As noted in this space last week, the conference travel
schedule for our company principals has more resembled 11th hour
campaign stops just prior to Election Day than a measured and deliberate
agenda, but such is the mid-to-late fall season within public accounting.
In just a few short months, our phone calls will be embraced
with all the warmth and respect of a persistent subway panhandler in dire need
of a shower as our clients no doubt will be snorkeling under a tsunami of
1040s. Succession planning or upstream
mergers will be at, or near, the last thing on their minds.
Which in a sort of roundabout way brings me to today’s
topic – marketing and lead generation. I’m often asked how we get our leads and
my answer is often broad-based. The truth is we get them via a variety of ways
– teaching CPE, presenting webinars, getting referrals from existing clients,
conference exhibitions and of course, old fashioned cold calling.
All, at one point or another are effective in their own
way, but over the past several years, I’ve noticed a distinctive shift –
particularly with regard to conferences. With the expense and logistics of coordinating
air travel and the difficulty of being away from the office for a set amount of
time, there’s been a distinct drop in attendance for many of the past events
that have heretofore been staples of the public accounting calendar.
As a result, we have cut down our show schedule somewhat
dramatically and bolstered our business development focus on CPE and speaking
engagements, which in a breakdown of a cost-per-lead study, are far more
economical. Also we have stepped up our
in-house marketing efforts in a big way by onboarding a terrific coordinator.
Interesting, but how does this apply to CPA firms?
Glad you asked.
Recently, there
was a study released by a professional
services marketing firm that found the average CPA firm spends anywhere from 2
percent to 5 percent of its gross revenues on marketing. The study was
apparently conducted to offer a schematic on the percentage of firms who deploy
formal marketing efforts as well as those who focus on business development and
other strategies to develop client leads.
Obviously revenue growth would be a top reason for
marketing efforts but without going too far out on a limb here I would surmise
that targeted marketing could also be used for recruiting efforts. And I’m sure
nobody ever has had a problem in that area? Yeah, right.
I always found it strange that whenever a company in any
industry hits hard economic times, the two areas that are almost unanimously
singled out for cutbacks are marketing and staff training – exactly two areas
that should NEVER be trimmed.
So in 2014 you may want to review your current marketing
and development efforts and determine where your efficiencies lie.
Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll still be able to schedule
one or two conference trips to Las Vegas.
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