Practical experience
of marketing Accounting services
Marketing of
Accounting services is a PRACTICAL SKILL not unlike using a computer.
Theory does play a part - but the end result should be that YOU
get an ability to obtain new clients independently and whenever
you want, right?
It SHOULD be
much the same as using a computer, albeit a bit more time-consuming
- system for practical use in producing expected results.
You have the
TOOLS (computer, software), a TUTORIAL (how to get started),
the MANUAL (how to get most out of the computer and software),
a MONITORING SYSTEM (computer TELLS you what's wrong if anything
IS wrong) and a TROUBLESHOOTING tool (to try solving the simpler
problems on your own), all backed up with SUPPORT in form of
a living, experienced people who KNOW the system.
It should be
that way with marketing systems, too. But, for some reason, it
isn't so.
You wouldn't
buy a computer created and built by someone who's never USED
one. You wouldn't even consider purchasing software created by
someone who has never USED it for the purpose it was designed
for, right?
And you probably
would not buy a computer package that had absolutely NO software
in it - no TOOLS with which it can be USED in real life for the
purpose you bought it for, obviously.
Then why is
it that we CONTINUOUSLY invest in manuals, seminars, consulting,
memberships and whatnots of marketing created by people who have
NEVER actually personally DONE what they preach?
We buy solutions
from people who've never personally solved the problem we have - never gone out there
to GET potential clients for Accounting firms, never consulted
Accounting Professionals until they successfully CLOSE most prospects
onto their services...
And yet, we
expect these solutions to work. But... how could they?
If that solution
doesn't have ACTUAL (and adequate) experience of all those THOUSANDS
of problems that arise once you DO go out there and get your
hands dirty in prospecting, marketing, presentation and selling...
if that solution gives us NO TOOLS to START USING the system
and GET the expected results UNIFORMLY... why do we buy into
that?
Well, there's
a simple answer to this.
See - most
of those selling marketing solutions to Accounting Professionals
aren't really selling SOLUTIONS as such.
They're selling
INFORMATION, whose SUBJECT is "how to get more clients."
In other words,
you're not getting the HOW of it as the item of sale but,
in its stead, INFORMATION about that subject.
You are certainly
justified in assuming that "information on the subject of
obtaining clients" would, indeed, include the precise instructions
and tools to GET new clients.
But, by definition,
it does not HAVE to include it. It only has to include INFORMATION
about it!
It's a subtle
but oh-so-important difference, isn't?
That's the
difference that makes it so hard to start using what you've
bought.
Naturally,
if it doesn't lend itself to utilisation - there's no simple
way to just START using it - there's no way to get
results.
Those selling
INFORMATION do not HAVE to have personal, hands-on experience
of doing what they talk about. It's the basic difference of TALKING
and DOING.
One can TALK
about some activity, have interesting views and opinions, work
hard to study it and come up with new theories. Once can create
an entertaining INFORMATION package that will fascinate the recipient.
But it doesn't
necessitate actually personally engaging in the activity itself
- there's no need to DO what one teaches others to do.
It is so simply
because we LET it be so. We have ACCEPTED this.
We never
ASK whether or not the source of the information has actually
personally DONE IT himself.
Here's the
thing: If the guy hasn't himself DONE it, fought through the
MULTITUDE of problems and wrong assumptions any marketing strategy
WILL encounter once put to a real-life test... then there won't
be any clear-cut, tested, and easy-and-ready-to-use TOOLS given
for effecting the goal of actually GETTING NEW CLIENTS.
What you buy
and get is INFORMATION about it.
You buy information
about getting new clients. But do you also get the blueprint
of a tested, proven, successful and easy-to-use SYSTEM of obtaining
new clients? Do you get the TOOLS that will allow you to simply
START the activity itself without any further delay?
Don't get me
wrong. There's nothing WRONG with buying and selling information.
I sell information too. All in all, there are lots of GREAT information
products offered to Accounting Professionals in public practice.
It is perfectly
all right to get information for its own sake. That's what keeping
abreast with development is all about. There's much value in
UNDERSTANDING and KNOWING - it doesn't necessitate DOING something.
