Innovative Practices
How To Increase Your Time, Value and Retention Rates Through Advisory Services INCREASE CLIENT TheRETENTION 5 ThingsRATES!
Stop competing on price and you must know stand out in the marketplace to capitalise Leverage Your Time & on the fastest Increase Its Value growth Automated systems reduce the time required to deliver services Sector experienced Increase Client Life Time Value in recent years! Deliver products through focused & targeted strategies
Innovative Practices Powerful strategies for modern practices
WWW.MarketingInfluences.com
FOCUS
By J. A nd
r
Increase Services While Reducing Resource Demands Increase Client Retention, Time and Value!
s ew
Increasing Your Value, Time, Profits and Retention Rates
Having the right strategy and automated system increases retention, profits and Available Time
The 5 keys To Successful Client Retention and Value In Recent Years there has been a notable shift in the services required by businesses from their accountants and accounting practices. Today, business owners are looking for partners to help move their business forward not just report on it. Although accountants are viewed as trusted advisers, the majority of relationships and communications are reactionary to events or circumstances compared to pro active development of the relationship through value added services.
2
The change in the market is pushing practices to expand their product offering, being welcome news for some and disastrous news for others. The one’s who embrace this opportunity will ultimately have a stronger client base with increased revenues and profits. This is in contrast to others who continue with traditional services, which are becoming more commoditized. These practices will continually be looking for new leads and clients because they will struggle to demonstrate a no
point of difference and will continue to compete on price. This report outlines a 5 step process to develop, promote and delivery advisory services to exceed clients expectations, maximise client value, increase retention rates and profits in a practice. We look forward to helping you increase your retention rates and profits.
Key points To Increasing Retention Rates & Profits 1
Collecting and managing client informa-
2
Developing products through a consultative
4
Advisory services with a point of difference
tion will not only help deliver
process with clients can greatly
will enable a firm to stand out in
relevant products and services to
improve a products success.
the market place.
clients. Increasing the value and life time value of clients which is beneficial to both parties.
3
The utilisation of technology can reduce
5
Marketing the product to existing clients
time demands on a practice and
can produce a high ROI when
provide convenience for clients.
you know your clients and your products.
3
Client Information Strategy
The more you know your clients the more value you can provide to them
The More You Know Your Clients The More Value You Are To Them THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between having a client list and knowing whom your clients are.
enhances the relationship and provides one of the greatest opportunities to introduce new products and services.
The more details a practice has on their clients, the more valuable they are to a practice and the more value a practice can provide to its clients.
Also as the market becomes more competitive it will enhance client retention rates.
Having information in a structured and organized manner helps a practice specifically target clients with laser like focus, ensuring they are served in the best way possible with relevant products and services. Providing clients quality information on a regular bases
4
This process can be almost 100% automated with the use of a customer relationship management system (CRM) in combination with the right strategy. CRM programs can and do vary in price and complexity; however there are some simple systems, which are suitable.
A practice that maximizes the spending for existing clients will benefit through stronger relationship, higher switching costs (for client), increased retention rates, more referrals and higher revenue and profits. Knowing who your clients are makes the following steps easier and reduces waste, confusion and increases results from all activities.
Information Gathering
Knowing What Your Clients Want and Need ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS to creating a successful service is ensuring the market is either ready for it or wants it. In most cases the market is not even aware they require a service. There are many examples of businesses investing large amounts of human and financial capital in the development of a new product or service, only to find the market is not interested in them or does not need them.
nesses would not be aware they require such services, although almost every existing client would be an ideal recipient for these services. There are several ways to maximise the success and minimize the risk of a service prior to investing heavily in it. One approach to give the best chance of success is to develop the service in collaboration with your existing ideal clients.
This is simply because the development was based on what the supplier felt the market wanted or needed without asking them.
This process will enable you to develop services to meet the needs of your target market. Having an existing relationship with clients makes this process a great deal easier.
