Marketing Today and tomorrow

One of the concerns we all share is how to attract great clients and how to raise retention rates so that those "A" clients stay with us for a very long time. Over the years, many firms have grown a little lazy as clients have traditionally been reluctant to leave their CPAs. There is a strong loyalty, a sense of comfort and a general inertia that prevents (or delays) clients from making a change. But mergers between firms, retiring partners and the general economic slowdown is causing some busines owners to more closely examine their existing CPA relationships.

I accompanied a partner in a CPA firm about five years ago as he was entertaining one of his favorite clients over lunch. The first question the client asked was, “So, how are you doing these days?” To which the CPA quickly answered, “I am swamped. We are really having a great year – I am working crazy hours – harder than ever!”

A few years ago I was talking to the managing partner of a terrific CPA firm in the St. Louis area. He was asking for marketing advice. When I asked what he found to be most successful, he said, “whenever I am out of the office, something good always materializes. I might with a banker who provides a lead or I might be meeting with a client who needs additional services, but I never come back empty handed.” After spending most of the day together he asked me if I had any good ideas for him.

Small, medium and large firms all rely in good part on their website to tell their story. Through the site you have a convenient, cost effective platform to promote articles, events, research, invitations, and news as well as post your brochures and newsletters. BUT - what do you know about the visitors to your site? There are many free analytical tools that can help you gather data about your viewers, discovering where they spend time, how often they visit, and other metrics.

A few years ago a colleague of mine who is the Director of Marketing at a midwest CPA firm shared a great marketing and business development idea with me. In order to expand new business opportunities, his firm asked their existing clients for introductions to the clients' vendors and some of their customers as well. Since they were all in the same industry, it helped build the firm's presence in the niche and enabled them to develop some hot leads very quickly, as there was a strong connection between the prospect and their (very loyal) existing client.