Selling Your Accounting Services Online
While online digital marketing for accounting firms will boost brand awareness and ensure people know who you are, a good sales strategy will generate revenue by converting brand awareness into customers and clients who pay for services. This is a crucial element of any growth strategy. So as well as spending time on small business advertising and lead generation, you also need to know how to start selling your accounting services online. Here are some useful tips to set you off on the right foot.
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Know Your Customer
First things first, you must know exactly who you’re talking to. Having a clear picture of your target market or audience and their specific needs will allow you to offer the right accounting products and services. For example, your setup and marketing language might be tailored to well-established businesses when, in fact, start-ups are in need of your services. Armed with this knowledge you can then approach sales differently, taking into account the fact that newer businesses probably require multiple products. You can then pitch your firm as a main accountancy provider for a range of services. The way you speak to start-ups will be more educational and explanatory too, so this will infiltrate into your marketing practices as well as to your sales team.
A great way to really understand your target audience is to carry out thorough research that’ll help you to create a fictional ‘buyer persona’. This should inform and clearly define the most important qualities of potential clients as well as any pain points they might have. Make sure that your marketing team knows and understands who your ideal client is, and train them to address common pain points in a problem solving way that draws people closer to your brand.
Top Tip: Knowing your customer will stop you from booking any client. While taking on anyone might be tempting in your early days, it could also result in you selling a service or speciality that you simply don’t offer. By knowing your audience in detail, you can pass along a referral when you’re contacted by a company or person that doesn’t fit into your business model.
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Adopt a Multi-Channel Approach
If you’re only using one channel for lead generation, you might want to think again. Generating new leads for your accountancy firm is multi-faceted and prospective clients spend time in many different places (both online and offline). To capture the most data about new leads, you should invest in a multichannel approach that allows you to generate interest in more than one place. For example, you should always include a lead capture form on your website, but you might also choose to run social ads on platforms where your buyers spend time. Buyer personas will help you with these finer details as you’ll already know where potential consumers like to hang out. While older clients might prefer Facebook, younger clients could prefer Instagram or TikTok ads.
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Incorporate Cross-Selling Techniques
When it comes to sales, don’t miss out on opportunities to cross-sell as this could increase your annual turnover significantly. Inform clients and potential clients about the whole plethora of services you offer, and explain how each one can enhance their requirements. Think of it like this: when a client comes to you with a specific need at a given time, you might be able to solve their primary problem as well as fixing other issues on their list. For example, if a local business needs bookkeeping help year-round, you can help them with everything from cash flow and expenses to profit and payroll. During tax season, however, you might also discover that they need extra assistance in this area, and you can step in to fill the gaps. Essentially, keep your eye on the ball at all times and constantly look for ways to be as useful as possible.
Top Tip: When it comes to client interaction and upselling, don’t give the impression that you simply want to make more money as that can be off-putting. Instead, address real-life problems with tried and tested solutions. If you have dedicated review pages, service pages or blogs created as part of your marketing efforts, you can also direct consumers to these so that they have a better understanding of what you’re offering. Clever marketing can make the sales process a whole lot easier to navigate, which is why the two so often overlap.
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Use the Right Platforms, Tools and Automated Software
Whether you’re selling accounting and tax services to new clients or upselling to existing clients, it’s important to have the right tools. An intuitive marketing and sales platform or a comprehensive customer relationship management system (CRM), for example, will help you to accomplish way more than you could do on your own. The right systems will also help keep all data and communication efforts organised so that you can keep track of sales funnels and understand where each client is on their journey with you. There’s nothing more embarrassing than contacting the same client with the same query or marketing message over and over again. This makes you look unknowledgeable and out of touch.
In addition to providing better workflows between departments and team members, digital tools and software can automate certain aspects of the sales journey that many businesses struggle to maintain. You can help alleviate the pressure of the daily workload and ensure you don’t miss anything important when dealing with clients.
Need a marketing agency for accountants to gu? Then contact Whitefish Marketing today. As a Digital Marketing Specialist, we can help you to improve your online communication and reputation, which in turn will enhance your sales process.
