Marketing Today and tomorrow

How do you generate leads? Larger firms often have the advantage of budgets that include line items for advertising, direct mail and exposure through sponsorships – to name a few tried and true tactics. But if you are in a small or mid-size firm, you may not have the resources for these types of costly strategies. Your leads come from many sources, but word-of-mouth referrals generally lead the list. It takes effort and commitment to build the relationships that continually produce quality leads for your firm.

Every time I attend a marketing conference and the subject turns to business development (also known as ‘sales’) the same words of advice are always repeated: Listen, listen, listen. If that is what the experts tell us to do, why is it so hard to master this skill? We just love to walk into a meeting with a prospect and start talking. We talk about our firm, our history, our professionals, our culture, our distinctive benefits, and our wide range of services. But since we have not listened much yet, we don’t even know what the client’s challenges are, and we are looking for solutions!

Summer brings good weather and the chance for some casual, fun entertaining. A CPA I know invites the firm’s “A” and “B” clients to his home every summer for an old fashioned backyard barbeque. Business owners across a wide range of industries have the chance to mix and mingle (and network!) while spouses get a chance to meet each other too. The event has taken on momentum over the years and an invitation is much sought after! You could do the same type of thing and include referral sources and staff as well.

In “Making Lead Generation Work for Professional Service Firms,” Mike Schultz notes that for the accounting profession, the survey results say that 57% of clients are ready to switch firms. This is a low number when compared to the 88% of architect, engineering and construction clients ready to make a move or the 69% of law firm clients who would change firms at any time.

A good friend of mine, Mike Swaim, recently retired as managing partner of his CPA firm in South Carolina. But before he left the firm he shared a great marketing tip with me that works well in his community. He “drops in” (unannounced) on some of his firm’s best clients periodically, just to say hello. If the owner is in the midst of preparing to run an errand – such as heading over to the bank, or to pick up new parts, or to stop at a customers’ site - Mike will ride along.