When choosing
a marketing & sales system for your Accounting firm: Emphasis
on practical usability
 When
considering to start marketing your Accounting services, go for
a practical system as opposed to an idea-awakening theoretical
one.
Obtaining new
clients is a practical activity, not theory.
Client acquisition
is comparable to any physical task in that there's a goal
you want to reach (a steady flow of new clients at a pace over
which you can exert a reasonable amount of control) and certain
things need to be done to achieve that goal.
And, just like
in any more involved physical task, you need suitable TOOLS
in order to do the job properly.
Let's do a
comparison between the tasks of starting a permanent flow of
new clients for your firm and the task of drilling a hole in
your bathroom wall tile so you can install a shower.
1. Plan, blueprint
There are certain
basic rules to every activity. These are formed out of experiences
others before you have had in performing that task.
When drilling
a hole on a tile, you need to know that wall tiles are hard but
brittle. Therefore, you need to plan well so you start drilling
in the right place... and you need to use gentle pressure, very
low revolutions and a metal bit in your drill.
When setting
up a system to obtain new clients, there's more planning to be
done. That's because the task of "acquiring new clients"
involves several separate tasks — it's not just one big
job but a set of many smaller sequential actions.
To have a chance
of obtaining new clients, one must first create a flow of
POTENTIAL clients.
To start getting
a constant stream of potential clients, one must devise a plan
on how to INTEREST business owners to consider changing Accountants.
And to interest
them you need a service that's BETTER — well, perceived
as positively different by business owners — and a message
that CONVEYS the understanding about this effectively with
one sheet of paper or one short telemarketing interview (or web
site articles or whatever vehicle you plan for sending the message
to business owners).
The next step
is to have a way of handling the prospects you now receive.
For this, a well-planned system is required so that potential
clients' interest is heightened and they get to make small positive
decisions all along the way. (The big decision is, after all,
but an aggregate of many small positive decisions, right?)
You want them
interested, you want them wanting your service and you want to
get them where they're really enthusiastic about the positive
effects of your service to their business.
Next, you need
a way to get closure, get a good number of these prospects to
sign onto your services.
It's more involved
than drilling a hole... but the principle of dividing the task
into doable portions and having a strategy for each is just the
same.
2. Tools
There's no
way to drill a hole without the drill, is there?
In this example,
it's obvious. Imagine going to your local DIY-store, purchasing
what YOU think is a complete "how to drill holes -kit"
and, at home, finding that the package contains things like...
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a motivational
video giving you a pep talk on how you should drill holes and
how you're really up to it if only you trust yourself... |
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a book on physics
& chemistry, explaining the scientific details of what happens
when you drill a hole, both in terms of physical particle flow
and chemical reactions... |
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an audio cassette
on the history of drilling and holes, complete with hundreds
of statistics on issues like the average time it takes to drill
a hole, the success ratio of hole-drilling and so on... |
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a manual on interesting
new theories and ideas of how holes possibly MIGHT be drilled
or how the author THINKS they could be drilled a century from
now, added with some hazy instructions on how you might build
a drilling machine and bits... |
...BUT
NO DRILLING MACHINE AND NO DRILL BITS!
Obviously,
you would march right back to the store and give them a piece
of your mind! You would demand to get the TOOL with which holes
are drilled and you would tell them what you think about their
ideas on giving a thousand pages of information you absolutely
don't need for drilling a hole.
You would probably
think them silly for offering such theoretical and useless nonsense
in place of the tools needed to drill the hole.
You would simply
refuse to accept such absurdity as a SOLUTION to drilling a hole.
So, why
should you accept it in connection with the practical task of
OBTAINING NEW CLIENTS?
Albeit more
involved and complex a subject, client acquisition is nonetheless
a PRACTICAL action. To get clients you must DO things that CAUSE
the flow of new clients. Client acquisition is a performance
of correct consecutive actions just like drilling the hole.
And, just like
with any practical task, you don't do much with theoretical nonsense.
You need
THE TOOLS of the trade to get new clients.
Tools, such
as...
