7 ways to ringfence customers - How to protect clients, sell more to clients, and effective client...

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Insight Intelligenc e 7 proven ways to ring fence your customers… www.salesforaccountants.com by insight

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Right now in the current market, ring fencing your customer base is a critical and urgent part of successful practice management. A firm must protect clients. Your customers are at more risk than ever before and also need greater support from their most trusted professional advisor. This also presents for most firms a very real opportunity. Some firms have been complacent, others have been down-right lazy. Truth is, if you’re not using twitter – your competitors will be. If you’re not online to market and sell, your competitors will be. If you’re not actively protecting your clients, your competitors will be actively courting them... To talk 1:1, without obligation, and to get expert independent advice for your firm and your goals please call +44 (0) 800 8030826 or email me direct on [email protected]

Transcript of 7 ways to ringfence customers - How to protect clients, sell more to clients, and effective client...

Page 1: 7 ways to ringfence customers  - How to protect clients, sell more to clients, and effective client surveys.

Insight Intelligence

7 proven ways to ring fence your customers…

www.salesforaccountants.com by insight

Page 2: 7 ways to ringfence customers  - How to protect clients, sell more to clients, and effective client surveys.

Insight Intelligence

Who are Insight and what do we do?•Nearly 30 years of working with accountants of all sizes, helping them to grow

•Over 3000 delegates to live events this year

•Over 10,000 reports downloaded

•Over 25,000 subscriber to bulletins pm

•Over 300 consultative 1:1’s with partners of firms this year

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Insight Intelligence

It’s more critical than ever

•Right now in the current market, ring fencing your customer base is a critical and urgent part of successful practice management

•Traditional firms can be careless with customers assuming they will last 7 years or more. These days are changing, and fast.

•Clients are at more risk than ever before• “bombarded”• Ever increasing need for support and proactive ideas• Banks have a ‘plan’ to ‘replace’ accountants on the high

street• Firms are marketing more than they ever had using

multiple channels• Unique economic times

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Insight Intelligence

7 ways to ring fence your customers

•Apples to Accounting

•Mobile to MYOB

•Banking to Bookeeping

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Insight Intelligence

#1 – Have a strategy•The most basic step that so few firms simply do not take

•It should be agreed across the practice

•Must incorporate both in firm, online and offline

•Social networking will become an increasing part

•The strategy should be reviewed every 6 months

•One thing is more certain than ever – if you don’t have a strategy to protect your customers your competitors will have one to ‘tempt’ them away

“If you always do, what you’ve always done, you wont get what you’ve always had – it will be less.....”

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Insight Intelligence

#2 – Your database, the heart•Most firms have significant gaps in the completeness and quality of their client database

•How is it managed? What software is in place for ease of communication?

•Does it have full contact information, mobile, email, LinkedIn profile etc?

•Without this being completed, becoming and remaining a cultural ‘norm’ within your firm, your ongoing client protection strategy will be hampered.

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Insight Intelligence

Insight Intelligence

Have a ‘fit for purpose’ CRM system

Small practice medium – multiple siteNational firm

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Insight Intelligence

#3 – face to face contact

•The number 1 area of perceived value a client says they have with their accountant is face time or communication time

•How can you create more of this to ring fence your clients?

• Meetings• Hospitality• Business breakfast meetings at your office• Workshops and seminars• Webinars and audio’s• Pre- scheduled 1:1 telephone reviews

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Insight Intelligence

#4 – Online reputation‘Online’, LinkedIn and Social Media are not a bubble that is going to burst, instead all of the facts indicate the opposite – it’s going to grow in importance.   Now, more than ever you have to have a great online profile and positive brand.

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Insight Intelligence

#5 – Join the conversation

•At the end of busy day, you are relaxing at the local health club which happens to serve a good pint and a question is asked....

• Can you join in this conversation?• Do you have some questions to ask?• Might you be bale to help him legally, ethically and

appropriately?• Could it save him significant sums of money?• Could you win out of this conversation?

•The same tools, tactics and rules apply online – great news for accountants!

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Insight Intelligence

#6 – engage through multiple channels

•Newsletters/budget updates etc are fine, but...

• Push/pull emails create real value, differentiation and crucially analytics

• Send an email to 500 people• Know the 60 people who read it• Know the 20 people who clicked through to your landing

page on your website• Know the 2 people who downloaded a report• Personalise your next message to their clear interest• Focus your follow up on these key contacts

•How can you use direct mail, text messaging, APPS, audio – what are your clients preferences?

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Insight Intelligence

#7 – Customer Satisfaction Programme

•Done by telephone

•Client care at its heart

•Live unscripted questions to draw your clients out

•Powerful and precise feedback to encourage and improve

•3x the volume of detailed response and more than the ‘usual suspects’

A Scottish firm also used this approach to cleanse their data list andunderstand their clients preference for contact:-Mobile and text messaging-Email marketing-Client login areas on websites

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Insight Intelligence

Case Study Small specialist firm - Principals proven across firms of all size

“By getting an independent organisation to pose the question I feel that 3 distinct benefits have accrued.

1. Firstly clients are very pleased and impressed that we’ve taken the trouble to ask them for their views.

2. Secondly the feedback will enable us to make a couple of simple changes to our operation that will make a big difference to the way clients perceive what we deliver.

3. And finally the independent confirmation of the aspects of our work that clients truly value means that we will have greater confidence to charge properly for such work in future.”

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Insight Intelligence

Retain and Grow your clients

•Heavily personalised ‘customer care calls’ to your clients• Protect against attrition• Up and cross sell with integrity – generating requests to

do more

•“what a good idea, we should do this with our own customers!”

•‘live the value’ of being proactive

•This one area alone has averaged a 7x ROI for firms of all sizes

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Insight Intelligence

Insight Intelligence

How to plan a customer satisfaction programme … Option 1 do it yourself

Option 2 let us do it for you

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Insight Intelligence

A free resource pack for everyoneThere is a limit to what can be covered by webinar; that’s why we offer the following.

1. The Holy Grail report  - your free 12 page report that outlines step by step the most powerful customer protection programme for accountants

2. Free 1:1 together by phone - expert, independent advice from the comfort of your office and without obligation 

3. Invitation to join us for a full day live

4. Free evening with our senior team over champagne and Canapés