BizActions Sales Tips

Many firms are effectively using CPA email newsletters as a means of marketing and communicating to their clients, prospects and referral sources. Most firms are using this venue as a passive activity. They are sending material out and hoping that a percentage of their prospect list will contact them if they are looking to transition away from their existing accounting firm. This is consistent with the theory that people don't change their accountant unless there is a specific motivating event. As we all know, people are reluctant to make changes to the existing resources that they feel somewhat comfortable with. So even if they are not 100% happy with their present provider, they might not take that first step toward looking for an alternative. With this scenario in mind, I would like to suggest that a rainmaking oriented accountant could make some strategic calls to low-hanging fruit (i.e. interested prospects).

There are five steps to make this process work.

Step 1: Warm Up Your Prospects

Instead of trying to market to the entire universe, identify a key group or subset that you would like to do more business with. It could range from small closely held companies to more specialized industry niches. Once you have established your targeted list, start sending them consistent and relevant material to introduce your firm and the rationale for them to consider using you. Remember, sending out just a couple of pieces won't cut it. The old adage is that it takes 21 exposures to generate the seven recognitions needed for someone to even think about you as a resource. Publishing an email newsletter can be the best way to warm up prospects and to create trackable statistics for follow-up.

Step 2: Identify Your Rainmakers

Here are the criteria for creating your candidates:

• Someone who is good at sales



• Someone who enjoys sales



• Someone who can devote some additional time for sales

Often times, the best rainmakers are also the busiest partners. Make sure that the selected individual(s) has some extra selling time.

Step 3: Set Realistic Expectations

Set realistic goals as to what you would like to accomplish from these rainmaking activities. If the goal is a specific dollar amount of new business, calculate how many new clients are needed in order to achieve this number. Know your rainmakers realistic closing ratios, so that you have an idea of the number of prospects they need to be in front of.

For follow-up, I would recommend no more than four to six prospects at a time to call. Go through the statistical section of your email newsletter program and select a number of the top, most highly engaged readers for each rainmaker. Perhaps, do this activity two to three times per year. For the sake of example, if you have three rainmakers, pulling four opportunities each, three times per year, then you are targeting 36 prospects annually with this approach. 

Step 4: Coach Your Rainmakers

The 36 hypothetical prospects that you would have then harvested from your CPA email newsletter program have been heavily reading on topics that are related to your business development subject goals. Some of these prospects simply like your material and have no real interest in switching accounting firms. However, some of them will be in the stage of actively looking for a new service provider. This is the group that you hope to attract. With 36 prospects, it would be an attractive goal to book 25% of them in an introductory meeting.

Here are Some Tips on What to Say When You Call

If someone has been heavily reading your material, it is safe to conclude that you have established name recognition, so there is a reasonable chance that they will accept your phone call. You should never say, "I see that you are reading our email newsletter." A much softer approach would be, "This is Bill Smith from ABC Accounting. I hope you have enjoyed our email newsletter. Especially popular have been the series of articles illustrating our expertise in the construction industry. Would you be willing to get together for an introductory meeting to see if we can provide value above and beyond what you are getting from your current firm?" This low key approach is one way to help you to book some prospect meetings.

Step 5: Track Results

Unfortunately, it is difficult to assign busy accountants marketing tasks and hope that they will be completed according to your time schedule. If someone signs on as one of your rainmakers for this activity, they need to commit that they will make the calls by a specific date. Also, making one call and leaving a message potentially squanders a good lead. The commitment should be for three attempts over a 10 day period. The first attempt would be a call and a message left similar to the verbiage above. The second attempt should be an email with a similar message. The final attempt should be another phone call. If there is no success in these three attempts, consider calling back in 30 to 60 days. The prospect should be kept on your email newsletter distribution list and included in other direct mail programs that are in place for your firm.

There has to be accountability for these activities. If 36 firms are targeted, a good meeting ratio would be 25% or nine meetings. A 25% to 35% closure rate would result in two to three sales. Finally, the sale cycle for these leads could be months, if not a year. (Again, the prospects that you are calling should have read at least 10 of your articles. These are not your average readers but the most heavily touched members of your list.)

This five step program is a great way to accelerate business development activities utilizing your CPA email newsletter program.

Solutions

Want more tips on generating new leads and keeping your sales pipeline full? Be sure to catch my next blog for more insights into compelling ways to connect with your prospects, referral sources and clients.

With the growing number of options available in the e-marketing landscape, it can be difficult to know where to begin. A successful CPA newsletter can be an integral part of your overall e-marketing efforts, and can help position your firm as a thought leader. Contact us and find out how to begin the process of email newsletter creation for your firm. BizActions is the go-to resource for successful CPA newsletters throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. Give us a call at 866.240.8477, visit our website, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We have all the tools you need to build your business one impression at a time.