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research data on the wishes, needs,
views, dislikes and problems of intended clients — business
owners — so you know how they think and can adjust your
own actions and messages to ALIGN with theirs |
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a special BASIC
service
whose highlighted special aspects correspond EXACTLY with what
the majority of business owners WANT from Accounting services
(but what they aren't getting from their current Accountant) |
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ready-made
direct mailing letters with a message that creates interest and communicates
the benefits of your services to business owners so you can get
prospective clients |
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ready telemarketing
system
with which you can start almost anyone to begin obtaining you
preselected prospective clients at a cost of only £20-30
per prospect, complete with the worlds most successful survey-approach
speech that's been used to obtain more than 10,000 sales leads
for Accounting firms |
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ready-to-use
interview form
to handle the prospects you receive so their interest is further
increased and they can see how YOUR tailored approach is by far
better than what they currently receive from their Accountant |
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presentation
system to highlight the benefits of your service without EVER having
to use superlatives and yet the CLIENT will form a highly favourable
opinion about you all on his own |
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ready-to-use
quote form and closing tools that allow you to remain comfortably
in the role of an Accounting professional and still get a high
closing ratio without having to become a salesman |
...and so on.
Trust me, you
don't want to reinvent the wheel and start creating a system
out of mere theories. Demand to get the TOOLS with which you
can do what is required so as to get the result you want.
Anything short
of that is just not going to work.
3. Experience
Why do people
get professionals to do something for them? Of course, it's because
most involved tasks require experience and skill to be performed
successfully.
Now, drilling
a hole in a tiled bathroom wall can go wrong. While it's not
a complicated task, many prefer to get a professional to do it
regardless. After all, if you've no experience in drilling tiles,
chances are that you'll crack it.
Once you've
drilled one hole to a wall tile you'll know how to do it.
Unfortunately,
the tasks of marketing and selling Accounting services are much
more extensive than drilling a hole.
And, unless
you're a hard-nosed marketing & sales professional weathered
in successfully obtaining hundreds of Accounting clients, you
don't have the experience needed to establish a PERMANENT flow
of new clients.
Here, the only
valuable form of experience is the history of USAGE of an existing
system.
With this I
don't mean opinions of your colleagues but experience from running
many practices' client-acquisition and the know-how gained from
helping a wide range of Accounting professionals — each
with their own characteristics and personalities — THROUGH
TO SUCCESS in using the system and its tools until they GET new
clients continuously at a rate of their choosing.
I'm talking
about the recorded collective experiences gained by RUNNING
the system for several years with a sizeable number of practices.
ANY brand new
system will have lots of defects when it comes off the
drawing board. There are going to be missing bits, wrong assumptions,
faulty parts and what not... things that only extensive testing
and piloting in real-life circumstances will bring to light.
There's just
NO WAY anyone could invent a perfect marketing & sales system
that would produce expected results WITHOUT testing, piloting
and adjustments.
Since there
are about 100 smaller steps on the way leading an unknown business
owner to become a client of yours, no amount of expertise is
sufficient to create it inch-perfect without EXTENSIVE piloting
with dozens of practices for at least a couple of years.
See. It's just
not possible. Just like you can't build a new car without extensive
testing, you can't create a marketing & sales system on the
drawing board alone.
Multi-step
systems require each step to be performed in the right sequence.
Leave out one step or misplace it in the sequence and you get
no results.
And there's
no way to KNOW which steps are needed... you just have to test
and pilot through trial and error, locating each phase where
practitioners fail, finding the solution for that step, testing
it again to ensure that Accountants now get past it successfully...
and then do the same with the next step... and so on.
There's no
way to reach uniform success for users of a system without getting
into the nitty-gritty of practical testing and piloting.
And then there's
the application of the tools. Practitioners are people too and
subject to the same problems as any individuals. The best-laid
instructions can be confusing to the reader. Some concepts can
be so near something else they know previously that misunderstandings
can occur.
So the instructions
and the written format of the system ALSO have to undergo development.
It has to be clarified where confusing, explained where readers
don't have some basics of marketing or sales, piloted so that
the text itself conveys the concepts in an understandable, unpretentious
and respectful way so the system will be pleasant to learn and
use.
And then there's
support. If the publisher of the system has experience in USING
it (so that it's not just a theoretical piece, a set of great
but untested ideas put together on the drawing board only) then
he can and should also offer SUPPORT for those who buy the system.
