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How do you stand out from your peers?

11th Jun 2015
Brought to you by
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ICPA is a professional organisation for accountants in practice.

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Mark Lee considers what it takes for the average accountant to win more work and to be better remembered, referred and recommended

Most marketing experts will tell you that you will win more business if you focus on a specific type of client base. Is this true and are there other ways in which you could stand out from your peers? I have worked with plenty of successful accountants who run practices that have a pretty generalised approach. You are not alone if you find the idea of focusing on a single niche or target audience too limiting.

Perhaps you feel it’s too early in your career to choose a niche. Or maybe you don’t want to be restricted to one target audience. You might also be concerned about alienating existing clients who do not fit that niche. Or perhaps you claim to specialise in all of the business sectors in which you have clients. Of course, having many specialisms can be a contradiction in terms. Another non-specific focus is claiming to specialise in SMEs. This is pretty meaningless as over 99% of all businesses in the UK fit the official definition of SME. If you’re going to reference a really broad specialism like this then ‘owner-led business’ businesses or ‘smaller businesses’ might be more accurate.

It is better, if you can, to reference a particular type of client that is easily recognisable by the people you meet and by those who fit the description. Accountants who do this generally find that they win more new clients than those who follow a more traditional and generalised approach. Such accountants also stand out from their peers. But it is only one of seven distinct ways in which accountants can do this.

Over the years I have identified seven fundamental principles that accountants can use to win more work and to be remembered, referred and recommended. No one needs to apply all seven. But it is clear to me that the more of the seven principles you adopt the more effective will be your efforts.  Working on any or all of the seven principles will help you build a more successful practice.

Below I have shared seven examples of how a lack of such attention could be hurting your efforts to win more work, to be remembered, referred and recommended.

• You don’t look the part: your image and attitude don’t engage people and your online profiles don’t reinforce the real you, either.

• Your message is muddled: you sound just like every other accountant –no one is inspired to want to know more or to think about engaging you themselves.

• You talk too much and about the wrong things: most people will find you more interesting if they perceive you to be interested (in them). When they asked you ‘what do you do?’ they didn’t want your life history, business CV or a list of all the services you provide.

• You are indiscreet: are you sharing too much information about specific clients and what you have done for them? Would they be happy to know you’re talking freely about such things? There are other ways in which you can show you are dependable and can be trusted.

• You do not inspire confidence: there is a fine line between confessing your inexperience and evidencing your relevant expertise if the two don’t match up exactly. You cannot expect people to be impressed by your expertise or qualifications unless they understand how these benefit them.

• You don’t keep in touch: so what if you gave them your business card? Why should anyone you meet keep you in mind during their busy life? No one refers work to a business card.

• You’re only interested in what you can get: you take advantage of others’ goodwill and offers of help but do nothing in return or to encourage a culture of reciprocity.

When you are familiar with the seven-point framework you can choose where to start and what you might want to do differently going forwards. The more points you pursue the more you will stand out positively from your peers.

• Mark Lee, bookmarklee.co.uk

Seven points to help you stand out

1 Appearance and attitude

2 Business branding and messaging

3 Conversations with more impact

4 Dependability and trust

5 Expertise and experience

6 Following up appropriately

7 Giving, sharing and caring

• Mark Lee will be presenting at the 2015 ICPA Conference on 24 September in Daventry. For information and to book your place call us on 0800 074 2896 or email [email protected]

This article is taken from “Accounting Practice” the ICPA quarterly magazine. Dedicated to supporting and promoting the needs of the general practitioner. You can find us at www.icpa.org.uk  or email [email protected]  or by phone on 0800-074-2896

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