I'm merely
pointing out that INFORMATION on the subject of "how to
get new clients" won't, per se, guarantee you will be able
to GET new clients with that information.
If you WANT
to get new clients, then you should make sure there's a proven
system for that included.
Unless it gives
the TOOLS and tested, proven SYSTEMS that any Accounting Professional
can start using successfully without prior experience... well,
then you're simply buying INFORMATION.
You get the
idea.
Has the Accounting
service marketing system been developed from practical experience
in USING it?
In choosing
a marketing system for your Accounting firm, there is no better
test than finding out whether or not the system has actually
even been USED by those who sell it.
You'd be surprised
how many systems haven't actually been USED AT ALL by their creator!
In other words,
a marketing system has been created totally as theoretic exercise.
There's no
period of usage, testing or piloting. The system isn't
used in Accounting firms as a pilot under scrutiny with upcoming
problems solved and system adjusted until it works universally
and consistently...
No. From a
creative mind onto the paper - and then just SOLD!
But... shouldn't
we, the providers of marketing systems, practice what we preach?
Shouldn't we
USE our own system to ensure it WORKS before we start SELLING
it to Accounting Professionals who then invest combined MILLIONS
in using our system?
Are YOU being
used as a guinea pig?
Well, put like
that, it does sound a bit... exotic, doesn't it?
Assumption is
the mother of all failures
Now, when I
and my team started to create a service for marketing Accounting
services back in 1997, I had LOTS of great ideas on how to get
a constant flow of prospects to Accounting firms and get these
signed onto services with a high success ratio.
But when I
put these to TEST, most of the great ideas were proved WRONG.
Well, not TOTALLY
wrong, mind you. ANY marketing idea will get SOME results if
used persistently enough.
Thus, anything
CAN be proven "to work" by clinical test of "does
using it produce more results than not using it?"
But if you
set a definite DEMANDED MINIMUM SUCCESS RATIO and COST-EFFICIENCY
as factors defining what is successful, you get
into deep trouble proving theoretical ideas successful.
See - as long
as the "ANY result proves it works" is
used, any marketing system can be proven to produce results.
But as soon
as you enter minimum demands for its performance... well,
it becomes a different ball game altogether.
Here's what
we used as our minimum required results ratio to qualify ANY
part of the marketing system as successful:
10 percent of business
owners reached interested into continuing to hear more about
the promoted Accounting service.
(That's right
- a 10% success ratio on obtaining potential clients!)
30 percent success ratio
on signing potential clients onto the promoted Accounting service.
Now, these
numbers might not seem like much.
But if USING
one's own system AND these qualification criteria were enforced
as a prerequisite for offering a marketing system...
There wouldn't
be very many marketing systems offered to Accounting Professionals
in public practice!
Obviously,
it might well be within your interests to find out whether or
not the marketing system offered to you has been USED by its
creator - and what kind of results they obtained.
Just like you'd
want to know the fuel consumption and cost of a motor car before
buying, it might be wise to get the "test results"
on the marketing system you're contemplating.
Criteria of
practical use - does it lend itself to utilisation?
As if the above
minimum success ratios wouldn't be hard enough, we set yet additional
criteria for our Accounting service marketing system:
To be easy
to use, the system had to be set into TOOLS that already
HAD the sales techniques incorporated into them so that the person
USING the system does not need to be trained in marketing &
sales techniques.
To be USED
AT ALL, the system had to allow the Accounting Professional to
REMAIN in his consulting role and not have to become a salesman,
not have to use a single superlative about himself or get into
embarrassing situations with self-aggrandising claims.
To lend itself
to CONTINUOUS use, the system had to have a very short
return-of-investment factor AND it had to be inexpensive to use.
That way, the
smallest Accounting practice could continuously maintain a prospecting
activity, GET a steady flow of potential clients and SUCCEED
in signing a good number of these on as new clients.
This led us
into a new set of practical problems.
The unidentifiable,
faceless nature of compliance services - why change Accountants?
In researching
the views and opinions of business owners, we found quite a few
amazing things. One of these was that, to the majority of business
owners, the concept of "Accounting service" was identical
to the most basic compliance services.
The reason
for using an Accounting firm, then, was simply to have them do
the monthly/annual accounts and file taxes.
