Most established accountants running their own firms claim to get most of their new clients via referrals. I see at least three potential flaws with this perception. Firstly, it’s rarely based on empirical evidence. Often it is simply an easy answer to the question: 'Where do most of your new clients come
Not everyone wants to follow the widely promoted advice that you will benefit more from advertising, marketing, networking and referrals if you focus your attention on trying to reach a specific group of people. The idea being that we can then let everyone else continue trying to be all things to all
I am frequently surprised when apparently successful accountants tell me that they know they should start being active on social media. And that they want to beef up their marketing activity. Both such aspirations typically reflect a belief in the mystical power of generic marketing and the hype surrounding social media activity.
Instead of a final post of the year, I offer you a reminder of ten of my most popular blog posts (out of the 50 posted, one each Tuesday) in 2021. I’ve included the links in case you missed them originally or you want to take another look. Early in January I
In an educational context we refer to the three Rs as being those crucial elements that all children need to master. That is, Reading wRiting and aRithmetic. This is somewhat ironic given that only one of the three topics actually starts with an R. (The phrase is used apparently because each of the three
When I ask accountants what they would like to be different in their practice, one theme is more common than any others. They frequently express the desire to have better quality clients, to increase their average fees and to be doing more interesting work.One sole practitioner accountant I was mentoring expressed this quite
So many accountants tell me that most of their new clients come from word of mouth and client referrals. In most cases however this seems to be a function of luck rather than planned in any way. Have you ever thought about how you could make it easier for your contacts to
No one is 'just an accountant'. And you know that already. But how clear do you make this on your website, your online profiles and when you are networking? Lots of accountants make the mistake of assuming they only need to evidence their credibility as an accountant. And it's true that sometimes
I wonder if you make an all too common mistake. We all hope that clients will want us to provide a range of services to them. And we hope that clients will recommend and refer us to other prospective clients too… But, as I frequently point out, ‘hope’ is not a strategy.
l am regularly approached by accountants who want to know how they can get more clients. They want to know if social media is worthwhile, where to advertise, what marketing activities to pursue, what networking activities might be worthwhile, how to get more traffic to their website and much more - along
For some years I have been advising accountants of the benefits of being better Remembered, Referred and Recommended ("The 3 Rs"). After all, Referrals are often identified as being the most valuable route to securing good new clients. Despite how often this topic has featured in my talks about standing out from
Back in the days when I was a professional speaker (BC -Before COVID-19) I often asked audiences of accountants to look around the room. And then to indicate whether they felt that they were in any way special and different from most of the other accountants in the room. Typically only a
Classic. Talking with a partner in a top 50 firm of accountants, I asked how they get most of their new clients. It was no surprise he answered 'referrals'. Many accountants and lawyers, claim that they secure most of their new work through word of mouth referrals. This suggests that clients are
For a change, instead of creating a fresh blog post, I thought you'd appreciate a summary of my most popular posts on how to get more referrals to your ideal new clients.A quick five point plan to get more referralsAre you undermining your credibility by being too modest?Being Known, Liked and Trusted is
Some accountants I know are proud of how efficiently they look after their own business affairs. Others though are embarrassed at their inefficiencies. And there are some who do not appear to give any thought as to how they are perceived. We all know the old adage that you never get a
I wonder if you make an all too common mistake. We all hope that clients will want us to provide a range of services to them. And we hope that clients will recommend and refer us to other prospective clients too... But, as I frequently point out, 'hope' is not a strategy.
Many accountants claim that they secure much of their new work through word of mouth referrals. This suggests that clients are making positive comments about their accountants. They may do that if they're particularly happy but in the same way any unhappy clients will be quick to complain about their accountants. I've heard a large
Not everyone wants to STAND OUT in the traditional sense. Often we assume that you need to be an extrovert to STAND OUT, and that it's necessary to dress in a distinctive way and to be supported by bright and loud branding. I accept that all of those qualities can make you STAND OUT
If you're either a busy accountant and/or a regular at networking events, you probably get asked this question all of the time. You may also be asked by friends and family, ex-colleagues and prospective clients as well as by your bank manager, suppliers and potential advocates. How carefully have you thought about the way
Thinking about your business relationships, how close do you want to be with clients, prospective clients and advocates? The following list suggests a number of distinctive levels of contact that you could have. It can be a mistake (as in, a waste of time) to expect recommendations and referrals from anyone before your contact level
When I write and speak about accountants and social media I always make the point that Linkedin is different. It's the only online networking site where you can get some benefit simply by having your profile there, even if you're not active. But of course you can also choose to be active on LinkedIn. One
Accountants are often seen as the ideal people to to ask for referrals. After all, accountants in practice will often act for dozens of clients, many of whom are targets for other complementary suppliers. This means that accountants are routinely approached by financial advisers, will writers, software developers, marketing consultants and many other service providers.
I was asked yesterday for my top five marketing tips for accountants and I said I thought these would be clear on this blog. Except that I then realised that 'marketing' is not one of the categories I use on here. [edit: I have since updated the categories here] Thinking back that's because, in
In a recent post I introduced the concept of referral marketing for accountants and set out the main reasons why many accountants don’t explore this low cost marketing technique.In this post I’ll highlight some of the key issues and in part three I’ll address explain ways to overcome any reluctance to adopt this approach
Many accountants like to think that they secure most of their new clients through ‘word of mouth’ recommendations – often from existing clients. I wonder how much of that is what I might suggest is ‘accidental’ word of mouth marketing. It happens at a sufficient rate to balance out the odd client loss. But
