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Budget 2010: An opportunity you must not miss

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22nd Mar 2010
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This is the time of year when clients expect you to have an opinion – use it your advantage, says Practice development editor Mark Lloydbottom.

This week’s Budget is awaited with a modicum of scepticism given that most key measures were announced in December, and with an election around the corner most people do not expect major announcements in the areas of tax increases or spending cuts. However, for accountants the Budget represents a time in the year when clients expect us to have an opinion. Everyone else has an opinion or takes the opportunity to get across a point of view, and now is not the time to mirror the habit of a trappist monk! With the possibility of a hat trick of Budgets in the ensuing nine months, the Budget statements provide an ideal opportunity to use these events to promote your availability and expertise.

“Oh but everyone sends out Budget Reports,” you might think. Not so. As the founder of Practice Track (once one of the leading innovators of Budget reports and tax cards) I know that sales of these products have been declining as websites have become the primary means for firms to communicate tax information available to clients.

However, there remain very good opportunities to use the forthcoming Budget(s) to promote your firm, enhance your reputation and gain new business.

Given that there are probably four major providers of Budget reports and tax cards I would estimate that less than 10% of accountants send out Budget reports, 20% do tax cards, and probably less than 1500 accountants have up to date tax content on their websites. Below are a few recommendations for how to use the Budget to promote your accountancy practice based on my 25 years of experience doing just that.

Haven’t ordered yet?

It might be too late to order from the marketing publishers, but you could listen to the Budget speech, download the press releases and prepare a one or two page summary of the Budget that you could email to clients, referrals and prospects (your CRPs). The advantage? We all know that bought-in Budget reports have to include some information that is not relevant to your clients – prepare your own and you need only include the main announcements. You could also include your own commentary – that’s something that a Budget report from the marketing publishers doesn’t include.

What if you don’t have a tax card order in for 2010/11? Maybe you believe that sending out Budget reports or tax cards is likely to cause confusion? In this instance, why not prepare a one page summary based on the main rates and send these to clients advising that you will let them know if and when rates change.

Waiting for delivery

Make sure everyone in the fulfilment team knows their role. Most importantly, make sure you send your Budget report with an accompanying letter with your ‘overnight’ comments. Make it clear that this is not a pre written letter. These letters should be personally signed – I recommend a colour other than black, in fact I always used my fountain pen and blue ink so that recipients knew this was personally signed. Having completed your letter, what form does your bounce-back take? Include a quick check list of areas where the recipient may wish to have further information. This is one time when your CRP’s expect to hear from you – make it personal and don’t disappoint.

Take it personally
With Budget reports being sent out [possibly late] on Thursday 25 March, there is every possibility that your Budget report will not be opened until the following Monday, by which time the weekend media will have dissected the Budget and rendered your report of no great relevance. Select ten top clients per firm owner and make sure the report is delivered by hand. Why not do the same for your prospects? You will almost certainly have your report there before any other arrives.

Tax cards

As these tend to arrive after the Budget report why not wait until you send out your 6 April letters before sending these? This provides another marketing opportunity. Not everyone acquires their tax cards from a publisher partly because they do not wish to have a card that is the same as every other firm and partly because some do not consider the cards display the information they require.

Planning ahead
If you wish you had taken more interest in using the Budget to market your services, there’s always next time – most of us are waiting for the “real” Budget. Clients need to hear from you as their number one adviser. My forecast for the next five years is that 95% of firms will only communicate Budget and tax information online.

The future of the Budget report

Personally, unless Budgets become a little more interesting I can’t see how a fixed format 8-16 page report can survive – the web is most people’s preferred means of communication.

All those who disagree, or if you have any other comments to add, please add your comments below.

Mark Lloydbottom is practice development editor for AccountingWEB.co.uk.
 

Prepare for the 2010 Budget with AccountingWEB.co.uk

 

Replies (9)

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By cymraeg_draig
22nd Mar 2010 15:56

.

