Accounting is a high-volume business, and you should always be attractive to win more clients. Marketing your bookkeeping business to prospective clients is a continual process: find new leads and prospects, show your expertise to the broader world, demonstrate the specifics of your practice’s abilities, network efficiently and add more services through technology.
These are the five tips suggested by Heinrich Swanepoel, Head of Growth at PaySpace, to win more clients:
“I work a lot with many accountants, from sole proprietors to large accounting firms, and I’ve noticed there are a few steps they overlook. Yet these ideas are also very effective, and every practice should give them attention if they want to keep growing and stay resilient as markets change.”
- Ask prospective clients for referrals
Ask prospective clients for leads even before they commit to your services. The usual approach is to close the deal and then ask for any new leads. But Swanepoel says it’s much better to get such information earlier:
“If you ask a potential customer for leads while they are in an early discovery stage of your offering, they are often much more open. The usual way is to ask this only at the end of the sales or delivery period. But it can take months to reach that line, and the people you initially spoke to, who were excited about your offer early on, might have moved onto other projects. It’s better to ask them sooner.”
- Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn has grown into a large and trusted platform for business users. Accountants should use the site to highlight their brand, show their knowledge and reach new people.
“Ask for recommendations for your profile. I know it works because we’ve hired service providers based on their LinkedIn recommendations from other customers. Most people only use Linkedin’s recommendations when they look for a new job. But those short quotes also build credibility with potential clients. You should also create content for Linkedin, such as regular posts and articles. Don’t expect results immediately—it can take a few years to see returns. But it works very well. Rather than spend time being a content consumer, focus some energy on content creation.”
- Document and Tell
Savvy prospective clients will ask about previous work you’ve done, which is information you can provide on the fly. But how deeply can you demonstrate your value to them? If you document your processes and provide some detail behind your track record, you have more than just a good story to tell.
“This is like ‘show and tell’, but call it ‘document and tell’,” says Swanepoel. “Many accountants and bookkeepers get tied up in what they do and forget to portray how they get results. This advice ties in with my point about creating good content that markets your knowledge and competencies. Some of that you want at hand to show in a meeting. You don’t want to say, ‘we will get back to you’ if you can go right there and then, ‘here’s what we did and why it worked.’ If you take the time to document and express the things that make your accounting effective, you have a lot to show.”
4.Network smartly
Networking is the undisputed way to attract new business. Yet many accounting businesses don’t use networking to its full effect. They will go to conferences and events, shake hands and disperse business cards. But their competitors do the same. Swanepoel suggests going a few steps further:
“The most crucial thing about networking is to not talk about yourself. Ask questions and see if you can connect the dots for the other person. And don’t stick only to virtual engagements. Meet people in person. The other networking opportunity is to work with peers in your industry. I saw this in a talk by Mr Beast, a hugely successful social media entrepreneur. He explained that he learns a lot from people in the same line of work. Try to get together regularly with your peers, even your competitors. Exchange ideas and share experiences. You’ll be surprised to see how it can become another referral channel.”
- Provide additional services
If people already have what you can offer, offer them something new. Bookkeeping practices focus on a few services, usually essential but routine tasks. Most bookkeepers don’t provide much extra because of their time and capacity constraints. But if they use modern accounting, payroll and HR platforms, they can offer a lot more.
“Accountants do more than balance books,’ says Swanepoel. “Their exposure to that side of a business makes them perfect to offer other services, such as payroll management or nuanced financial reporting. The usual excuse is that they don’t have the time or money to expand into different areas. But if they use modern accounting, payroll and HR software platforms, they can automate predictable tasks, provide clients with self-service areas, and provide decent insights. Even small practices can do this because cloud software is very affordable and often simple to understand.”
