Here are some simple, cost-free steps you can take to transform your approach to marketing your accounting firm.

Don't let your firm get lost in the marketplace.

Quick Background. Accounting firms operate in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Gone are the days when ‘marketing’ meant a plaque on the door and perhaps a Yellow Pages ad. Now even small sole practitioners are setting up organized marketing campaigns, and extravagant CPA website design is a virtual requirement for success.

Here’s the top ten cost free steps you can take right now to improve marketing your firm:

1. Monitor your referral sources and organize your leads.
   If you keep track of where your best business comes from you know how to invest your time in the future. Organize your referral contacts. Assign each a priority, high, medium, and low, then formulate a communications strategy for each group.
2. Never assume your clients are happy.
   Delighted clients are your most important source of referrals. Survey your client base to identify those who are merely ’satisfied,’ then look for opportunities to convert them into fans. While you are at it, review everything your client sees, hears or touches. Is your reception area nice? How about your receptionist? When a client calls, are they likely to get a real person or do you make everyone wade through your voice-mail? Are letters well-written and easy to read? Are your staff skilled communicators?
3. Get to know your clients vendors and professional service providers.
   These referral sources very likely don’t know you and your firm, but they should. By getting to know your clients vendors and service providers you establish a referral source, cement client relations, and enhance your image and reputation.
4. Focus on your client’s profits (not your own).
   The best way to win the network marketing game is to be the best at what you do and doing it. Nobody is going to refer you if they feel gouged. There is a limit to the demand for tax return preparation, services and audits. There is also, however, an unlimited demand for accountants and consultants who can help clients improve net profits! If you are still focusing on increasing your chargeable hours, charge rates, or net fees, it’s time to reorient your thinking. It’s not about increasing your billable hours, it’s about increasing your services to the clients!
5. Develop a marketing plan.
   Most partners and managers have only 100-300 hours a year to devote to marketing. Why not organize this time the same way you would a 300-hour client engagement? Focus on your desired outcomes, actions, steps, money, time, and a budget.
6. Talk about Value, not Fees!
   When meeting prospects, focus on the value you offer, and on what makes you different from (and better than) your competitors. If the client agrees to the service, and if your terms are fair, you can assume the close. Fee terms should seem like an afterthought to the client.
7. Get to know your clients’ team.
   Before the tax season starts, meet the financial teams of your ten best clients. These are valuable contacts. Build a great team for your client and you will build a great team for yourself too.
8. Don’t hibernate the tax season away.
   Clients are never more interested in help with their business than when confronted with last year’s financial results and this year’s tax liability. Plan now to cross-sell to every client you meet during the season. Capitalize on this effort. Use press releases, articles, and mailings.
9. Learn to ask better questions and listen to the answers.
   Asking the right questions is the foundation of being an effective adviser.  The client doesn’t know what he needs, he only knows what he wants. Listen between the lines. You are remiss in your duty as an accountant if you can’t sell a client on a service he really needs. Identify what your clients’ needs are and use what you know to help your them meet those needs. Ultimately this will benefit both you and your client.
10. Tomorrow is more important than yesterday.
    Your clients are more worried about today and tomorrow than they are about yesterday (which is the traditional province of the accountant). You can really help most of your clients by helping them use financial statements as a cornerstone for making better business decisions.

Clients and referrals can offer remarkable results growing and maintaining a winning business – and you can do all of it for less than the cost of a plaque and a Yellow Pages ad.

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