Case Study - CMA

This Case Study is of a start-up practice, owned and managed by a sole-trader based at home.

The Starting Point
Chris had built up a small accountancy practice as a sole-trader through rigorous networking. He had no website, no real brand and no marketing plan.

Chris is naturally confident and a good public speaker. He had no problem with rolling up his sleeves and getting stuck into telemarketing, a task that can terrify the hardiest accountant.

The Portfolio Marketing Solution
We undertook a marketing questionnaire and consultation. During these preliminary discussions, our aim was to reveal Chris’s value drivers and tap into his language and business beliefs. 

After we completed the consultation, our designer drew up a series of logos around the theme of ‘cutting the red tape’, something that Chris does for his small business clients. Chris had used this turn of phrase a few times during our discussions. We worked through a palette and left Chris to mull over the final designs for a couple of weeks as he went on a well earned skiing holiday.

After his return Chris confessed that something wasn’t quite right. After much thought, he had come to the conclusion that ‘cutting the red tape’ was too narrow as it only applied to a proportion of his portfolio. He loved the design and the colours, but the message and the story didn’t fit. A great corporate identity should fit like a well-tailored suit. So we started again.

We had another consultation and Chris mentioned that he believed in hands-on accounting. This was the key. New logos were designed around the idea of a thumb print, implying that the firm leaves a mark on its clients through getting truly hands-on. 

Chris was delighted as it was applicable to his entire portfolio and truly stood for everything he believed in. We even chose the URL www.handsonaccounting.co.uk to underline the message.

We then took the identity colour scheme and developed a Welcome Book for his potential clients, a fully branded report to use as part of Permission Based Marketing report in conjunction with a pair of branded postcards.

To support the website, we invested time in Search Engine Optimisation.

What happened next?
Chris calls his marketing a ‘seamless message’.  From his clients first viewing his website, or meeting him at a networking event, or receiving a postcard or a telephone call, his branding and his message is unswervingly consistent.

Moreover, Chris’s branding has revealed more about his true self. He had told us that his language has changed when talking to his clients, with new phrases coming into circulation connecting to his overriding message.

Chris has found that friends, peers and clients alike have identified the new branding as a perfect fit and that this has given him even more confidence in his product. Chris is signing up a client a month via the website.  The SEO has paid off with the practice appearing in the top three of Google for his chosen search terms.

The right clients have responded positively to the branding, so the sales process has been significantly easier with no price pressure. The latest client through the website was an £8,000 annual fee. The client and Chris’s service package was a perfect match and Chris called the process a ‘one horse race’ in terms of winning the business at the right price.

Chris will now continue to grow his portfolio selectively and strategically, working very closely with a select mix of targeted clients for a good fee.