I wouldn't dare send my opinion of this government to client's through the post - it's not legal to send obscene publications.  

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Adrian Pearson
By Adrian Pearson
22nd Mar 2010 16:54

Sorry, but I have to disagree

In 15 years running my own practice I only ever had a handful of clients ask me my opinion on any Budget.  Most small business owners are quite capable of forming their own opinions on how it will affect them.  But, maybe that's just my experience - I would be interested to know what other practitioners have found?

Because the Budget has to cover all forms of taxation, any "template" letter (or purchased guide for that matter) must, necessarily, be generic and cannot focus on the individual client.  Unless you are willing to craft individual letters, based on each client's specific circumstances, I believe you are better off not sending anything at all.

I know, Mark, that you are saying something similar, but it's not just the printed Budget report which is dead, so are all "canned" commentaries, even those published on firm websites.  The delivery mechanism is not the problem - the content is not personal, one to one advice, so the client has to filter the content for their own needs and, if they have to do that, why wouldn't they get more authoritative knowledge direct from the specialist online media sites?

As for "probably less than 1500 accountants have up to date tax content on their websites", I say thank goodness.  It's a shame the number is not 150 - or 15.  Clients don't want to look for technical information on their accountant's website, they want to pick up the phone and have the answer given to them.  That's customer service.  And it's also a great marketing opportunity for the firm.  Surely we want clients talking to us, so we can identify needs and sell them solutions. Self-help information on the website sabotages this selling opportunity and bypasses a touch-point for demonstrating great customer care.

Adrian Pearson, Top Accountants

 

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By Bob Harper
23rd Mar 2010 08:48

Who is this for?

 Sorry Mark, but isn't it true that many firms use the budget to make themselves feel good? 

It is like firms that send out budget reports, tax cards and/or have a Website populated with generic content are satisfied because they can put a tick in their marketing to do list.  

I spoke with a firm yesterday and asked them about their Website; their answer is typical.  They have a template solution (chosen my the owner because it is not extensive and doesn't require any time).  It has the usual budget commentary and tax tables.  This guy was really positive about the Website and said they have a great email newsletter built in.  When I asked if he is winning clients through the Website and the answer was no.  I suggested he ask his clients if they are reading his email newsletter to see if that has any value.

The trouble with accountants choosing Websites is that they tend to like different content to their clients.  I think what has happened over the last ten years is that Website providers are selling stuff to accountants which they like, not what their clients will respond to.

It could be worth pointing out that marketing can be positive, neutral or negative - generic content should now be classed negative marketing.  Clients are looking for something different so firms should invest and develop a content strategy which is unique and has value content.  If you cannot do that then question your firms resourcing - do you have too much operational resource compared to marketing?

But, unique and value content requires time, energy and creativity.  And, as usually you may need to get comfortable outside your comfort zone by producing audio and video content. 

Marketing is what will drive your firms profitability, value and sustainability.  More accountants and better internal systems will only get you so far for so long and that road is quickly getting shorter!

Your Website should be part of your sales and marketing processes to generate better leads with less time and money.  It should also be part of service delivery and a platform from which you hang everything.  Having content which is generic could be doing more harm than good. Even referrals will check you out online and if you look the same as their current firm they may not make the call.

Bob

Portfolio Marketing

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Della Hudson FCA
By Della Hudson
23rd Mar 2010 09:57

The Alternative Tax Adviser

I find it useful to keep in touch with my clients regularly as one or two have a tendency to take advice from "a bloke at the pub" or similar. It saves me a lot of work if I don't have to talk them out of peculiar tax "saving" schemes before presenting them with realistic ones.

As for websites; I deliberately let engineer husband design mine. He burst my bubble on several illusions that I had about what clients want. Apparently we're not held in such high regard as I thought and just today an old school friend described dealing with her accountant as "like a trip to the dentist".

