Accounting Marketers on a Roll

Source: AICPA CPA Insider
 

Rick Telberg lists 21 hot ideas developed by accounting marketers at the Association for Accounting Marketing's (AAM) recent annual summit in Austin, Texas. Here are some modified excerpts:

1. Firms do a good job of marketing but are weak on closing.
2. ROO, or return-on-objective, can be a critical milestone on the road to ROI (return-on-investment), particularly for the hard-to-quantify marketing initiatives.
3. Small changes can make big impacts and will propel and inspire your firm.
4. Use technology for a competitive advantage.
5. Competitive CPA firms are 15 times more likely to follow a written plan. It's amazing how man firms don't have written plans.
6. Don't wait to have leadership bestowed. Take initiative.
7. Strong client-acceptance guidelines can increase your profitability dramatically.
8. Firms serious about adopting some simple best practices are 19 times more likely to report superior revenue growth.
9. Creating goals is the easy part. Executing goals is the tough part. Meet weekly and hold people accountable.
10. Only 28 percent of CPA firms meet regularly to check their progress against their strategic plans, and they're 15 times more likely to be more successful.
11. Find out what is wanted by your client right now and use that to create new opportunities.
12. If partners won't lead the drive for new opportunities, then the initiative must come from the marketing department.
13. The federal stimulus package means great opportunities for government contractor practices. Look for industry-specific opportunities in this environment.
14. This is a time to be bold. Winners and losers are created in times like these.
15. Facing a cut in the marketing budget? Narrow your focus. Be more targeted.
16. Social media is not free. Time is money.
17. Leading firms are twice as likely to have clients that belong to the firm, not to an individual. It's the "one-firm" concept and it works.
18. Take time for a personal career "retreat." Evaluate where you are going, and plan without daily job distractions.
19. Track what is being said about you and your firm using Google alerts.
20. Bad first impression? It takes seven good experiences to change a negative client opinion to a positive one.
21. But after a good first impression, it takes five subsequent bad experiences for a client to think "boy they've slipped."

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From AICPA CPA Insider, AICPA, www.cpa2biz.com, June 15, 2009, "Twenty-one Hot Ideas From Accounting Marketers."