marketing

The 6 Elements to Sustainable Growth for CPA Firms

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Hand holding a rising arrow, representing business growth.

The signs that you’re heading in the right direction.

By Gale Crosley
Crosley+Co.

I’ve talked a good deal about sustainable growth lately. And I’m often asked how I know if a firm can achieve it. The answer is to look for the common indicators. It’s relatively easy to know if your firm is growing. But how do you know that the growth you’re experiencing is sustainable? What are the signs that it will last beyond this year?

Firms that are consistent performers demonstrate common elements of sustainable growth. Those elements are integrated seamlessly in the best firms. Here’s what I look for:

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4 Marketing Strategies to Use Right Now

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Middleton
Middleton

And one pitfall to avoid.

By Wesley Middleton
Middleton Raines LLP

In my profession, I have always believed we were NOT on the cutting edge of marketing. Expert after expert, firm after firm and seminar after seminar suggested the same old process and the same tired advice. So I set out to write new rules about marketing and business development for CPAs, but that could apply to other businesses also.

MORE: How to Use Guerrilla Emotional Leadership | DO NOT Embrace These Changes | Why My People Take 5 Days Off (Yes, in a Row) | Four Major Misconceptions about Millennials

With the support, patience and input of my partners, we did it. And here are some of the things I learned to do or not do.

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3 Apps to Automate Business Networking

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High quality 3D render of a robot hand touching a human hand, representing the relationship between human and artificial intelligence. Dramatic orange overcast sky.

New technologies harvest social media data, suggest how to write the perfect follow-up email, and schedule appointments.

By Hitendra Patil

Have you found yourself attending a networking meeting and spending most of the time with just one or two persons you already know? You are not alone! It’s challenging to get the communication started and going. It is an even more daunting task to make killer impressions and walk out with connections that will help you and your business.

MORE on THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ACCOUNTANT:  The 5 Most Common Marketing Blunders Accountants Make |  LinkedIn Adds Messaging. Finally!  |   Re-Learning the Lingo of the Accounting Business  |  How the “1099 Economy” Will Transform Accounting  |  What CPA Firms Could Learn from Google’s Alphabet  |  Summer Reading List: Five Great Books for the Five Lives of a Busy Accountant  |  Four Signs the Uberization of Accounting Has Already Begun  |  Management Guru Chester Elton on Success  |  Savvy CPAS Focus on the Constants  |  More

But that’s where new technology comes into the picture. You don’t have to the best-dressed person in the room, nor the smoothest talking or most knowledgeable. You just need to have the best APPetite! Let me explain, rather, reveal, some powerful information that can totally transform how you network. From thousands of apps and websites that I have personally tested, here are three that could make you a networking hero.

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Need More Business? Focus on Referrals

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Sandi Leyva and Michelle Long
Leyva and Long

A quick spreadsheet can show you where your money comes from now – and the best next targets.

By Sandi Leyva and Michelle Long
The Ultimate Accounting Virtual Conference

For those who need more business, boosting referrals is the cheapest way. So when we start to look at our marketing from a strategic standpoint, referrals is the channel we want to maximize.

If you’re thinking, “Okay, how do I lower mymarketing cost? Is that even an option? We spend a lot of time lowering our other expenses so why not lower our marketing costs?

There is an order on how to use marketing based on what is the most effective for professional services, and referrals is one of the cheapest ways we can add additional new clients without spending a lot of money on marketing.

Start with a spreadsheet

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When Clients Prefer Social Media

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How to use every new channel to create a new touchpoint to serve a client or attract a prospect, hire the best people, find new markets. By Becky Livingston Social Media for Accountants In today’s world of CPA firms, marketing … Continued

How to Build a Growth-Centric Pricing Strategy

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Aquila
Aquila

With an eight-point analysis of your firm’s pricing strategy.

By August Aquila
Creating the Effective Partnership

All you need to do is think of any services, professional or commercial, that you have purchased over the last few years. Would you pay a premium rate to a bonsai gardener just to trim a regular tree or shrub? Most likely not, since there would be many a gardener available to do this simple task. However, the price of an open heart surgery would not matter, if the operation would save your life.

MORE for PRO Members: How to Combine Two Firms after Merger: Carefully  |  Six New Year’s Tips for Leaders in Tax and Accounting  |  Mirror, Mirror on the Wall  |  6 Steps to Handle Staffing Problems in a Merger  |  New Times Call for New CPA Firm Metrics  |  6 Reasons Why CPA Firms Fail in Innovation  |  7 Signs Your Firm Is Headed for an Implosion  |  Why Is It Always about Partner Compensation?  |  Why Merge and What to Watch Out For  |  13 Steps to Fool-Proof Mergers and Acquisitions  |  13 Questions To Ask Yourself for Personal Growth  |  Partner Problem? First, Ask Yourself These 21 Questions  |  12 Reasons CPA Firm Staff Meetings Are a Waste of Time  |  The Managing Partner’s Secret Weapon in Change Management  |  The 10 Basic Ways to Boost Profits at an Accounting Firm  |  12 Must-Do Items for Your Partner Retreat Agenda

When pricing your services you need to carefully analyze the three key factors

  1. demand,
  2. competition and
  3. costs.

For example, it’s hard to get a premium price for a basic 1040 return because there are thousands of competitors offering the same service as very competitive prices. However, if you are offering litigation services for high net worth divorce cases, then you need to look at the unique characteristics of your services, what is potentially at risk for your clients and the firm’s overall marketing and pricing strategies.

To find out how marketing oriented your firm’s pricing strategy really is, just complete the following brief pricing strategy questionnaire. There are no incorrect answers. The purpose of the survey is to give you a snapshot of where you are today. You goal, then, is to lay out a plan to get you where you want to be tomorrow. READ MORE →

There’s More to Growth than Marketing

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Ed Mendlowitz CPA The Practice Doctor Q and AYou need goals, not just a desire to get new business.

By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor

QUESTION: We are a 20-person firm and are thinking of engaging a marketing consultant for training on how to get new business.

MORE PRACTICE DOCTOR Q&A: Change Your Thinking About ‘Small’ Clients | It’s Not Sales. It’s Your Duty | Quote With Care When Asked for Valuation | How Much Should You Pay To Buy, Sell or Merge an Accounting Practice? | Why the Average Fee Doesn’t Matter | 6 Ways to Take a Client Beyond Tax Prep | 6 Simple Steps to Impress a Prospect | 10 Ways to Get New 1040 Clients | 23 Reasons Clients Really Need YOU for Taxes

Have you heard of anyone in particular for CPA leadership training? What does your firm do regarding this? An internal program or do you use outside consultants? READ MORE →