MARKETING IS SERVICE

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

For years, I have been beating the drum (for anyone who will listen), that a CPA firm’s best marketing activity is providing QUALITY, TIMELY AND FRIENDLY service. It is as simple as that.

Firms spend thousands of dollars on websites, newsletters, brochures and sending their marketers to conferences attempting to find the new business pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet, they are not willing to spend nearly as much on training and rewarding their team members and partners for providing knock-your-socks-off client service.

This goes back to the old Accountants’ Boot Camp programs that attempted to teach CPAs how to WOW their clients with over-the-top client service. A great resource you should investigate is Troy Waugh’s Five Star Client Service program.

Maybe you can sense a tone of extreme passion about this topic – well, you are right – it’s another one of Rita’s Soapbox Issues. Here’s what brought it to mind again. I came across this article: How Apple is Blurring the Line Between Marketing and Service.

Here’s an excerpt (but please read the entire article):
Whether explicitly acknowledged or not, there’s an unmistakable “service is marketing” mantra pervading every aspect of the Apple Store. And that’s something every brand, even those not as shiny as Apple’s, can learn from. The opportunity to solve problems, find solutions and even address “the darn thing doesn’t work” emotional pain-points all lead to a higher impact-marketing and sales proposition. While not every marketer has a Steve Jobs-inspired vision, every consumer-facing company has problems that can be converted into opportunities to inspire loyalty.

I would change one line: “The opportunity to solve problems, find solutions and even address “why am I charged this much for the work you did” emotional pain-points all lead to …….”

Are your partners and managers hiding behind brochures and marketing campaigns?
Do they duck phone calls from clients inquiring about their fees/invoices?
Do they use email rather than talk directly to someone (this really applies to your inside clients – your staff!).
Do they delay pursuing new business by asking for numerous mailing lists and data bases, then when the frustrated marketers actually get the campaign rolling, they do not make the phone calls that they promised they would make?
Is your firm spending significant dollars on marketing training and coaching with little to show for it in the end?

“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” – - Walt Disney