For the last year Zander Media has been on retainer with a firm that provides bookkeeping, accounting, and CFO services.
While most of what Zander Media provides for this firm is narrative strategy, content creation, and content distribution, at various points I’ve also stepped into a more active sales role, as well.
Because who doesn’t need help with bookkeeping and accounting?
Do great work
The first, and most critical step in any business – any endeavor, really – is making sure that the quality of the work is great.
Without great work, no amount of marketing (i.e talking about it) and sales (i.e. asking people to buy) will result in success.
Good marketing of a bad product just leads to a faster failure. The first measure of any business is the quality of the product.
Develop good will
I am convinced that everything comes down to referrals. Even work that we don’t think of as referral based, like Yelp reviews at Robin’s Cafe or an abstract idea like the value of Nike’s brand, condense down to people talking about your thing.
And if all success in business comes down to getting referrals, the question becomes what is necessary in order to get people talking.
My answer: good will.
Whether we call it reviews, “brand,” or just your reputation in the market, when clients think well of your business and tell other people about you, you’re more likely to succeed.
What’s your ideal customer profile?
Every business needs an ideal customer profile – a specific set of clients that they serve to the exclusion of all else.
As I’ve written about previously, there as a period when Zander Media did not target one specific type of client. We tried to be everything to everybody and, as a consequence, burnt out a lot of employees and goodwill.
Something as generic as bookkeeping can be for everyone. Everyone needs help getting their books in order and support preparing for tax season. But choosing your ideal customers is rarely a question of whether the services you offer can work for a variety of clients. Instead, it comes down to communication.
Is how you are communicating applicable and approachable to the clients they are trying to serve?
When you don’t focus on a single ideal customer, you become generic. You speak in genetic language and offer generic things. And when you’re too broad, you’re not able to reach – or to serve – anyone at all.
Who are you?
Early on in our work with this accounting firm, we set out to distill their organizing idea. We wanted to identify the core story that is unique to the organization and gets relevant clients onboard with their mission.
It’s one thing to offer accounting. It is another, entirely, to have an offer so clear that relevant companies see, and then jump, at the opportunity.
I realized that our client didn’t just provide accounting and financial services. They helped their clients understand what those numbers mean, and then use that information to shape strategy.
They focused not just on the numbers, but on the people behind the numbers who make the company work.
Make a clear, singular offer
I recently read Alex Hormozi’s $100 Million Dollar Offers. And while the entire book is worth reading, I particularly like the subtitle: “How to make offers so good people feel stupid saying no.”
That should be the point of your marketing and your narrative. Develop a pitch so good that obviously your potential client is going to say yes to you.
If the quality of your work is subpar, see “Do great work” above. Good marketing has to start from there. But assuming you are already doing great work, you have to communicate a compelling offer.
How are you communicating about your work in such a way that the benefits to the buyer are abundantly clear?
In the case of my accounting firm this could be a variety of things:
“Make sense of your money”
Many small business owners have a lot of stress about their finances. Perhaps, they don’t know how to read a Chart of Accounts or other financial statements.
This message is perfect when directed at a small business owner who is trying to make sense of their money.
“Take the stress out of accounting”
“Accounting is stressful!” This is a great message if your client is an early stage venture capital-backed technology startup that wants to focus on their core competency. They don’t have to worry about bookkeeping and accounting because someone else will do it for them.
This message wouldn’t work for a later stage technology company or larger privately-owned business. These companies know that an in depth understanding of their finances can be a strategic advantage.
“More money then you knew you had”
This is a good message for a midsize business that is paying too much in taxes or not taking advantage of tax breaks. The owner or a Board of Directors knows they are missing out on financial opportunities to save or retain capital. This message is for them.
“Get strategic with your finances”
This is for the CFO, Controllers, and more strategic side of the bookkeeping, accounting, and finances.
If a client is too small, or just plain scared about the state of their finances, this message won’t resonate. However, if they know the value of a strategic view of finances, this is a message that can work.
Guilt them into buying
If you have a lot of good will, a great reputation, and a clear offer that works for your clients, a potential client can’t help but say “yes.”
It is, eventually, important to ask people “Would you like to buy” what I’m selling.
But I’m a fan of providing so much value and goodwill up front that this final sale is a foregone conclusion.
You want clients who agree to buy from you because of the value – both real and perceived – that you’ve already provided them.
When you know exactly who you are selling to, and develop a great reputation, you can guilt clients into buying from you. Working with you becomes a forgone conclusion.
50% communication
I heard a quote once that has always stuck with me: marketing is 50% doing great work, and 50% communicating about the work that you do. Making a clear, singular offer means communicating about the great work that you do!
Of course, then you have to deliver against that exceptional offer, too!
Next week, I’ll take a deeper dive into leads and the various ways I’ve been helping my accounting firm get them.
Until next week,
Robin