Another question I thought was interesting posted on AccountingWeb was “Employing a marketing consultant”.
The person asking the question was by their own admission narrow minded and cynical so I thought I’d pull no punches here. With this attitude I think he will struggle.
The first thing I noticed was the word "employing" - this is an interesting choice to describe the relationship. I would suggest “engaging” or “working with” is a more accurate description of a positive and successful relationship.
Now, one of the problems for marketing for accountants is the mindset and attitude. I know some people won’t like me for saying this but there is a huge amount of arrogance within the profession. And, many accountants are unwilling to invest and take risks.
I can understand it because accountants work hard to get qualified, they are probably in the top 1% of the population in terms of academic intelligence, have regular work and a key part of the training is prudence and cost cutting. But, that style of thinking is not helpful for building a successful accountancy practice.
If you are narrow minded and cynical about marketing that is your problem because it limits your options and gives you less flexibility. I remember attending the start-up and franchise exhibition at the NEC when we were researching franchising before we launched the Crunchers Bookkeeping Franchise. I overhead a potential franchisee talking to a franchisor at his stand and the franchisee was giving the franchisor a real hard time. The franchisor said “you seem to be very negative towards franchising, why you don’t do it yourself?”
One of the keys to practice development for accountants is making the shift from technician to smart marketer and losing the accountants mindset. If you are going to engage a consultant, be clear and realistic about what you expect.
Do you just want someone who will give you some leads or do you really want to work with someone who will challenge your mindsets. Someone who will help you develop a practice strategy, show you how to package and price effectively, develop processes and sales skills and pull together a coordinated promotional strategy using online and offline tactics?
However, one of the first questions for anyone who is thinking of employing a consultant is what happens if you don’t?
• How unhappy are you?
• How much pain are you in?
• Will you need to merge and accept orders from someone else?
• Can you afford to buy your way to success with expensive promotion?
• Can you buy some fees?
• Can you be patient and wait?
For me, consulting is about transfer of knowledge within an enjoyable experience. An email has just come in from a firm I am working with which says it all; can accountancy marketing be this much fun?
The answer is yes if only have a positive attitude and are willing to look at things with an open mind and work with your consultant.