Testimonials
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It’s not a big change to each CPA’s website, however the new logo and terminology needs to be included. Members can still include the old designation that comes after the accountant’s name and CPA. For example: Sally Smith CPA, CGA.
Most small accounting firms with a website are probably using a WordPress theme. If not, and the site needs to be updated, it’s quite easy to move the site contents to a theme. Most WordPress themes cost under $100.
Quick Fix Fees to WordPress website
A) Add CPA
Add CPA in Various Places in the site and tag images appropriately, add CPA logo. Add the text CPA appropriately. Only $27
B) Update Current WordPress Theme
Same theme with new version software, clean up minor design issues, appropriate small blocks of text added. Only $115
C) New WordPress Theme Installed On Existing Domain
With current text and graphics. Addition of CPA logo and text, with small blocks of new text added. Only $235 plus cost of the theme
Interview For Original New Text
By reviewing Best Practices for small accounting firms, from single professional up to 5 partners, Gap Management has developed a detailed list of questions to learn about each client’s practice. This guides the immediate text to be written, supplementary writing (brochures, correspondence and more), and future updates and blogs to be written or outlined.
It is in the interview that we discuss specifics to emphasize, so your potential clients will learn quickly and remember your website and your practice. Differentiation is very important when potential clients are comparing firms before talking with any accountants.
D) Rewriting Website
Interview needed if there is lots of new text to be written, not supplied by the firm.
Gap Management has a detailed process, including key pages and content outlined. However we need to interview the firm’s principal(s).
The Interview and follow-up Quote are no charge. Requires Quote.
E) Creation Of Original New Website
For full site development for accountant who has no website, Gap Management has a detailed process, starting with confidential in-depth interview, key pages outlined, keywords for search engines depending on services available, suggestions on graphics and photography. WordPress theme choices will be provided and discussed.
The Interview and follow-up Quote are no charge. Requires Quote
If an interview is done, that includes information needed for brochures, presentations and other documents to be written. It’s best if the full scope of communication requirements are understood when the website is written and edited.
Why WordPress?
At Gap Management, we use WordPress website themes for a number of reasons:
- WordPress is a very reliable and widely used set of standards, and the options fit small and medium-sized businesses;
- The selection of creators of themes that work on the WordPress standards is large, and the number of individual themes available is very large;
- Customizing themes and adding appropriate “plugins” is easily done by people with moderate skills;
- Updating the software in most themes’ software is very easy, and even automatic;
- Responsive website are now essential for getting reasonable rankings on Google and other search tools. Responsiveness allows the website to be viewed on mobile devices, which is now very important.
- Updating and editing a website can be done in minutes by non-technical staff with no design skills.
For details on business writing, website development and other Client Development needs, contact Gap Management at (604) 789-1676.
3 Quick Packages For A CPA’s Website: Basic Improvements
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Can I help a professional feel confident in networking? No. Can I give them specific steps to do before, during and after a networking event? Definitely.
If you can follow a short checklist for a process, even when nervous, you can build a contact list with the right connections.
The main principles needed to increase a list of good contacts are:
- Choose the types of people you should be connected with;
- Choose the right events or organizations;
- Decide on 2–3 questions to get others talking;
- Outline how you describe your professional services and results others have experienced;
- Capture people’s information quickly;
- Record your new contacts and their information;
- Deal with all contacts appropriately;
- Maintain contact with some, in ways people value.
There is no magic, except the discipline of a few good actions. By building your network, you increase your options, opportunities, and even develop some surprising friendships.
I remember when I first started going to networking events, membership organizations and other places to meet people. I knew most people wouldn’t become clients, but I didn’t have a plan on how to deal with strangers, what to do with business cards I’d picked up, and how to keep in contact. I was nervous because the process was not clear. Now I know what to do before, during and after the event. Plus I feel no guilt for discarding inappropriate business cards.