Business and Tax Advisory services are two areas, which can have a significant impact on a business. However most busi-
Because you can identify who the “A” or “B” clients are for the collaboration process, compared to starting with
unknown prospects. It also identifies who the initial clients are for delivering the new service. The development and consultation process can be carried out in a number of different ways. The greater the input from the intended clients will result in a higher quality product. Listed below are a number of potential methods to engage clients in the process. Developing product in this manner requires control and management by the company, as products should not please everyone. Once the product is defined you can then determine the best ways to deliver the service to the clients.
5
Automated Delivery Process
Technology opens up a number of service deliver mechanisms
Delivering The Service THE DELIVERY OF SERVICES can be carried out in many different and varied ways. The consultation process would generate a number of possibilities; however there are several others, which could be considered. Automating as many areas of the process as possible will enable greater utilisation and leverage of resources. Today there are a number of technologies, which enable a practice to do this with
6
benefits to both provider and receiver.
meetings, emails, webinars, google hangouts and more.
Great care should be taken to ensure there is a balance between the value being delivered, the personal relationship and technology.
This would be in addition to one on one or one on many sessions.
Ensuring it does not become to sterile or mass-produced as the value could be diminished. Some of the delivery methods include exclusive client portals where clients can log in and access material, weekly business updates, case studies, monthly news letters, group
Once the ideal clients are known, the product developed and the delivery process established, it can then be marketed to your clients.
Your Point of Difference, Why Clients Should Deal With You ADVISORY SERVICES provide one of the few areas to differentiate a practice from the competition and stand out. This can be achieved through the development of a unique selling proposition (USP) for the services. A quality USP clearly defines what a practices products and services are and how they are different to others. A strong and compelling USP will also make it almost impossible to compare one practices offering to another.
With a targeted and automated marketing strategy a practice could market it’s point of difference (USP) ensuring more leads and client acquisitions over its competitors. These additional products and services remove the commodity nature of a service and the issue of competing on price. A well-structured and communicated product offering will make it almost impossible to compare one practices services to another.
mium products and services, again enhancing the value to both the practice and the client. The key to developing a unique selling proposition is asking the following question: Why should someone invest in my services over every other option available in the market including doing nothing at all? Once this is answered and defined, the marketing process can start.
This can also enable a practice to develop a range of pre-
Why should someone invest in my services over every other option available in the market including doing nothing at all? This can be a challenging process and take some time to develop or evolve. Often clients provide a great source of input.
7
Client Engagement Strategy
Market The Service To Your Clients AS A SOCIETY WE ARE becoming more immune to advertising and marketing messages every day. It’s becoming increasingly more challenging to attract the attention of a client, engage them and the have them take action. Already having a relationship with your clients suggests a level of trust already exists. Removing one of the biggest barriers often associated with engaging a client. There are several ways to pro-
8
mote and market the service to existing clients and reengaging former clients. Once again in most cases a majority of these process can be automated. Having an ongoing relationship with your clients provides an ideal channel for the promotion of new services. With this approach it enables clients to be pre qualified for a product or service. Although the development process would have been car-
ried out as above, it cannot be assumed your service offering will be well received by your intended market. There are several steps which will ensure they understand what you are offering and to have them take action on it. The above simple yet effective strategy to create awareness for the need of the service and move a client through the process to ensure they are qualified when they make the initial contact with you.
The Financial Impact On A Practice Using This Strategy Although there are a great deal of financial practices offering advisory service, very few are packaging them and developing real point of difference. Once the service is defined, developed and the value of delivery is calculated the following conservative calculations could be applied. Average sell price of the Advisory service per annum - $10,000.00 Target 100 ideal existing clients Conversion rate - @ 10% Additional revenue to the practice - $100,000.00 Run the campaign every month – 12 x 100,000.00 Additional revenue to the practice per year - $1,200,000.00 Automating the process will reduce delivery and promotional costs, providing greater leverage resulting in higher profit margins.