In a recent article, I posed the question, “Where are you on the practice development continuum?”  I expanded to describe the differences between levels of desired aggressiveness in business development activities.  It also makes sense to ask one additional question: “How comfortable are you with the status quo of new business flowing to your firm?”

Obviously, there are few firms that don't want to bring in new clients.  However, if the amount of new business development is not at the level necessary to hit revenue targets, then the present marketing activities have to be evaluated.  Once goals have been established, determine how many transactions or services have to be sold in order to hit this number.  It’s usually helpful to break new business into categories for each type of service that you want to sell.  You need to establish an average fee for each type of transaction.  This will allow you to approximate the number of sales you will need to hit your goal.  For example, if the goal is $200,000 in additional audit business and the average audit is $20,000, then the number of new audit clients needed is 10.

The firm now has the task of finding 10 new clients.  This unleashes a slew of new questions: 

• What types of marketing activities are needed to support this growth?
  
  
• Where are the leads going to come from?
  
  
• How heavily are you dependent on referral sources, and are they properly nurtured with marketing material such as brochures and CPA email newsletters?
  
  
• Have you developed a list of prospects and are you regularly communicating with them?
  
  
• Are partners meeting and entertaining referrals on a regular basis?
  
  
• Are partners and staff engaging in direct networking activities?
  
  
• Are there adequate partners comfortable in rainmaking activities to place the required number of sales calls?
  
  
• Do rainmakers have the necessary sales skills?

Ask yourself another question, “Is your firm is willing to make the financial and time investments necessary to hit your goals?”  This is the foundation for determining if your firm has the culture needed to match desired growth.  As firms mature, they go through levels of cultural change. Let’s take a moment to examine the various firm cultures:

Level One is a group of sole practitioners, who call themselves a firm.  There is no common strategy, allocation of resources or commitment for growth.

Level Two is a firm that does have revenue goals, but no plan.  The organization operates in various silos. Sporadic rainmaking activities exist along with the hope that things will just work out.

Level Three is a firm that does have a strategy and a plan.  Departmental walls are starting to come down, but execution of the plan usually takes a backseat to billable work.

Level Four firms really believe in each partner’s involvement in sales and marketing activities.  There is a willingness to invest resources.  Additionally, there is an alignment between various departments, adequate cross selling and new business growth.

Level Five firms are marketing machines.  Everyone in the firm is geared towards bringing in or influencing sales.  There are no boundaries between departments.  The clients belong to the firm and not to the partner.  Strong investments are made in marketing. A professional business development and/or sales person is on staff.

If you have aggressive growth goals, they will never happen if you continue to operate as a “Level Two” firm.  To be truly successful, make sure your marketing ambitions are in sync with your marketing culture in order to support your desired amount of growth.

Solutions

Why do accounting firms use BizActions?  CPA firms require a consistent and reliable stream of new business to sustain and grow revenues.  Our strategic solutions for client communications and lead generation, including our proprietary CPA email newsletters, are proven and effective because they work together toward the same goal.  For over ten years, BizActions has been helping CPA firms dispense valuable information such as tax and legislative updates, generate and identify qualified leads, enhance your brand, improve your market visibility, retain clients, measure your return on marketing investment and build your business one impression at a time.  We specialize in CPA email newsletters and accounting firm online marketing with products like our Online Resource Library.  Our Online Resource Library is a custom-branded stand-alone website that houses hundreds of resources for your clients - all while increasing your firm’s SEO.  We have multiple solutions for Lead Generation, e-Newsletter and Email Communications, Client Retention, Business Growth, Cross-Selling, and Accounting e-Marketing.  Learn more on our website, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We have the tools you need to accelerate your business growth.

CPA firms struggle with the types of marketing activities that they want to engage in.  A good way to decide your approach is to identify the results that you want to achieve.  Based on this definition, which is tied in with the culture of your firm, you can focus on the appropriate activities.

• How comfortable are you with the status quo of the amount of new business coming into the firm?
  
  
• Are you in front of enough new business opportunities to fuel the revenue growth desired by the firm?

 

1. The  relationship person has left your firm and they either don't know or feel comfortable with anyone else.
   
   
2. Your firm has messed up in some way, or perhaps the client is not feeling that they are receiving value commensurate with the fees that they are paying.
   
   
3. They have outgrown their present accountant and need different services than what can be offered at your firm. 

• The email newsletter must clearly come from a trusted and legitimate source.
• The piece must be in an attractive and easy to use format.
• The content must be of high quality and provide value to the reader.
• You have to be sending it out to enough people.
• Showcase your peoples' technical skills, personalities and community involvement.
• Illustrate the diversity of services offered by your firm.
• Create a "Call to Action" or a reason for someone to contact your firm.

