This post previously appeared in the CPA Technology Advisor.
Please join me in a thought experiment. Think of the name of your favorite
restaurant. Just think of the
name. Try not to think about the
food, the service, the ambiance or the desert. For me it is impossible to keep it just to the name. As soon as I think of the “Flea Street
Café”, I can’t help but think of all the attributes (tasty, organic, caring
service, friendly) that make it a great place to eat and my favorite in the bay
area.
A brand is not about logos and colors; it’s about what
people think about when they think of a company name. Marketing professionals
try to influence that with colors, logos and other techniques but ultimately
the brand is considerably more complex and is built over time. And in the case of accounting firms,
the brand of the company is the brand of you. So with that in mind, what is your
brand? What would customers say if
I asked them what you stood for?
And how would you like them to answer that question? And finally, what is the best way to go
about building the brand of you?
You may not be asking or know the answers to these questions
but you should. In the absence of
you directing and influencing your customers and prospects they will determine
your brand attributes. You cannot
afford this. In the age of
technology and outsourcing, your biggest advantage is you.
Every interaction with a customer informs and affects your
brand image. When the customer
visits your office, they soak in all the details of your office without even
knowing it. For example, a messy
desk full of papers may make them wonder about your organization skills. An empty office, may make them wonder
why you aren’t more busy. Your
degrees and certifications on the wall may help them get comfortable with your
credentials. The list is endless
and my guess is that you don’t want your customers wondering about such
attributes. Without purpose or context you are giving away your brand.
Accounting firms today are at a cross roads... Not about
their image, but how they are perceived in the minds of their clients and
market. Are they a place for businesses to drop off their shoebox of
receipts and papers and get back reports/forms, or are they relevant to their
clients day-to-day finances/operations?
Ultimately, this is your choice. Whatever your choice, though, you must
communicate your brand consistently to ensure your customers think of you as
just taxes and forms or all of that coupled with sage advice, or something else
all together. Whatever image you
pick, you probably want it to do what all brands do – create customer loyalty
and as a result greater revenue.
And we all would like more revenue and less attrition. As someone who uses accountants for
personal and business here are the things that matter most to me:
Responsiveness
- We are in the information age
and for better or worse, information moves much faster now. We all expect more sooner. If I can get an answer on Google in 1
sec that would have taken me several hours 20 years ago, why shouldn’t my accountant
respond to my question in less than a few business hours? It may not be fair, but we all are
being trained to expect this. My
advice, if you can’t respond quickly, tell your customer when you will respond. That only takes a few seconds and will
reset the expectations.
Communication- Communication
is an essential tool in business.
While most firms communicate the positive, one of my pet peeves is
communicating the negatives/mistakes. Failure is a unique opportunity to say
something about who you are and what you stand for. If you make a mistake, acknowledging and fixing it can and
will enhance your brand. We all
know that we all make mistakes.
Yet it is rare for someone to acknowledge and to proactively make it
better. These are the people we
trust and ultimately that is one of the most important brand attributes an
accountant can have!
Completeness – Let’s
face it, your job is all about completeness. You have to know all the tax and accounting laws that may
affect your clients. That’s a huge
burden but if you don’t then your clients will look elsewhere. Maybe not today but when they learn
that something was not done completely, they’ll move. So if you are a small firm that may not be familiar with
ISO’s and AMT or Family partnerships or some other arcane law, refer the client
to someone who does or better yet consult that person and let your client know
that you consulted with an expert.
Efficient Technology–
As a technology entrepreneur, it should come as no surprise that this is an
important brand attribute for me.
It is the way I manage my life and given what it has enabled me to do, I
wonder when someone I work with is not leveraging technology. Technology can act like a wrapper
around your product and services.
You can use it to track important client details and communications, do
your work more efficiently, and become more proactive (more on that later). For me, someone who leverages
technology to the fullest has probably done it to get more time and better
perspective.
Proactive advice – Finally,
all of the above attributes come together in this attribute. Going above and beyond the call of duty
is the holy grail in servicing clients in any business. Combining technology and the complete
knowledge of your client will allow you to reach the ultimate responsiveness –
proactive advice. Understanding
the big
picture for your client, timing on retirement, portfolio and
investments, shifts in jobs,
business financings, etc is an opportunity for real value add. After all, as my mentor at Price
Waterhouse told me, “the language of business is accounting”. Make sure you read between the
lines.
Accountants are in a unique position to be consigliore for
their clients. If you can
position/brand yourself as such the rewards are strong. Good luck and happy branding.
Rene
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