Additionally,
there were payroll and verification of VAT calculations.
And that was
all. Nothing else came up.
Now - how could
that BE? What, with all that advertising for all those advanced
consulting services that Accounting firms offer?
What is
this? After all, there's an ABUNDANCE of additional services
relying on the BIGGEST ASSET of Accounting Professionals - their
high expertise on matters of finance and business management!
Well, we just
HAD to find out about this. And further research revealed the
reason:
Business
owners didn't understand the BASICS of their own Accounting.
In fact,
most of them don't even KNOW there was something to be understood!
Books are kept
and taxes are filed simply because it is MANDATORY. The Accounting
firm does it FOR them.
So, if they
already HAVE an Accounting firm that takes care of these things...
why would they want to CHANGE Accounting firms - unless they
HAD to do so?
Changing Accounting
firms was something many had experienced once or twice. It was
only done out of necessity - and it was risky, expensive, time-consuming
and unpleasant.
Plenty of
disadvantages but NO BENEFITS whatsoever!
Can you see
how they could reach such a conclusion?
It would follow
that, not understanding the basics of finances, they're not really
interested in buying ADVANCED services. It is simply too high
a gradient for them - you don't try to run before you can walk.
Thus, we found
out that, to have a HOPE of getting business owners to CHANGE
Accounting firms (and in order to reach our own set criteria
for success ratios in the marketing system) we had to find a
BASIC Accounting service that WOULD interest the majority of
business owners!
So, it was
back to the drawing board again.
Then came an
idea:
If business
owners don't understand the BASICS of Accounting, if they
don't know how to USE the information produced by their
Accountant... how about creating a REALLY simple service that
consisted of EXPLAINING these things to them on monthly
basis?
Nothing extra
to what they're being delivered as such - just a very thorough
system of ensuring the client UNDERSTANDS what the key figures
of his accounts signify... just making sure he HAS that timely
information as a basis of his decisions, explained by the Accountant
in layman terms once a month.
So, back to
surveying the target audience. We asked how valuable they'd consider
a service that would do just that.
BINGO. Jackpot! An OVERWHELMING response
- it would be VERY VALUABLE.
We also asked
whether or not they HAD such a service or had heard of it being
available in their area.
Guess how many
said they had even HEARD of this type of service?
None. Not a
single one. ZERO PERCENT.
Well now. Could
it BE that if we would BUILD such a service together with Accounting
Professionals, ensure it works and can be used by ANY Accounting
Professional... and then created a way to communicate this service
concept to the target group... and present it in a very special
way utilising THEIR own goals for their business activity...
But...
would it work?
Two years later
we knew that it WORKS!
Today, this
service and approach are available within the Modern Accountancy Marketing
& Sales Course.
And that's
the order of magnitude in PRACTICAL application - doing it a
thousand times over until it WORKS - is what you should look
for in the marketing system you choose.
Obtaining new
clients for your Accounting firm is a PRACTICAL SKILL
To get new
clients for your Accounting firm, the marketing system you choose
has to be planned for USE.
Obtaining new
clients is an ACTIVITY that requires precise TESTED AND PROVEN
TOOLS - a whole system, really - with step-by-step instructions
of use and a way to MONITOR the results... and CORRECT any problems
you may run into.
All I'm saying
is this: Information products can be very enlightening and interesting
- and yet not have ANY TOOL TO USE AT ALL.
Information
products pack a very different punch when it comes to the category
of "how well does this avail itself for practical application
- how likely is it that I can actually put this to USE and GET
RESULTS?"
So make sure
the one you choose HAS been used extensively before it was published
for wide distribution. If that's the case, it will INCLUDE those
successful actions and tools documented for your use.
If in doubt,
why not utilise
our current offer on a special telephone consultation for the
accountancy practitioner / principal partner of an accounting
firm...
that's a way to clarify the issue.
Or, take a
look at a system that definitely INCLUDES the precise tools you
need to START the activity of getting new clients and MAINTAIN
it successfully - CLICK HERE to see the presentation of the
Modern Accountancy Marketing & Sales 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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E-mail: info@accountancymarketing.co.uk |