when bad news happens to good firms

don’t go spinning out of control.

by bruce marcus
professional services marketing 3.0

editor’s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 was privileged to have a long relationship with bruce w. marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. we are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

every election campaign produces, among other things, media myths and bad language. during the elections of the last two decades, the language was infected by a new myth called spin control. the phrase, which broke a speed record in becoming a cliché after the 1988 election, implies that a good media relations practitioner can control the nature and texture of a story in the press – can put the right spin on it to get the journalist to tell it the spinner’s way.

more: why accountants should be nice to journalists | when there’s a leak in your firm | eighteen things advertising can do for your firm | how and why client service teams work | manage knowledge as a marketing toolsecret marketing formula: get one client at a time | marketing a fixed position in a moving world | how to build a marketing culture | have you planned how to service your new revenue? | why is change so hard for firms? | why value pricing works
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it’s just not so. for all that the myth implies, when it comes to the media, we propose – but others dispose. thus it was, and thus it always shall be, so long as we have a free press.

but is the telling always accurate? no. is it always fair? no. sometimes, despite all of the public relations professionalism, and despite all the cooperation we may offer the media, the story comes out badly. disaster, dispensed in the aura of a supposedly objective media, doesn’t merely strike, it reverberates.
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client acquisition never stops

nine businesspeople talking in trios at a gathering

six ways to draw people’s interest.

by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services

a good marketing program never stops marketing the firm. you must always think about acquiring new clients to replace lost ones and to improve the quality of your client base. it’s a fact of life that some clients will move, go out of business, merge or even leave us for another firm.

more: make sure you know what you will get from your marketing | ten questions to refine your successful marketing plan | four questions for choosing your marketing audit strategies | four steps to a successful email marketing campaign | five reasons to implement change orders | make your practice better | eleven marketing strategies for smaller firms | five questions for developing your marketing plan | you only have four strategies | the damage that traditional fee methods do
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let’s look at some basic client acquisition activities that should be part of your marketing plan. you may be asking yourself, “which ones work?” they all do. the secret of business development is to constantly be in the marketplace because you never know when a prospect is ready to buy from you or to move from their existing accounting firm.
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make sure you know what you will get from your marketing

 

smiling man speaking into microphone in front of laptop

are you spending your time effectively?

by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services

i once knew a firm that was spending a significant amount of money on marketing and was experiencing little or no growth. they could not understand what was going wrong. they tried all sorts of marketing activities. they presented webinars, sent out a client newsletter, did some advertising and public relations, and so on.

more: ten questions to refine your successful marketing plan | ‘sales’ is not a four-letter word | maybe what you need is a marketing audit | three types of marketing message, and which is best | why you need progress billing | five tips for cross-selling and upselling | five keys to successful marketing | twelve fundamentals of planning | one question to guide your growth plans | four ways to prepare for new business development
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the problem was that this firm did not know what to expect from their marketing activities. sometimes they wanted clients immediately, and when that did not happen, they then tried another marketing activity, never staying with an activity long enough to see results. the moral of the story is that marketing takes time to produce results, and if you are not patient, it can eat up your hard-earned dollars and time.
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ten questions to refine your successful marketing plan

stack of cards labeled with question marks

is the right message reaching the right audience?

by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services

the main reason most marketing programs don’t work is that not enough time is spent up front in the planning stage. marketing, like anything else, takes careful planning as well as execution. i’m going to propose 10 key questions that you need to answer before embarking on your next marketing program.

more: ‘sales’ is not a four-letter word | three pillars support a successful accounting firm | clients have six reasons for needing you | six ways to market your technology consulting practice | sixteen marketing activities to try | the four steps of your personal marketing process | how does your firm measure up? | six questions before asking for all the referrals you deserve | five rules for a marketing orientation | ten keys to marketing success
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  1. what one purpose do you want to accomplish? too often, accountants begin a marketing program without really knowing what they want to accomplish. sometimes there are so many things they want to do that it becomes unrealistic to achieve all of them. the result is confusion and dissatisfaction.

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