1. The relationship person has left and they don't feel comfortable with any of the remaining professionals. 
2. The firm has messed up in some way. 
3. The client has needs for services that the current provider may not have strong expertise.

1. Nurture the relationship with the client as you have always done.
2. Ask appropriate questions.
3. Listen.

1. Where are they now?
2. How satisfied with their present status?
3. Where do they want to be?
4. What obstacles are they facing?
5. How painful are the obstacles?
6. What is the value of the potential gain?

1. You will facilitate the idea, perform the work and generate the additional fees if possible.
2. You will turn the opportunity over to another person in your firm, who is better equipped to handle the need, and the firm benefits with increased fees.
3. You turn the work over to a trusted referral relationship outside of your firm, who can do the work in a professional manner.

Often times, the staff members who have the most contact with a client are not the ones who are most proficient in business development.  They do their job exceptionally well, but as far as they are concerned, the words “sales” and “marketing” are not in their job description and certainly weren’t what they majored in back in school.  Yet these people can provide a valuable link for cross selling activities, which will help generate more revenue for your firm and provide them with marketing experience.

Staff members, who work on job sites, can be the eyes and ears for additional work.  It’s critical to your firms’ growth and long-term success that you create a culture emphasizing that everyone recognizes that they have a role to play in generating more revenue.  Including lead generation as a part of their normal activities with appropriate rewards can reinforce this.  Successfully selling additional work is dependent upon uncovering clients’ needs and passing that information to the firm’s rainmakers.

The key to uncovering needs is to create “a model of perfection” of how your clients’ company should be operating.  The most effective way to do that is to compare reality with actuality in critical operational areas.  Assess the client’s operational model by asking these questions or observing behavior during your next client meeting, engagement or telephone conversation.

• Does a marketing plan exist and is it proactively followed in generating new business?
•  Are customers delighted in doing business with the firm?
  
• Are employees long term and happy?
  
• Are the facilities clean, orderly and efficient?
• Is the client’s technology state-of-the-art and effective?  Consider all aspects of technology from the telephone system to software to use of the Internet and email.
• Are products and/or services always high quality and delivered on time?
• When problems arise with customers, are they fixed perfectly and promptly, the first time?
• Is information for both customers and employees accurately generated and efficiently delivered?
• Are billings and collections monitored and does the customer make sure they are completed in a timely manner?
• Does a positive cash flow environment exist?  Throughout the year?
• Are the owners content with the financial condition of the firm?

Regardless of the industry, the above conditions are components of a successful company.  The absence of a number of these variables can be a sign that the firm may need additional financial and consulting services.  Raising your staffs’ awareness will aid in your business development efforts.  As part of the engagement checklist, consider putting some of these questions/observations as part of your normal process.

I should also mention that one of the main reasons behind the lack of cross selling is your client's being unaware of services that you provide, that they need.  Most CPA's that I have spoken with admit that they have discovered clients purchasing things from other providers, simply because they were not aware that their firm could satisfy that need.   The BizActions electronic CPA newsletter is a low key way or regularly reinforcing your available services to your contacts.  You don't know when the need will arise for all things that you do.  An email newsletter can remind people that you are the resource that they should call.

Let's face it; in many firms, strong rainmaking skills are limited to a few individuals.  As a result, senior partners can experience significant pressure to maintain the firm's revenue flow and security.  This is especially true in the tough economic times that we are now experiencing.  It is more important than ever to involve more people in the sales process.

Does your staff fail to recognize sales opportunities that are hidden in plain sight in the form of client comments during the normal course of doing business? When going on sales calls, do some of your partners hear more no’s than yes’s? Effective marketing doesn’t have to be a formidable challenge for your staff or a battle for new business by your partners. Simply focusing on two fundamental activities will enhance your results; listening and asking questions.

Consider these two scenarios.

Scenario One:

A staff member is at a client site doing work and overhears conversation on one of the following:

• There is a succession battle going on.
• A flood of collection calls come in.
• Their computer system isn’t working right.
• The accounting software isn’t supplying the right information.
• They are thinking about a staff retreat.
• The employee manual is outdated.
• Or any number of problems that your firm has solutions for . . .

And does nothing . . .

Scenario Two:

A partner and a junior associate have scheduled an initial sales call with a very desirable new prospective client. On the car ride to the prospect, they prepare for the meeting. At the prospect’s office, they spend 80 percent of the meeting talking about the strength of your firm’s capabilities. After the meeting, the prospect never takes your partner’s phone call again.

What went wrong?

In Scenario One, your staff simply doesn’t understand how important and valuable their listening skills are.  They don’t necessarily need to become sales people for your firm, but they need to learn and accept their value to your firm and your firm’s success is a combination of accepting responsibility and developing all their skills. By paying attention to the business environment at a client's business and reporting interesting intelligence to their superiors will open the door for better client service and effective cross selling.