In fact, if
they've really USED the system and tested it by a piloting project
with enough participants and over a sufficiently long period
of time, then there's no way they would NOT offer support. Having
a tested and proven system is by no means usual and it is such
a pivotal selling point that they would NOT "forget to mention
it..."
If the system
has been piloted then its support would come in two principal
ways.
These are...
TROUBLESHOOTING
TOOLS
and LIVE SUPPORT.
If the system
HAS been extensively used before the launch then there will be
lots of information on every possible PROBLEM that was met in
piloting and every SOLUTION that was found to resolve the problem
uniformly.
Obviously,
this information is critical to the success of every new user
of the system and there's no way it would be left out.
Therefore,
every tool in the system would not only have detailed instructions
of use but also be accompanied by a troubleshooting tool listing
every possible problem that Accounting professionals have come
across in using (and misusing) that specific tool — and,
obviously, the successful solution would also be described in
detail.
A successful
marketing & sales system is very easy and simple to use ONCE
you've gone through it the first time without straying off the
chartered course. You'll know that simply by the fact that you
GOT A CLIENT.
But such a
system can appear confusing and complicated UNTIL you reach that
stage.
You'll start
using it the first time and then, somewhere along the line (probably
in the first tool) something happens and you don't get the expected
result. Now the troubleshooting tool comes to play: You read
through it until you hit a question that shows WHERE you went
astray — which of those consecutive actions within that
one tool was where the problem occurred.
Next, you read
the remedy, correct that specific action and rehearse it a couple
of times... and then go back to using the tool. If you cross
the step where previously you erred, then you've successfully
chartered your way through it, right?
Next, you might
hit another point somewhere in the same tool or the next. Repeat
the successful action of using the troubleshooting tool... and
you've cleared the route again.
Now, it may
sound like a lot of work, and so it is, possibly, for a few days.
But here's
the thing: Once you've gone through the whole system this way,
YOU HAVE IT.
You've "graduated"
and can now use the system, obtaining the expected results with
a very high success ratio.
You're there.
Now, you just
USE the system, churning out more results, get clients whenever
you want and as many as you need... and for as long as you like.
The second
part of support requires that there's someone you can reach
who has used the system and can help you if the troubleshooting
tools do not solve your problem for whatever reason.
This way, the publisher takes factual responsibility over his
system and its usability. He puts his knowledge on the line to
guarantee solution to problems.
Compare that
to the all-too-usual empty politeness of some large operators...
you're told to read the manual or "visit our Frequently
Asked Questions page"... all maddeningly politely done but
without actually giving the SOLUTION to your problem...
I'm sure you
know what I'm talking about. All those telephone services where
you have to wait for hours and then are usually left with the
problem...
Experience
is vital and you'll do well to choose a system where it comes
INCLUDED. It will not only save you LOTS OF TIME but also ensure
that you CAN SUCCEED.
Another way
of acquiring experience can be securing knowledge. As an example,
why not see the presentation of our unique accountancy practice theme seminars to find another way
of gaining experience where its acquisition may appear difficult
or even impossible?
A practical,
hands-on marketing & sales system for Accounting firms
Learning to
acquire clients successfully is a practical skill just like any
other, such as redecorating a room or installing a new kitchen.
It's much easier
if you get the right materials, tools and someone experience
guiding you through the task. It's a multi-step goal in that
one needs to do several tasks one after another before you can
reach the expected and desired end result.
If you want
new clients, don't look for miracles but for a practical system
that has these steps, tools and instructions so you can perform
the actions required to achieve tangible results in form of new
clients.
You don't want
just a few new clients.
You want the
skill, tools and experience required to GET clients continuously
whenever you want and as many you want.
That, my friend,
will be the most valuable asset of your firm apart from your
own expertise!
And we can
offer you this solution. It's called Modern Accountancy Marketing
& Sales Course.
CLICK
HERE to read a presentation of Modern Accountancy Marketing &
Sales Course!
And if you feel your practice
and circumstances are totally unique, then perhaps you need a
totally unique solution... so click
here to read about our special intro consultation to accounting
firms.
Keep up the good work!
Best wishes
Harry Kafka
HDK
Consultants Ltd
32 Manning Close
Richmond Square
East Grinstead
West Sussex RH19 2DR
United Kingdom
Tel. (01342) 328 116
CONTACT
FORM
E-mail: info@accountancymarketing.co.uk |