and how to pull in help from outside your firm.
by jean marie caragher
imagine creating a vision board of the top targeted prospects you would like to obtain as clients.
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this is what happened at legacy professionals, a niche-focused firm headquartered in chicago, illinois, focused on serving employee benefit plans, labor organizations, not-for-profits and government entities.
their top prospect list started six years ago and includes 20 prospects/relationships. julie tucek, legacy’s longtime marketing director, reviews it with partners and managers three times per year. “our largest new clients have been on this list,” says tucek.
how to create your top prospect list
the first step is to analyze your current client base. segment your clients by sic or naics codes. then, for each industry, calculate the gross fees, net fees, realization, average fees billed, average hours billed, average billing rate and number of clients. also, analyze your client base by sales volume, geographic location and services provided.
graph this information to give an accurate picture of your client base (see table below). this will show you in which industries you are spending the most time, earning high fees, experiencing high collection rates, offering a variety of services.
use this analysis to write the description of your ideal client. the description of your ideal prospect should be the same.
with the description of your ideal prospect in hand meet with your team members. create your initial prospect list with businesses and individuals your team may currently be courting. then, add to your list by purchasing a targeted list. sources include:
- hoovers
- guidestar – nonprofits
- charity navigator – nonprofits
- judy diamond – employee benefit plan audits and tpas
- audit analytics – public companies
- organization membership directories
- chambers of commerce
- business organizations
- trade organizations
- business lists
- infousa.com
- directmail.com/mailinglists/
- and many more
review your prospect list and focus on a realistic number. whether that’s one or three or five it needs to be a number that a team member can keep track of, and communicate and follow up with.
then, conduct additional research on each company by looking at their website, social media, google searches and what your team may know/contacts they have at the company.
with legacy’s niche focus, information can be found about the current auditors and fees from tax forms. this helps with their pursuit strategy.
how to reach out to your top prospects
legacy reaches out to their top prospects using traditional marketing tactics, including taking them to lunch, direct mail, email blasts, speaking, trade shows and writing.
“we know where our prospects will be,” explains tucek. “a partner or manager is assigned to reach out and say hello.”
legacy also reaches out to other service providers for assistance, including attorneys and money managers. “we know the service providers who work with our prospects,” says tucek. “we look for the opportunity to say, ‘we’re looking to work with xyz prospect. how can you help us?’”
legacy’s reputation plays a critical role. service providers in their markets are aware of how they work with their clients and enjoy working together on mutual clients.
the advantages of a niche marketing strategy
legacy’s targeted prospecting is successful because of the firm’s niche strategy. here is a list of the benefits of niche marketing.
- high profitability. niche marketing offers higher profitability for two reasons. first, clients are willing to pay a higher fee for industry expertise. second, there is less danger of losing clients if your firm is the industry specialist.
- economical. marketing dollars are being spent on specific niches rather than random efforts.
- high-value services to clients. firms specializing in an industry niche have the ability to offer services far beyond an audit and tax return. there are often opportunities for consulting engagements that benefit the client’s bottom line.
- easily identified prospects. by utilizing basic market research techniques, firms can identify prospects by geographic area, sales, number of employees, standard industry classification (sic) code or north american industry classification system (naics) code, and cpa firm. this information can then be used to define your market.
- fewer geographical barriers. being known as an industry specialist opens the door to clients outside your local marketplace. the skills and services offered by your firm can be leveraged to build your client base in other geographic markets.
- personal and professional challenges and rewards. being known as an industry specialist provides opportunities and exposure for your partners and professional staff. also, building a book of business is an effective career path to become a partner.
- easily identified competition, and strengths and weaknesses. while researching your prospects, determine the cpa firms that currently serve these companies. then, research the cpa firms to find their industry specialists, marketing products and industry involvement.
- prestige. a reputation as a specialist in a specific industry makes your firm more valuable to your clients and leads to additional marketing opportunities, for example, published articles, speeches, blogs, videos and leadership positions in trade associations.
- year-round work. by expanding the range of services offered to clients, it is more likely that you will provide services on a year-round basis, unlike traditional, seasonal accounting work.
- increased knowledge of your clients. by focusing on a specific niche you are also able to focus on continuing professional education (cpe), trade association memberships and outside reading on topics of need and concern to your clients. this in turn makes you better able to serve your clients’ needs and more valuable to them because you have an enhanced knowledge of their industry.
unpeeling the relationship
“it’s all about unpeeling the relationship,” says tucek. “we keep an eye on all the people we know related to each prospect. it’s never just one contact. for nonprofits, for example, there could be 10-15 people involved in the decision-making process.”
teamwork is important at legacy. the prospects on their top prospect list are managed by multiple team members. “we want the prospects we want to know we’re here,” says tucek, “and that takes a team effort.”