As a follow up from previous posts I’m sharing some the differences highlighted by some of the sole practitioners and smaller firms of accountants I have worked with in recent months. These are ways that they distinguish themselves and stand out from the competition:
– Fixed fee guarantees. No additional charges unless agreed in advance
– Charging (a good) monthly fee for bookkeeping and doing annual tax returns and accounts for free
– Satisfaction guarantees (money back if not satisfied)
– Review of last year’s accounts and tax return (if done by taxpayer) and if no tax savings identified, then no fee in first year
– Tax planning advice to maximise clients’ entitlement to child and working tax credits (worth upto £12k pa)
– An overt focus on saving tax and this permeates promo materials, website and correspondence
– Provide clients with free easy to use bookkeeping software so that they don’t have to pay the accountant or anyone else to do it and so that accountant can quickly and easily check things and produce the client’s accounts
– Out of hours service, visiting clients at home in the evenings (ie: at their convenience rather than the accountants)
– A refusal to take on a new client unless he/she is recommended by an existing client.
– Free tax saving guides available as downloads from website
– Specialists in advising specific professions or business types (motor trade, coaches/therapists, charities, hospital consultants)
The list goes on. Now some of the above are not unique but they do come across as different. Mostly they are highlighted on marketing materials and websites. They are backed up by explanations as to how these concepts benefit the prospect/client.
Probably the last one is the most valuable. To be known as the accountant who specialises in a particular type of client (not exclusively necessarily) is a powerful message and makes you far more memorable. It distinguishes you from all the other accountants that your contact knows. It provides a reason and a justification for them to mention your name to anyone in that field.
NB: This is quite different to the idea of claiming to specialise in a list of professions and business types that just happens to cover all of your client base. Indeed lists like that which I have seen on dozens of accountants’ websites are not ‘specialisms’ at all. Nor are they different or memorable. I’m not even sure that they are meaningful.
It works for other businesses too. My Tax Advice Network, for example, specialises in providing tax support FOR ACCOUNTANTS. Far more of my business contacts are happy to pass on details of the Network to their accountants than would be the case if we did not have that focus. Indeed, if we were simply a tax consultancy there would be no justification in asking contacts to pass on our details to their accountants and, more importantly, my contacts would have no confidence in doing so due to the lack of specialisation.
I think the specialism is particularly important as it identifies you as an “expert” in the clients eyes in their particular field. I am focusing on a few niche markets now and will certainly be targeting them with a variety of marketing strategies.
I believe I am one of the fw accountants who actually does give advice re tax credits and ways to increase the claim with careful timing of capital allowances claims too.
More differentiators I’ve come across since posting this item:
– Opening the office at least one evening a week and one day at the weekend (as that’s when typical clients can get to you without breaking into their working day);
– Offering a regular weekly evening clinic for small business clients to network and have a chat about tax and business issues;