what else do potential clients know about you?
by sandi leyva
the complete guide to marketing for tax & accounting firms
i hear more accountants grumbling daily about how price-sensitive their prospects and clients have become. and they are right, to a degree. the economy has caused even the rich to count their pennies, and the percentage of people who look at a price tag before they buy has increased over the last five years.
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yet studies show that roughly 54% of buyers are not price-sensitive, and i would be willing to bet even more are selectively price-impervious depending on what they buy: women’s shoes, men’s cars, personal services, jewelry, vacations, cosmetics and hair, to name a few exceptions.
so why are so many accounting clients and prospects price-sensitive?
it’s because they don’t have much else to go on when they decide to hire us. we all sound the same. a typical elevator speech goes like this: “i do bookkeeping, a/r, a/p, reconciliations and payroll.” a typical accounting website contains stock copy that says, “welcome, we pride ourselves in serving you.”
when a prospect asks you about fees, most of you say you charge by the hour. so far, the only thing the prospect has to go on that’s different among you and everyone else they’ve looked at is your hourly rate.
no wonder they use that to differentiate you. they don’t have anything else to go by.
luckily, there are numerous solutions to help your clients and prospects become less price-sensitive. here are three quick ones:
- learn how to move the conversation from price to value.
- reposition your service so that your client feels their needs are being better met.
- up-level and/or customize your marketing materials so that they pre-sell you to the prospect.
each solution starts with learning just a little more about what just a few marketing and selling skills can do for your business. whether it’s doing something as simple as posting your photo and bio on your website to as drastic as niching your entire practice, marketing is the answer to immunizing your practice against price sensitivity.
when you can give your clients something besides price to judge you on, you might just be surprised how the problem suddenly disappears.