Are Your Marketing Dollars Wasted?

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

If you are spending marketing dollars without a sales follow-up plan you are wasting your money.

Firm leaders should be asking questions such as:

• Are we confusing marketing activity with value?
• Does our marketing actually drive revenues?
• Do our marketing activities help the firm to grow in ways that we want to grow?
• Are marketing and business development initiatives tied to our core business?

Sales follow-up:

Suppose your firm hosted a successful manufacturing seminar and more than 150 industry leaders attended. As a result, a number of attendees expressed interest in meeting with you to discuss new concepts presented at the event. Unfortunately, the daily focus of most professionals is on chargeable time. That means getting in front of these potential new clients will likely not make their priority list once the seminar is complete.

Here is a process that might be used to remedy this failure:

• Host debriefing session.
• Identify how you will follow up with participants — i.e., calls, letters.
• Develop a timeline and identify which professionals will follow-up with which participants.
• Identify key talking points for your professionals to use when making telephone calls to schedule meetings with top prospects.
• Add all participants to your firm's distribution lists for communications such as newsletters and e-newsletters.
• Develop a plan to keep in touch with participants. Include a schedule for follow-up calls later in the year.

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From AICPA CPA Insider, June 14, 2010, “Is Your Firm Wasting Valuable Profits on Marketing?” www.CPA2biz.com.