Gap Management works with professionals who wish to grow or refocus their client base. The goal is to build each practice toward the ideal, based on the individual’s preferences and market conditions.
Can I Help a Professional Feel Confident in Networking?
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Referrals
I attended a business referral breakfast with a BNI group. A few of the members told me referral partnerships bring in about 1/3 of their new business. It takes months and even years to develop referral partnerships. Attending meetings regularly can be 3 hours each week to build up new contacts.
SEO
Website specialists often focus on S.E.O. (search engine optimization). By carefully developing and then maintaining the content on a website and other online assets, they can move a website toward Page 1 of Google and other search engines. That process is at least 6 months, and probably more, depending on the level of competition. Each month there needs to be well-planned content developed and used in various online formats. Each website needs to have a page that offers something of value so people who might need the business’s services can respond easily, otherwise they probably won’t act and may forget.
Cold Calling
Cold calling is seen by many as telemarketing. It is not! I first came across a successful small accounting practice that hired someone to make calls to business owners with simple questions:
- Do you need help with your business Year-End?
- Are you satisfied with your current process?
- That phone caller was working for them about 5–10 hours per month.
Nurturing Emails
1st Contacts are extremely important, but they need to be followed up with appropriate information. These “interested” executives are not potential clients until they start interacting. A series of emails to interested new contacts will build their understanding of your services, over time. These emails can be sent regularly to educated people, and start to build understanding.
Each of these methods can profitably reach the right people. However, you need to realize, the “need level” is different and so different methods of communications and messages need to be considered.
Trust
Accounting practitioners are going to get new clients only after trust is built. Only after there is trust can a detailed and insightful conversation happen. Over time, with good communications, you can demonstrate your appropriate service levels and expertise. Trust is the heart of Professional Services Marketing.
A Balanced Strategy, Every Month
Each of the 1st Contact methods above is not intense or expensive. It’s simply a matter of a good plan, good content and discipline over time. A few hours invested weekly, or monthly, will move your practice in the right direction. Then you will gain new contacts, some of whom are potential referral sources, some are potential clients, and many won’t fit. By dealing with each set of contacts with a plan, you will gain new clients, and you can attract preferred clients – the ones who fit your client development strategy.
If you’d like more information, or a free conversation, contact Gap Management for ideas.
How Multiple Ways to Get New Contacts Results in More Clients
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When a client asks if AI is used: “Yes” is the answer
It speeds up the processes at a few stages- When interviews are done, the questions, specific answers and general conversation need to be recorded and accurately transcribed.
- The recording makes sure all the comments are captured
- AI is used in some transcriptions and human transcriptions when the recording isn’t clear or the interviewee has a heavy accent
Before the project starts
- We need to understand where AI will speed up processes
- And, very importantly, where learning might be cut short because AI is used
The learning is essential. People are the key to this service, not hardware or software. Their expertise needs to grow.
By anticipating where learning might not be captured, we need to add some steps.
Insurance
We do random spot checks to review interview recordings, transcripts of those recordings, and analysis results based on those.- Did the information in the end-analysis truly reflect the interviewee’ emotions, ideas, complains, and more?
- Very importantly, the random conversational comments, those statement not directly dealing with the question asked, those need serious consideration. That extra commentary can provide deep insights. What is their opinion of the people, organization, services, experiences and results?
Post-Interview Ideas
Immediately after each interview, the interviewer needs to review the session. Some of the questions to be answered are:- What notes were jotted down during the interview, indicating important or new information?
- What parts of the interview were high energy and engagement or low energy? AI will average those.
- Description of the interviewee’s personality
- Did they give a referral with enthusiasm?
Each interviewer needs to be trained and ready to jot short notes during the interview and then review the conversation immediately after.
Client Experience Journey
Our clients cover a lot of different business and organization types. The common factor: the experience of their customers/clients through the stages of learning about the client, choosing their services, experiences with their people and services, and the results of those services and experiences. It’s people-to-people.Where To Add A Step?
