With the New Year approaching this is the perfect time to look back over 2013 and identify the improvements to be made in 2014. Here are six questions that will get you thinking – and change the way you see your CPA firm’s marketing program.

Where did your new business come from?

If you have a process to track your leads, proposals, wins and losses, then you can answer this question. If not, now is the time to start. Despite the variety of customer relationship management (CRM) and sales management programs Excel is the software CPAs use most often to track new business development. Create a spreadsheet to capture: the prospect’s name, contact person, referral source, services to be provided, estimated fee, estimated decision date, next steps, and whether the opportunity is ultimately won or lost. Consistently tracking this information enables you to identify your most important referral sources, to thank them, and to send leads their way. It also highlights the marketing initiatives that result in lead generation.

Which clients did you lose, and why?

CPAs lose clients for a variety of reasons including the sale or dissolution of a client’s business, poor client service, not being proactive enough, and fees. What percentage of your lost clients was in your control? Or, out of your control? Which of your lost clients should not have been your client in the first place? This information can serve as a learning opportunity for your entire team regarding new client selection, client service, and communication.

How often are you communicating with your clients and prospects?

Are your clients receiving valuable information from your competitors rather than from your own firm? To be considered your clients’ “trusted advisor” or “business advisor” as well as their CPA you must provide them with tips, alerts, and guidance about how they can be more profitable, save taxes, improve efficiencies, and educate them about tax and audit rules and regulations. Your face-to-face and telephone conversations with clients can be supplemented with enewsletters, webinars and seminars to share your thought leadership or intellectual capital. You want to be the “go to” source when your clients and prospects need solutions for their challenges and concerns. This will translate into special projects and new business referrals, which should be added to your new business development report (above).

How is your website contributing to your lead generation efforts?

A CPA firm website is a “must have” and needs to be more than a static online brochure. Website upgrades is a top marketing initiative of CPA firms. Upgrades include responsive design, search engine optimization, videos, blogs, archived enewsletters, links to social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube), and sharing thought leadership through inbound marketing. With the right strategy and components your website can be a source of new business leads for your firm.

How do your clients rate their level of satisfaction with your firm?

Do you ask your clients questions related to client service and satisfaction? If your firm is like most CPA firms your answer is, “No.” The majority of CPA firms have no formal client satisfaction program whatsoever. In the 2011 PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey retention of current clients showed up on every segment’s top-five list. Yet, retention of current clients only made two groups’ top five in 2013 (sole practitioners and firms with 11 to 20 professionals). CPAs are confident in their ability to retain clients but are primarily unwilling to measure their satisfaction. Client retention is necessary for firm growth. Client service can be a point of differentiation. Read our complimentary eBook, Client Satisfaction Surveys for CPA Firms: The Answers to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions, to make 2014 the year you begin to measure client satisfaction.

What changes are you willing to make to improve the results of your marketing efforts?

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Pick one initiative – it may or may not be one of the above – and create a plan of action. This will change the way you see your CPA firm’s marketing program by providing information to help you make smart decisions.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Happy New Year!

I’ve spoken to many CPA firm partners over the years, helping them create and implement marketing plans. On more than one occasion partners have expressed their lack of understanding about the role of a marketing director. These partners represent firms that employ marketing directors or have worked for other firms with marketing directors.

Partner: “I don’t know what value a marketing director brings.”

Me: “What did you expect the marketer to do that they didn’t do?”

Partner: “I don’t know.”

Me: “So, you don’t know what you expected of the marketer and they didn’t do it?”

Huh?

We can all agree that over the past 15 years marketing professionals have elevated the sophistication and effectiveness of CPA firm marketing programs.  CPA firms’ employing marketing professionals is no longer news.  As the accounting marketing profession continues to evolve here are the Top 10 expectations partners should have for their marketing departments:

1.  Focus and prioritize marketing programs.  This means not saying “Yes” to every project.
2.  Generate ideas for the long-term growth of your firm.
3.  Help identify new business opportunities.
4.  Develop and manage a marketing budget.
5.  Demonstrate return on investment.
6.  Knowledge of the accounting profession and how your firm makes money.
7.  Track marketing statistics: new and lost clients, leads, proposals, cross-selling, and client satisfaction.
8.  Regular reports on the status of your firm’s marketing programs.
9.  Educate your partners and staff about how marketing works.
10.  Know the marketing goals of each partner and how they can help each partner achieve their goals.

Capstone Marketing research reveals that two of the top three challenges of CPA firm marketing professionals are “fighting fires” and “lack of partner support.”  Here are the Top 10 expectations marketers should have for their firm’s partners:

1.  Communicate the strategic vision of your firm.
2.  Be available to provide structure, feedback and guidance.
3.  Knowledge of marketing and how it contributes to your firm’s growth.
4.  At a minimum – don’t be an obstacle to the successful implementation of your firm’s marketing programs.  If you aren’t a marketing supporter stay out of the way!
5.  Help them learn the business of accounting and how your firm makes money.
6.  Listen carefully.  Marketers and partners think differently.  Take the time to evaluate the great ideas marketers bring to the table.
7.  Prioritize your time.  Last-minute proposals and projects won’t result in your best efforts.
8.  Understand that it takes time to show a return on your marketing investment.
9.  Don’t hide behind the “I’m too busy” excuse after you have agreed to implement marketing action items.
10.  Provide sufficient resources to enable your marketers to do their jobs – budget, technology, education, time.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.