Design can give you an unfair advantage, when you do it right!
This was the Corporate Identity of a sole-trader accountant. The name CMA comes from the owners name and the logo was designed by the printer without going through any strategic discussions.
The use of "Ltd" in the logo is a big no-no because it adds no value...who cares if you are a limited company or partnership or sole-trader? But, at least the "C" and the "A" bleed out of the circle which suggests creativity and out of the box thinking.
When we started working with this firm we suggested that although the design was professional it didn't really convey what he was about. So, we started to do some work and picked up that tax savings is a lead service.
We developed some ideas around this but it was felt the designs were too narrow. After a while and by probing we hit the jackpot. We discovered what this firm was really about and managed to capture this in the design:
Now, this is an expression of what the firm is about and it works well on the Website to the point where the URL was chosen www.handsonaccounting.co.uk.
We worked on some basic Search Engine Optimisation together and the Website is now in the top three on Google for the search phrase and is generating regular leads. What prompted this post was the firm has just won a client worth £8,000 a year which could rise to £18,000 and the design and branding made it a one-horse race.
It is vital the the experience of the prospect from enquiry to signing up is consistent. The Corporate Identity, Website and way the firm handles enquiries and clients is a powerful proposition.
I was doing some research about developing a Social Media Strategy and came across a case study of Ketchup. I find it useful to look outside professional services and particularly like products like Ketchup. This is because, on the face of it, Ketchup appears to be a commodity which is where many professional service firms are stuck.
The role of the marketeer is to differentiate the firm and many people go about this by exploring USPs and USBs (unique Selling Propositions or Unique Selling Benefits). However, marketing has moved on because everyone has USPs and USBs, who cares? And to be blunt if you think about accountants, most firm’s features and benefits are the same so what you really need to do is search for is your passion. Once you discover this you can focus on it and communicate it through your marketing, including your use of Social Media.
When it comes to passion, BMW has Joy, Volvo have safety, Apple has design, Disney has magic and Portfolio has freedom. Anyway, back to Ketchup and in particular Heinze who ran a campaign called Talk to the Plant. This is where they took two tomato plants and did an experiment.
One plant was put in a room next to a speaker and linked to a computer. You could visit a Website, type a message which would be spoke to the pant. The other plant was in a room with no sound.
The experiment was to see if talking to plants improved the tomato and monitored by a professor. Running the campaign allowed 65,000 Ketchup fans to participate and I am sure many others heard about it through word of mouth, like you are now.
The campaign used Social Media including a separate Blog but crucially it was driven by the wider strategy - Heize's tagline is “Grown not made”. You see, Ketchup are not just focussing just on the 57 varieties or the fact they started in 1869 - the key message is the journey from seed to plant.
This is a great example of how marketing can be done with joined up thinking. This is not expensive, but it does require creativity which is priceless.
I came across this video and have thought for a long time what accountants should be more interested in what they make and link their income to their client's outcomes.
Early in my research of marketing for accountants I came across Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) and the name Paddi Lund. Paddi was mentioned in a book and I was intrigued by his story because he not only won clients without advertising, he only works 22 hours a week and makes three times his industry average.
Paddi is a dentist and a few years after I first read about him I worked with Fletcher Potanin (Paddi’s publisher) to bring Paddi’s to The Institute of Directors in the UK. It was great to meet up with Paddi and the seminar was a great success with 500 dentists and business people. Here are some clips from the event:
I have used many of Paddi’s ideas in business for myself and clients but for me the most impactful is the idea of a Welcome Book. This is an A4 folder sent out to potential clients before you meet them. This resource does many things including filtering out the wrong type of clients. It educates prospects and makes them want to be your client.
The Welcome Book speeds up the sale and enables you to get higher prices. But, like all marketing it is important to understand that the Welcome Book makes a promise and you MUST honour the promise otherwise clients will feel cheated.
I can remember meeting a potential client and explaining that I would go back to the offices and put some thought to a package for them. Two days later I got a call from the prospect concerned because they had not seen a proposal and wondered if I was going to accept them as clients! The funny thing is that the prospect was an “A” type client. Nice people, good profits and I knew their budgeted for accountancy services fitted my business model.
I used the Welcome Book for years in an accountancy business and it is very powerful. I see this tool as part of the client induction programme. Consider investing in a Welcome Book and use the production of the book as a opportunity to bring your team together!