AI is the tool, not the leader. It needs supervision and quality control. The high-value services clients on Gap Management expect to learn what they didn’t know which can improve their expertise and services.Two examples of checkpoints are:
- Listening to interview recordings and reviewing the Report section about the interviews;
- Reviewing the Stories in the Report to ensure the StoryFrames & Segments section reflects the actual comments and person commenting.
Then we need to ask: if the Report section isn’t in line, which adjustments are needed right away.
Constant Learning
The people who are giving guidance or advice to clients need to continually learn, just like our clients.Each Report is not the end. It is the guide to improving the client’s processes and communications.
The focus is people and the interviewee’s relationships with our clients, their high-value services providers.
If we give too many roles to AI without making sure we learn, the quality of service and analysis will decrease.
AI can speed the process and provide extra time so that we can grow our knowledge. Only then can AI be a boost.
How we use Generative AI in the Feedback and Reputation Report process
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Most of us are better and earn more respect than we believe. For some reason, we have less confidence in ourselves.
You are probably the same. Most professional service providers rate themselves lower than how their clients rate them.
That scientific facts has been proven again and again. But just hearing that makes very little difference on how we perform.
Statistics Don’t Connect
People will rank their own services as “70% Quality” compared to their competition.
Over 85% of past clients will rank the service provider as Very Good or Excellent.
You will probably forget those 2 numbers before you finish reading this.
Yes To Statements & Stories
“The team really cared that the services would look after our needs properly.”
“I really appreciate the skills she has, and how well she completed our project. She listened carefully and delivered to results on time.”
“I am so glad I chose him. His understanding, training and professional work were exactly what was needed.”
Real anecdotes about you will be remembered and passed along as referrals.
Social scientist Adam Grant said:
“If I want to get a read on your personality, I could ask you to fill out a survey… But I would be much better off asking others to rate you: They’re often more than twice as accurate.”
These stories and services feedback are part of the Feedback and Reputation Report.
The Report makes a big difference in opportunities, income, self-worth and more. When you hear specific comments from a variety of your actual clients, you start believing more in your skills and value.
And that has a positive feedback effect on your service quality. You do better because believe you can.
The payoff comes in a variety of forms:
- You become more comfortable asking current clients about their need for additional services;
- You become more positive with people you know;
- New contacts hear the optimism in your voice.
“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”
Vince Lombardi, US football coach
And the best part of the Report? It’s all based on the evidence we gather in the interviews. The interviewees, the clients of our client, say “Yes” to the interviews. On average, over 80% will give the few minutes and useful feedback.
Yes, the results lead to positive business effects. But it’s the personal confidence that is so great to witness.
Even accountants like the results:
A Feedback and Reputation Report usually pays for itself in new income in the first month. That’s directly in new work from past or current clients, more referrals are uncovered, marketing resources get a very significant boost, and new opportunities open up. The whole process even boosts loyalty because people feel more appreciative when asked for feedback and ideas.
One More Thing:
When people are feeling confident about your skills, they are much less concerned about fees and comparing you to others. You stand out in the best ways.
Who This Fits
If you have been working with a variety of clients for a few years or more, if your fees are moderate-to-high, and if people carefully consider your services before saying “Yes”, then the Feedback and Reputation Report will have a positive R.O.I. And these positive effects can be tracked in nearly any market condition.
Need more information? Let’s talk – there is no cost for our conversation and clear answers.
Experience an Honest Boost in Confidence When You Learn What Clients Really Think
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Churn Rate In Professional Services Is Expensive
Finding and gaining new clients is a constant and is expensive in Professional Services Marketing. With an average Churn Rate of 73%, building new contacts and relationships is a priority.
There are many statistics available in Professional Services Marketing. However, one top metric which very difficult to measure is “Relationship”.
And relationships are the #1 reason new clients commit to a specific firm or professional services provider.
Clients need to feel trust. That results from seeing evidence of the professional’s previous successes, agreeing to a set of services they believe suits their requirement, believe the fee structure is fair, and more.
