If you think there's room for improvement in your accounting firm’s marketing and sales effort, you’re in good company. A study by Broderick & Co., consisting of in-depth interviews with leaders representing 130 well-known professional services firms in accounting, law, executive search, management consulting, architecture, financial services and advertising, suggests that firms are seeking a higher return on their investment in marketing and sales. While nearly 80% of the senior managers ranked “branding, marketing and sales” as important success factors for their firm, only 50% gave their own firm high marks in those disciplines.
After more than 25 years of counseling CPA firms of all sizes and levels of sophistication, I’ve identified two common firm-wide pitfalls that account for the significant gap between marketing expectations and performance satisfaction: “tactical soup” and “failure to launch.”
Tactical soup occurs when firms get bogged down in a flurry of marketing activity without placing enough emphasis on how it will help generate revenue and profitability. Failure to launch means that a firm is not effectively using existing marketing resources.
By following the rules outlined in my Journal of Accountancy article, firms can overcome these mistakes and gain tangible business results from their marketing investment. Let me know if I can be of help.
Comments