Who’s Gonna Hire You?
Answer: Business owners. But what’s the best way to reach them?
by Rick Telberg
At Large
Ever wonder who makes the decision on which CPA firm to hire? When we asked whom CPAs think the decision-maker is, only one clown said, “Wife of owner rules.”
Just about everybody else figured the decision-maker is the owner herself. Or himself. About eight in 10 of respondents agreed on that.
Only seven percent thought the CFO makes the decision, while five percent said it’s the CEO.Board of directors: Two percent.
Major stakeholders: Two percent.
Key non-financial department heads: One percent.
Of course, it depends on the size of the client company. And these results track pretty closely with the demographics of the respondents in the Bay Street Group research.
We cross-checked these beliefs with answers to a question about marketing tactics, as in “Which do you plan to increase or launch in the next 12 months?” This gave us an answer to an unasked question — a question that CPA firms really should be asking: Is my marketing aiming at the right target?
Michael P. Sacco, of Sacco Associates Tax Consultants, Worcester, Mass., convinced he’s after the owners themselves, plans to launch or increase efforts to produce referrals and attend marketing events. Like 41 percent of responding CPAs, he’s going to reach out with a Web site.
Unlike 97 percent of his colleagues, however, he’s going to trot out a blog to increase his visibility. He’s also going to send around a newsletter and try a little print advertising.
With a multi-pronged approach like that, he’s bound to bring in new business, no matter who’s making the decision. At least potential clients are going to know he’s out there.
But will that work in Dothan, Ala., where Robert Ferguson, of Ferguson Sizemore & Associates, plans to approach owners by pushing not only the referrals and the Web site but a newsletter in print and e-mail form?
His advice is the kind that leads to good referrals: “Listen to what they really want and need. We spend way too much time telling clients what they want rather than letting them tell us.”
Meanwhile in Muskego, Mich., Bruce Duff, of BMD Financial Solutions, is going to try the referrals, the networking, the Web site, and, like 18 percent of our responding CPAs, a direct mail promotion. His message will probably be something along the lines of, “High value service for a reasonable price.”
Michael J. Morley, of The Morley Group, in Morton, Penn., plans on expanding in some slightly different directions: face-to-face and out in cyberspace, that is, through seminars and search engines.
Evelyn Lavin, of ETL Accounting Service in Scottsdale, Ariz., is going to keep up the pursuit of referrals and networking, but she’s going to try something that only seven percent of other CPAs plan on doing: sponsorship of civic or local sports teams. We’d love to see her name on the team shirts of the Scottsdale SOX, with somebody out in left field wearing 404, but we suspect she has something else in mind.
Robert A. Trenery, in upper management at KPMG in Short Hills, N.J., gives us some insight into the upcoming efforts of a Big 4 firm. He’s among the five percent who believe that it’s the CEO who makes the hiring decisions. KPMG’s going with referrals, networking, seminars, newsletters in print and digital form, and one more thing that some smaller firms think they cannot afford — public relations.
John Klemm, of Klemm & Associates, of St. Louis, Mo., is going to try a couple of things that few others do: telemarketing and trade shows.
For those two pursuits, we have some advice for him. No telemarketing during dinner, and when you go to the trade shows, better bring home a box of chocolates and a nice bouquet.
[First published by the AICPA]
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