But how do you measure “relationship” with any kind of reliability?
Net Promoter Score is a common method, with its drawbacks and strengths. I have found it reasonably easy to calculate and communicate.
Commitment is the goal. And that’s affected by too many factors to be simple.
Does the professional and their services offering FEEL right to the potential client, after all the testimonials, fact-finding and presentations? Some say it shouldn’t involve gut-feel, but it does very often. Or there is a hidden strength you didn’t know you have.
Preferred Clients is the best goal:
• Learn the attributes of the better-than-average clients
• Find more like them
• Initiate new relationships
• Demonstrate the factors which motivate Preferred ClientsThat’s one of the goals of the Feedback and Reputation Report: Can we identify the Preferred Clients and learn the factors which motivate them to commit to the professional’s services?
It starts with the list of interviewees: your current and recent clients. You decide who is Average and who is Preferred. Both are asked the same sets of primary questions. When the interviewee seems to have real comments, ideas, information and feelings on a specific point, secondary questions are asked.
The aim is to learn which factors indicate who is Preferred and Why.
Less Churn: that’s only one of the goals of the Feedback and Reputation Report. But that single metric does save real money as the costs of Client Development and Client Retention are reduced.
Preferred Clients have stronger relationships and are more loyal. Are you ready to learn what motivates your clients?
Churn Rate In Professional Services Is Expensive
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Each Feedback & Reputation Report (FAR) is very individual and yet there are common processes and outcomes. Stories told about the company which is the subject of the FAR are very important. These are very often strong memories, and they can reveal motivations and more.
Agency Battlecards
For an agency, competitive agencies were described in the interviews, and the ways those agenc clients compared and chose agencies. Those advantages became part of battle-cards in sales and the website was adjusted. A new story was developed and spread through referral partners.In potential client meetings, the decision-makers often refer to what competitive agencies have offered. When the presenters knew the strengths of their own agency and vulnerabilities of others, they answered important questions, and were able to give specific advantages. It just involved a little practice and information.
New Content For All Media
The various clients of a business coach tended to tell 3 different ways they compared the coach. Their motivations, emotions and decision criteria pointed to 3 different key messages. In the FAR to the coach, clear new messaging was outlined. The agency gained much greater insight and was able to provide honest differentiation with evidence. That messaging improved the social media, SEO, stories for referral partners, presentations and advantages compared to other coaches.SEO and SM Given Time To Work
Sam had been a very skilled remodeler/renovator for a contractor, before starting his own kitchen and bathroom company. He was not patient with digital marketing and told his agency he was getting calls from other agencies. Based on the insight learned in Sam’s FAR, the agency developed a local reputation plan and guided Sam on making in-person contacts. He also learned how to improve his contact list, work a networking event, use questions to get others talking and ways to demonstrate his above-average skills using a variety of testimonials. His online and offline reputation resulted in great new contacts and customers.Different Agency Clients Describe New Segment
For a FAR client, 4 of the interviewees from different companies had similar experiences. Those memories were told a variety of ways yet illustrated a new set of opportunities. Their testimonial quotes became a story-frame and outlined an important client segment for the agency to target. Those narratives also guided the agency on recognizing indicators of segments and how to target them with specific sets of marketing services.Immediate Referral
Stewart, a CPA, told how he described his marketing agency to a friend, a managing partner at another CPA firm. Stewart’s marketing agency was told immediately about the referral, not needing to wait for the FAR analysis and report. That referral was new information to them and they acted on it. Stewart was happy to make the introduction.Growing an agency’s client base with “preferred” clients instead of “average” is the goal. Learn what others are saying about you, and get a plan to boost your reputation.
