Over 400 CPAs share their practice-building strategies.
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by Rick Telberg/At Large
CPAs may know their dollars and cents, their rules and regs, their 1040s and 10-Qs and their QuickBooks and MAS 90, but when it comes to marketing, they’re too often learning by doing, which too often means learning by doing it wrong.
Marketing’s a profession unto itself, and the thread between it and the money-numbers game is long, thin and tenuous. Practitioners know they need to do it, but they don’t always know what works and what’s money down the drain. In this slowing economy, it may pay to know the difference.
I have a feeling a lot of practitioner-marketers share the frustration of Edward Gorz, a sole practitioner, who says, “I just started and not much has worked yet.”
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Richard McCoid, also of a very small firm with zero marketers on staff, reported frustration as well. “Despite flooding the print media with ads,” he said, “there has been little response.”
No doubt about it, when it comes to marketing, there’s more you can do wrong than do right. Hoping to help folks avoid the cost-ineffectiveness of trial and error, we polled our readers in search of advice on the art of marketing.
One big question regarded plans and target markets. Out of more than 400 respondents, a strong 71% said they target niches or specialties rather than the barn-wide target of the general public. Only 25%, however, worked from a written marketing plan, and of those, only 28% reviewed their plan annually. Forty% implemented personalized marketing plans.
Most firms use their partners and professionals to generate new business leads. Just under half of the respondents said that “some” of their people generate leads. Only 21% said that all were involved and only 5% said that none were involved.
And here’s a real shocker: 51% said that they were less than satisfied or not at all satisfied with their firm’s performance in marketing and business development. Only 47% were satisfied or more than satisfied.
Hmmmm… roughly half of all firms don’t use all their professionals to generate business and roughly half are dissatisfied with their firm’s business development. Do I need to say something about that or should I leave it unsaid?
We asked what firms are doing to bring in new business. The most common single response was “word of mouth,” which could be interpreted to mean “We do nothing. We depend on others to do our marketing.”
Word of mouth is fine if it’s actually happening. But the vast majority of respondents said their firms were doing something more proactive than waiting for word to spread.
Joe Eckelkamp, owner of a local CPA firm, makes an effort to inspire word of mouth. He says he does “public speaking on specific topics related to our target markets.” He also tells clients that he’d like referrals of specific types.
Eckelkamp’s objective isn’t quantity but quality, “replacing less profitable, more troublesome, more unappreciative clients with clients that are a ‘better fit’ for out objectives as a firm.”
Several others expressed the same general idea… networking through speaking engagements while aiming at preferred niche markets.
Jim Falgout, managing partner of a very small public accounting firm, said he stays active in “certain organizations,” and several other professionals emphasized involvement in trade associations and the community.
Ravi Chandar does telemarketing. And he’s smart. He targets “clients in certain niches who are experiencing phenomenal growth in business.”
An anonymous sole practitioner grows business by looking for resumptions from former clients. He or she also expands by sticking with existing clients who are “venturing into new exploits and new-even international-markets.”
Sue Medicus, manager of a micro-firm, just said “guerilla marketing,” though, in the way of smart guerillas, she didn’t reveal her tactics.
The rest of our respondents’ advice could be described as “assorted.” All of it sounded sensible. Referrals from bankers and lawyers. Weekly marketing meetings with staff. Direct mail. Defining the ideal client. Running Internet ad words.
And best of all, from Karen E. Ingalls, “Good business practice resulting in good referrals.”
Fortunately, we’re in a high-demand business. But doing a good job is the prerequisite to everything else.
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COMMENTS: Rants, raves, idle thoughts or questions? Contact Rick Telberg.
Copyright 2000-2008 CPA Trendlines/BSG LLC. All Rights Reserved. First published by the AICPA.
One Response to “CPAs Show How to Market in Tough Times”
Chad Bordeaux
I agree that too much of us market through trial and error. Now that I am slightly more experienced, it is funny to hear advertising salepeople explain to me how I just HAVE to advertise with them because I will get so much business. Most of the time, I can speak from experience. “If I run the ad, I will be out a lot of money and still will not have anymore clients than I do now.”
We get a lot from our website now and are planning a major overhaul of it this year.