There is no doubt in my mind. The more focused you can be as regards your ideal clients the more chance there is that other people will recognise when they can recommend and refer you to people who need your services. But it's not the only route to success. You are not alone if you
Over the years I have been invited to attend many events that have had to be cancelled due to low bookings. I'm thinking of receptions, seminars, conferences and networking events. Sometimes it's possible to reschedule the occasion. Other times the organisers give up and blame one or other of the factors that might or might
Accountants who want to stand out as caring and being interested in their clients know that they should Keep In Touch ('KIT'). You also need a KIT routine if you want to be able to rely on business contacts and influencers to introduce new clients to you. If we don’t keep in touch we
It is generally accepted these days that you will benefit more from advertising, marketing, networking and referrals if you focus on a recognisable niche. Let everyone else continue trying to be all things to all people. But, if you are like most accountants in practice you don't think you have a specialist focus. You
I saw an advert recently for the Daily Telegraph's jobs board. It claims them to be "Specialists in your Industry". Er, no they aren't. They can't be. They may 'cover' every industry. They may have vacancies or jobs for people in "every" (or, more likely, simply 'most') industries. But, by definition, they cannot be
On one of the business networks I follow a member recently asked for a recommendation to a down-to-earth, friendly, non-judgemental, accountant. He explained his requirements in a little more detail - but not much, although he did state: "To be ABSOLUTELY clear, I am NOT looking for someone who has intentions of turning me
A sole practitioner accountant recently asked me how could he attract the 'bigger fish'? In effect he wanted to know how he could start to attract and win clients who would be prepared to pay bigger fees. He said he wants to more than double his average fee - moving from around £600 upto
This is a follow up to last week's post about a poor piece of generic direct mail I received from a firm of accountants. I've been asked to spell out what's wrong with it. So here is my analysis of the letter - line by line: “It was unfortunate that I was not able
I received a 3 paragraph letter recently from someone I didn't meet at a recent networking event. This person had obtained an attendee list and sent out what is clearly a standard letter. I won't embarrass the firm or the writer by identifying them. And here's the key thing: Nothing in the letter will
I was asked yesterday for my top five marketing tips for accountants and I said I thought these would clear on this blog. Except that I then realised that 'marketing' is not one of the categories I use on here. Thinking back that's because, in my experience, relatively few UK accountancy firms devote much time