Summary ALTHOUGH THE MAJORITY of practices say they are comfortable with their existing level of business, existing clients can no longer be relied upon to return year after year. Consumers are becoming more aware of their options and looking for businesses to partner with and contribute to the growth and development of their businesses not just report on it.
The emergence of savvy practices developing targeted and focused products and marketing strategies to attract their ideal clients, will see a number of changes in the profession. This will be the rapid growth of some practices and the demise of others. These savvy practices will also have higher value clients through automated marketing and delivery systems.
Other practices will be acquired or continue to battle it out in the commodity based price sensitive market segment. The foregoing strategy can be automated and will increase the profits in a practice, increase retention rates, client loyalty, referrals and client value. For any additional information or clarification on the above,
9
Increasing Your Time, Value, Profits and Client Retention Through Strategy + Attraction + Engagement = Conversion
Marketing Influences
Phone: (Australia) 1300 509 564 Skype: Jason.andrews01 Fax: +61 (0)2 8004 1295 Postal Address: P O Box 748, Narellan, NSW, 2567, Australia
www.MarketingInfluences.com
Stop competing on price and you must know stand out in the marketplace to capitalise Leverage Your Time & on the fastest Increase Its Value growth Automated systems reduce the time required to deliver services Sector experienced Increase Client Life Time Value in recent years! Deliver products through focused & targeted strategies
Innovative Practices Powerful strategies for modern practices
WWW.MarketingInfluences.com
FOCUS
By J. A nd
r
Increase Services While Reducing Resource Demands Increase Client Retention, Time and Value!
s ew
Increasing Your Value, Time, Profits and Retention Rates
Having the right strategy and automated system increases retention, profits and Available Time
The 5 keys To Successful Client Retention and Value In Recent Years there has been a notable shift in the services required by businesses from their accountants and accounting practices. Today, business owners are looking for partners to help move their business forward not just report on it. Although accountants are viewed as trusted advisers, the majority of relationships and communications are reactionary to events or circumstances compared to pro active development of the relationship through value added services.
2
The change in the market is pushing practices to expand their product offering, being welcome news for some and disastrous news for others. The one’s who embrace this opportunity will ultimately have a stronger client base with increased revenues and profits. This is in contrast to others who continue with traditional services, which are becoming more commoditized. These practices will continually be looking for new leads and clients because they will struggle to demonstrate a no
point of difference and will continue to compete on price. This report outlines a 5 step process to develop, promote and delivery advisory services to exceed clients expectations, maximise client value, increase retention rates and profits in a practice. We look forward to helping you increase your retention rates and profits.
Key points To Increasing Retention Rates & Profits 1
Collecting and managing client informa-
2
Developing products through a consultative
4
Advisory services with a point of difference
tion will not only help deliver
process with clients can greatly
will enable a firm to stand out in
relevant products and services to
improve a products success.
the market place.
clients. Increasing the value and life time value of clients which is beneficial to both parties.
3
The utilisation of technology can reduce
5
Marketing the product to existing clients
time demands on a practice and
can produce a high ROI when
provide convenience for clients.
you know your clients and your products.
3
Client Information Strategy
The more you know your clients the more value you can provide to them
The More You Know Your Clients The More Value You Are To Them THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between having a client list and knowing whom your clients are.
enhances the relationship and provides one of the greatest opportunities to introduce new products and services.
The more details a practice has on their clients, the more valuable they are to a practice and the more value a practice can provide to its clients.
Also as the market becomes more competitive it will enhance client retention rates.
Having information in a structured and organized manner helps a practice specifically target clients with laser like focus, ensuring they are served in the best way possible with relevant products and services. Providing clients quality information on a regular bases
4
This process can be almost 100% automated with the use of a customer relationship management system (CRM) in combination with the right strategy. CRM programs can and do vary in price and complexity; however there are some simple systems, which are suitable.
A practice that maximizes the spending for existing clients will benefit through stronger relationship, higher switching costs (for client), increased retention rates, more referrals and higher revenue and profits. Knowing who your clients are makes the following steps easier and reduces waste, confusion and increases results from all activities.