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Adrian Pearson
By Adrian Pearson
23rd Mar 2010 10:20

We have been eschewing technical content for 10 years

Agree with your comments Bob.  Our ready-made accountants websites have never included the detailed technical content that most accountants, mistakenly in my view, believe they must have.  The following extract from our homepage sums it up:

"We believe that soon more and more firms will come to the same conclusions and will regret spending large sums on online resources that nobody used."

Maybe we are wrong, the only way to find out is to ask.  So, in that spirit, here is an online survey I have just setup.  Can I ask all interested readers to spend 5 minutes completing it?  I will come back with the results when the scores are in!

Adrian Pearson, Top Accountants

 

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By Bob Harper
23rd Mar 2010 10:51

Good example

Adrian is providing a good example of how you can use the Internet in your marketing...run a poll or survey on a key topic facing your industry. 

When you have information you can publish the results in a blog post, write an article (great for SEO) and add value to your Website, issue a Press Release (great for SEO and brand building) and even produce mention the results in a whitepaper (which can be used for lead generation) - all this from one small event!

Personally, I would have set-up a survey on the Website like this and captured contact details so I could nurture the relationship.  This can be done by going back and offering more free value based content. 

Your Website can help you engage the market and moving the free line in a conversation is all part of "Inbound Marketing" - your Website can be the platform to launch this type of highly effective marketing.

Bob

www.portfoliomarketing.co.uk

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By cthomas1967
23rd Mar 2010 14:15

SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE

In my opinion the only thing likely to give clients anything resembling a wow factor is to send them a budget summary on March 24th, within a few hours of Mr Darling sitting down. It's the speed that counts. The content is important but remember that most folk can source their own summary of how the budget affects them via the bbc website, or any of the national newspapers.

Personally I think the world has moved on from printed tax cards and posted letters to clients. By the time they receive the information days if not weeks have passed.

But I agree with Mark that any action is better than no action.

Chris Thomas

www.oneaccounting.co.uk

 

 

 

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By cymraeg_draig
23rd Mar 2010 16:10

I think its pointless.

 

Clients only want to know how the budget affects THEM.  Unless you want to do a tailored summary for every individual client I dont see the point.  There are  summaries in the papers, on the news, on ceefax, and on the internet - why would any client need yet another summary?

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Steve pipe
By Steve Pipe
24th Mar 2010 10:11

Two even better ideas ?

 An accountant once said to me “My clients want tax tables from me as much as I want oil viscocity tables from my car mechanic! They just want me to sort things for them in the same way that I want my mechanic to sort my car for me.”

So my strong preference is to do things differently to the rest of the profession – since that way you stand out, get noticed, get talked about, and get results

And here are two ideas I have seen work well…

TECHNOLOGY - Reading based K&H do a live minute by minute commentary on Twitter as the Chancellor speaks, and follow that up with a 6 minute audio commentary on the Budget which the tax partner records overnight. All of their clients and contacts are then emailed with details of how to access both (I received my invite about 5 minutes ago).

PRESS RELEASES – Some firms send out press releases with their initial comments on the Budget within 2 hours of the Chancellor sitting down. But their press releases don’t contain anything technical. Instead they are topical soundbites that are deliberately designed to grab people’s attention.

And it really doesn’t matter if they are never published, because the real payback comes when they also post the press release direct to their bank contacts and prospects with a compliment slip saying something like “Just in case you miss this in the press, I thought you might be interested in our response to the Budget”. (Sending press releases to non-journalists in this way always gets you noticed – and I recommend it most strongly).

Crucially, those press releases always also contain an offer of a one to one tax minimisation review to help the reader “get to grips with the implications of the Budget and ensure that they do not pay a single penny more in tax than is absolutely necessary”. As a result this approach actually creates referrals and other sales leads, it engineers meetings with prospests, and it helps convert leads into clients.

FREE EXAMPLE - I will gladly send an example of this sort of press release, and guidance on what to do with it, to anybody who emails me on on [email protected]

 

-- Steve Pipe FCA - Author of the White Paper "The Proactive Accountant" and adviser to over 200 leading UK accounting practices.

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