUR concepts that are at fault. It is the principle of traditional
marketing that sucks the life force out of them!
The traditional
marketing doctrine has been formed by those who make lots of
money creating INDIVIDUAL CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS for Accounting firms
and other companies.
Obviously,
they'll want you to believe it works. And - when it invariably
doesn't - they want you to believe that it takes a bit of LUCK
to hit just the right button... and THEN it'll work.
Only it won't.
The principle of traditional marketing is DEAD - it has long
since reached its apex and it's five to midnight for it.
If it continues
- where's it going to lead?
Let's take
a moment to reflect on what this would bring if it continues.
Let's say you're still marketing with traditional methods and
believe you'll hit gold one day.
How much is
it going to cost during the next five to ten years? How much
COULD you earn during those years, if you had a MODERN marketing
approach that actually WORKS?
What if this
just continues year after year? How will it affect your motivation,
your retirement plans, your personal life?
Improvement
requires a small change
Amazingly,
it doesn't take much to change your future prospects in regards
to our marketing success.
All you need
is to adopt the MODERN principles of Accountancy marketing
into your thinking, get the tools that are for TODAY and not
based on what was effective some 50-odd years ago.
Instead of
selling, you consult. Instead of telling the business owner what
he should think or do, you consult HIS opinion of it in a way
that allows HIM to realise it on his own.
Instead of
asserting to the prospect your own good qualities, you ask him
to tell you what HE thinks constitutes a great Accounting service.
You work with the willingness and understanding of the potential
client, not against it.
It's not only
incessantly more effective than traditional marketing. It is
also so much more comfortable as it requires practically no selling
and allows you to remain in the role you're most confident in
- that of an Accounting Professional.
And it will
also deliver you a permanent freedom from EVER having to use
anyone else's services in obtaining new clients at the rate you
wish!
Modern Accountancy
marketing technology is currently used by hundreds of smaller
practices with a high success ratio. It is available for you.
If you're interested in an introductory telephone consultation,
click
here to read about this possibility.
We also deliver
theme seminars on various subjects of accountancy practice management.
Click
here to view the introduction of our most popular theme seminars.
OR
CLICK HERE to read the introduction of the Modern Accountancy
Marketing & Sales System Course.
Best wishes
Harry Kafka
HDK
Consultants Ltd
32 Manning Close
Richmond Square
East Grinstead
West Sussex RH19 2DR
United Kingdom
Tel. (01342) 328 116
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