In Scenario Two, the partner and associate are prepared to sell your firm, but they weren’t prepared to listen to what the client considered important.  By asking a few key open-ended questions followed immediately by active listening to the answers, they could have uncovered business issues that your firm could help address.  Much compliance work today is considered a commodity.  Asking questions and listening positions you as a trusted business advisor. This is a much better way to differentiate your firm from the competition.  It also adds value to your services and the fees you charge. 

Emphasizing listening and asking questions as critical components of client and prospect relationships will pay dividends in more new and add on business.  

1. No relationship,
2. No needs,
3. No value and
4. No continuance.

• Needs - What are the business issues that you can help solve with the use of your services?  What amount of value can you bring to the prospect; savings in time, elimination of pain, help in achieving a goal and/or actual money savings.
• Decision Maker - Are you speaking with all of the people who will be deciding your fate? Are you able to gain access to individuals who you are not initially meeting with?
• Budget - Can your prospect afford your services?  Is there money allocated in the budget?  Is discretionary budget available.  Does your service offer a return on investment?
• Timing - Is there a need for your services in the next 60 days or is a longer term opportunity?
• Competition - Do you know specifically who you are competing against?   If there is not direct competition, what other budgetary alternatives exist that could take financial resources away from your firm?

• Qualified Prospect - An opportunity in which all five of the above variables are satisfied.  These are your riches prospects, and where most of your business in the next 30 days will come from.  Depending on your sales skills, anywhere from 20% to 50% of these should close.
• Prospect - An opportunity in which four of the above variables are satisfied. Typically, only 10% at this level will close.
• Qualified Suspect - An opportunity in which three of the above variables are satisfied. Typically, only 5% of these will close.
• Suspect - An opportunity in which three of the above variables are satisfied.  Maybe 1% of these will close.
• Universe - An opportunity in which on of the above variables is satisfied.

• Their relationship person at their old firm leaves, and they don't have strong feelings for anyone else.
• There is some form of service issue that has occurred.
• They need a more sophisticated firm with more capabilities.

• The most recent readers who have read multiple articles
• A group of readers who have read a specific article that ties into a service you would like      to promote.
• A list of your most active readers.

• Build a good list of clients, prospects and referral sources.
• Find resources for interesting and pertinent content.
• Develop content to illustrate your firm's capabilities.
• Target individuals with content that is relevant to them.
• Deliver material via email newsletter with enough frequency to gain recognition.
• Followup in a manner that you are comfortable with.

"Email adoption and use by consumers and businesses alike remain strong, with 153 million online adults regularly using email by 2014. Social inbox users will total 47 million in 2014, but will ultimately level off based on the blurring lines of the “traditional” versus the “social” inbox. Marketing messages to the primary inbox will swell to an average of more than 9,000 annually in 2014, with retention email making up the largest permission-based share. Email marketing spend will balloon to $2 billion in 2014 with retention email, services, and ad-sponsored acquisition newsletters all representing bright spots. Innovative marketers will rapidly adopt relevancy-empowering tactics to cut through the clutter and avoid wasting $144 million dollars in 2014 on email marketing that never reaches the intended subscriber inbox because of erroneous blocking."

Why are email messages and in particular CPA email newsletters continuing to grow at such levels. Reducing cost seems to be one of the key motivators.  CPA print newsletters are expensive to produce.  In addition, you have to deal with processing and ultimately postage.  As postage fees continue to rise, email marketing is a more cost effective alternative.  In this soft economy, more marketers are trying to stretch their budgets and to get more impact for the dollars spent.  

An issue related to cost is frequency.  Sending print newsletters out 4 to 6 times per year does not give enough exposure to get your message across.  Many firms using CPA email newsletters are sending materials out multiple times per month.  This increased frequency will give you the touches needed for your firm to stay top of mind.  

Successful CPA client newsletters will clearly show that the piece is coming from their firm.  If the client sees this as being sent from their "Trusted Business Advisor," they will be more inclined to open it.  The second key factor is that the content has to well written and relevant for the recipient. A strong email newsletter program will allow you to send targeted content to each unique group that you market to.

A final piece of the puzzle is feedback.  When print pieces are sent, you have a sense that people are reading, but you are never sure as to what degree.  With CPA Email newsletters, there is no guesswork.  You will have multiple detailed statistics to illustrate that you are getting your monies worth and to pinpoint additional new business and add on sales opportunities.

Marketers have a lot of choices to spend their budgeted dollars.  To generate results and savings, there are few alternatives that will give you more bang for your buck than a CPA email newsletter. Recent trends are supporting this thesis.