5 Stories About Marketing Agencies Getting Advantages
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Professional Does It
- Networking & Referral Contact
- Contact with in-depth questions
- Outline & review documents
- Record conversations & other interactions
- Represent your professional services & get new clients
Support or Specialist Does It
- Marketing writing
- Graphics & photography
- Develop & manage budgets
- Set up library of document templates, photos and graphics
- Learn about potential clients, networking groups, referral sources & suppliers
- Pre-qualify before 1st contact
- Send follow-up letters, emails
- Setup & maintain Contact Management system
Do or Delegate Marketing Tasks
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If you calculate the time and cost it takes to get a new client, and then the revenue from that client over the lifetime of the relationship, you can then learn what a referral partner is worth.
What will you expect from a Referral Partner? Some of the attributes might be:
- Absolute confidentiality on certain topics
- Professional delivery of services, reliability
- Clear understand of what they do
- Clear understanding of what you do
- A few stories about the experiences your clients have had, that they can repeat to others without giving away any sensitive information
- Real understanding about the most likely type of clients; and who will not be a potential client due to personality or something else
It’s going to take some time before you learn enough about others and they learn about you before you get a mutually beneficial relationship.
What’s the ideal way someone can talk about your services to others? A few key points are:
- What was your client’s problem or experience before you were engaged to provide services?
- What was the result after the service was delivered?
- What was the client’s experience in dealing with you?
Those are short points, possibly only 1 sentence each. So your referral partner might be able to paint a picture of you in only 3 sentences. Short, direct, and quite effective.
Each Referral Partner Relationship you get over time will not be equal. In some you give more referrals, in others they give more to you. Try to develop a few referral partner relationships over a couple of years, and try to get diverse partners. A small business accountant might have partners who are selling office supplies, doing HR consulting, a dentist and others. These are people who talk to many different people themselves, not the same social or business circles.
Referral Partnerships
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When you hear five or more people giving feedback with a common suggestion, it becomes clear: the client needs to improve on that point.
Often, it’s a small issue:
“I wish they would answer their emails on the same day.”
“They are too impatient with collecting payments.”
“Sometimes small tasks that we expect to be done get lost.”
But are those small issues? Not if a number of different people say the same thing.We don’t get to decide what’s small or large – customers do.
If these are the worst problems, that’s not so bad because they’re manageable.
But manageable doesn’t mean optional – it still needs to be a priority.Your reputation is fluid. Your team may change, competition adapts, technology evolves, and economics shift. It’s never static for long.
Using It
Blaming staff is the worst form of management. If they’re not meeting expectations, it reflects on your training and supervision.Own it: show your management skills at work.
Work with your team to develop a process that is both reasonable and reliable:
“We’ve had several comments about [TOPIC]. Customers have mentioned [SUMMARY OF ISSUE], and I’d like to resolve this to ensure we continue to attract above-average clients.”
Ask nicely. Explain the positive outcome. Listen attentively and without interruption.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures the percentage of positive clients minus the percentage of negative ones. It’s a key indicator of reputation.
Another strong indicator are the stories customers tell. At Gap Management, we use the term “StoryFrame” to describe a common story told by multiple people. If the same story is shared by five or more people, it reflects a very real experience.
Yes, some people love to complain. But when multiple customers share the same concern, it’s time to listen carefully and act.
Hearing the Details
When we interview clients of high-value service providers, we hear detailed experiences.These clients take the time to talk because the service is important to them. They’ve invested significant time and effort in deciding to work with our clients.
They’re generous with their time and ideas.
They share their stories, suggest improvements, describe different service levels they’ve experienced, provide testimonials, discuss the competition, and more.
The Report we deliver after analyzing all interviews is designed to trigger action.
The Value of Criticism
Criticism has high value. It can elevate organizations – but only if they’re prepared to embrace it.Preparation involves action and the willingness to accept negative comments.
Leadership is emotion as well as action. You can’t command a team if you don’t command respect by setting an example.
If the top leader only delegates tasks and then complains, they’re not a leader – they’re a dictator.
And that kills a reputation quickly.
How the Customers of Clients Hammer Home the Importance of Using Criticism