CPA Marketing Tips - How to Market Accounting Services

The first thing an accountant needs to do in developing a CPA marketing plan is target potential clients. To accomplish this, the first thing you will need to do is establish criteria to determine who is a good client for your firm. The criteria may include:

employee size ~ sales volume ~ specific industries ~ credit rating ~ location

The next step in accounting services marketing will be to purchase a list of businesses in your community which meet the criteria. Once you have the list and have targeted your potential clients, the next question to ask yourself these questions: "Do I know how to market accounting services effectively", “Which businesses are currently frustrated with their accountants and would like to change accountants if only they could find a quality CPA firm?” Also ask yourself, “How are they going to know about you?”

Under traditional CPA marketing development techniques the CPA would go to Chamber of Commerce meetings or community activities and hope someone would refer them. Obviously, you can see what an extended period of time it would take to develop a practice using such traditional methods. An accountant could only sit, wait, and hope that someone they know is familiar with someone who is looking for a new accountant and can be referred. Other accounting services marketing programs are teaching accountants to hard sell business accounting services or sell them an appointment. The problem with hard selling accounting services is it greatly diminishes a potential client’s view toward the quality and professionalism of your firm. To illustrate, if you surveyed 5,000 businesses, conservatively you would find that 250 businesses are currently unhappy with their accounting situation and would like to change accountants if only they could find a quality CPA firm. If your firm implements a hard selling, traditional telemarketing approach and solicits those businesses, they will likely not proceed with your firm based upon its diminished view of the quality or professionalism of your firm.

Furthermore, if you implement a telemarketing program that solicits businesses by asking them to compare the cost of your services to their existing services, what quality of client would you obtain? Most likely you would acquire a client who is only concerned about your fees without regard to the quality of your service. This is why Frank believes you will not acquire a high-quality client through hard selling accounting services.

Frank has developed a "how to market accounting services" approach which involves no selling. It is based on the principle that there are a number of businesses in your community which are dissatisfied with their current accountant and would like to change accountants if only they could find one. After ten years of starting and developing five accounting and tax practices, Frank developed a CPA marketing strategy that will identify those businesses in need of changing accountants and motivate them to want to meet you. Notice Frank’s program does not require that you solicit every business in your community. Instead, his program accepts the fact that if a business is currently happy with their CPA, they’re happy, and you will only diminish the professional appearance of your firm by attempting to sever that relationship. His program focuses on identifying businesses which have a desire to change accountants. Once identified, the business will be motivated to meet or speak with you, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your quality and expertise. Once you meet with a prospective client, you will present them with a CPA practice management program which emphasizes quality and service. In ten years of starting and developing five practices, Frank has learned what services businesses are looking for from a CPA. Accordingly, he has developed a management program for accountants which provides those services and is different from the way traditional CPA firms have managed their practices. This new form of accounting practice management is more in line with the needs of businesses and is focused on providing a higher level of technical expertise and a higher level of service. When you implement this program, you will know how to market CPA services and:

1. Identify businesses in your community that want or need to change accountants.

2. Place them in a position where they will be interested in meeting or speaking with you, much like a referral.

3. Once they meet with you, present them a practice management program which is more in line with their needs, emphasizing a higher level of service and expertise, creating a greater perception of value.

4. This will result in your obtaining a new, high-quality client who wants you to be his/her accountant because he/she trust and value your service. Your new client will want your service, not because of the cost of your fees, but because of the quality of your service and expertise.

When Frank Salman began working with accountants in 1994, among the first things he noticed were the many other accounting services marketing programs available to CPAs. Many of the accountants Frank worked with were graduates of those other programs. He realized the CPA marketing approach and methods he used to develop his last three practices were dramatically different than those of other marketing programs. Upon evaluation, Frank realized everything he learned about how to market accounting services was from his own experience. It was from starting, owning, and managing five CPA firms and having started each one from scratch.

It is Frank’s experience that in this industry a client and a CPA have a unique relationship. A CPA provides a client with the personal service of taking care of a client’s finances and taxes. Accordingly, a quality client uses a particular CPA because he trusts and believes in that CPA and values him/her individually for the service he/she provides. Because of this, Frank does not believe you can market and sell accounting services like a commodity or product. He disagrees with any CPA marketing program that teaches hard selling. In fact, the Business Practice Development Program Frank uses involves no direct selling. His unique approach on how to market accounting services is based upon honesty and professionalism while providing a client with a higher level of service and technical expertise.

In comparing Frank’s accounting services marketing program with other marketing programs, Frank’s program goes much further. In essence, Frank is giving you the exact same program he used to build three practices three years in a row, including his most recent practice which achieved $150,000 in billings in ten months. He will give you complete, specific step-by-step instructions, including all of the materials, so all you do is follow the instructions for implementing the program for your own benefit.

In addition, Frank will personally provide you with unlimited support on an individual basis for as long as you need at no additional cost to assure you the program will be implemented properly.