Your Accounting Website- Market Your Firm With Local Search Listings

Only a few CPAs really grasp how to really use an accounting website as a sales instrument. Accounting professionals have a natural desire to land new prospects quickly and a propensity to concentrate on immediate conversions, but in fact a website is a long term sales tool. Selling pro services like accounting requires time, forbearance, and doggedness, even on the internet.

Only a few businesses are looking for a new a new CPA at any given time. Most of the people who need a CPA already have one, and the nature of the relationship between a client and a CPA naturally engenders a great deal of loyalty. Avoid the hard sell. High pressure tactics will likely alienate your prospects.

What's the best strategy, then, for luring new clients into the firm?

Well, the truth is that despite all the new technologies the best strategy for finding new clients hasn't really changed much.

Good old fashioned networking is now and probably always will be the key to your firm's success. Take the time to get to know your prospects. Care about them and treat them as individuals. Post information to your website that will benefit them over the long run and use your email marketing system and newsletter to let them know when you post something they'll find helpful.

There's a downside to networking, of course. It's time consuming and labor intensive. Working a prospect can take months, even years. Market research tells us the average wait for a conversion is 9 or more contacts, and the average life expectancy of an accountant's relationship with a client is about six years.

I know that sounds like a lot of work, but please don't misunderstand my message. Take the time to do it. The long term health of your firm depends on it.

I had to say that. I don't want you to think that what I'm about to teach you can replace your networking efforts.

You need to know a few tricks, that's certain enough. But once you know a few simple strategies you'll find that there are some quickie clients to be had out there.

The web gives you a huge advantage. For the first time small business owners have an opportunity to really take advantage of what industrialists call the "economics of scale". Economics of scale dictates that no matter how happy most business owners are with their accountants, if you can contact enough of them you'll eventually find one that's ready to find a new one. Even if 99% of business owners are satisfied with their accountants, if you contact a thousand of them with a soft sell you'll likely land 10 new clients. The Internet is fast becoming a kind of community center not unlike the an old fashioned town well.

The old cliche of "Location, Location, Location" is alive and well, but your geological location isn't actually as important as your location on Google. Take time to work on improving your accounting website "location". Your firm will gain both over time and in the short term.

Kenny Marshall is a maketing guru and former Officer of CPA Site Solutions, one of the United States' leading web businesses oriented entirely to accounting website design.

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