Information Gathering
Knowing What Your Clients Want and Need ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS to creating a successful service is ensuring the market is either ready for it or wants it. In most cases the market is not even aware they require a service. There are many examples of businesses investing large amounts of human and financial capital in the development of a new product or service, only to find the market is not interested in them or does not need them.
nesses would not be aware they require such services, although almost every existing client would be an ideal recipient for these services. There are several ways to maximise the success and minimize the risk of a service prior to investing heavily in it. One approach to give the best chance of success is to develop the service in collaboration with your existing ideal clients.
This is simply because the development was based on what the supplier felt the market wanted or needed without asking them.
This process will enable you to develop services to meet the needs of your target market. Having an existing relationship with clients makes this process a great deal easier.
Business and Tax Advisory services are two areas, which can have a significant impact on a business. However most busi-
Because you can identify who the “A” or “B” clients are for the collaboration process, compared to starting with
unknown prospects. It also identifies who the initial clients are for delivering the new service. The development and consultation process can be carried out in a number of different ways. The greater the input from the intended clients will result in a higher quality product. Listed below are a number of potential methods to engage clients in the process. Developing product in this manner requires control and management by the company, as products should not please everyone. Once the product is defined you can then determine the best ways to deliver the service to the clients.
5
Automated Delivery Process
Technology opens up a number of service deliver mechanisms
Delivering The Service THE DELIVERY OF SERVICES can be carried out in many different and varied ways. The consultation process would generate a number of possibilities; however there are several others, which could be considered. Automating as many areas of the process as possible will enable greater utilisation and leverage of resources. Today there are a number of technologies, which enable a practice to do this with
6
benefits to both provider and receiver.
meetings, emails, webinars, google hangouts and more.
Great care should be taken to ensure there is a balance between the value being delivered, the personal relationship and technology.
This would be in addition to one on one or one on many sessions.
Ensuring it does not become to sterile or mass-produced as the value could be diminished. Some of the delivery methods include exclusive client portals where clients can log in and access material, weekly business updates, case studies, monthly news letters, group
Once the ideal clients are known, the product developed and the delivery process established, it can then be marketed to your clients.
Your Point of Difference, Why Clients Should Deal With You ADVISORY SERVICES provide one of the few areas to differentiate a practice from the competition and stand out. This can be achieved through the development of a unique selling proposition (USP) for the services. A quality USP clearly defines what a practices products and services are and how they are different to others. A strong and compelling USP will also make it almost impossible to compare one practices offering to another.
With a targeted and automated marketing strategy a practice could market it’s point of difference (USP) ensuring more leads and client acquisitions over its competitors. These additional products and services remove the commodity nature of a service and the issue of competing on price. A well-structured and communicated product offering will make it almost impossible to compare one practices services to another.
mium products and services, again enhancing the value to both the practice and the client. The key to developing a unique selling proposition is asking the following question: Why should someone invest in my services over every other option available in the market including doing nothing at all? Once this is answered and defined, the marketing process can start.
This can also enable a practice to develop a range of pre-
Why should someone invest in my services over every other option available in the market including doing nothing at all? This can be a challenging process and take some time to develop or evolve. Often clients provide a great source of input.
7
Client Engagement Strategy
Market The Service To Your Clients AS A SOCIETY WE ARE becoming more immune to advertising and marketing messages every day. It’s becoming increasingly more challenging to attract the attention of a client, engage them and the have them take action. Already having a relationship with your clients suggests a level of trust already exists. Removing one of the biggest barriers often associated with engaging a client. There are several ways to pro-
8
mote and market the service to existing clients and reengaging former clients. Once again in most cases a majority of these process can be automated. Having an ongoing relationship with your clients provides an ideal channel for the promotion of new services. With this approach it enables clients to be pre qualified for a product or service. Although the development process would have been car-
ried out as above, it cannot be assumed your service offering will be well received by your intended market. There are several steps which will ensure they understand what you are offering and to have them take action on it. The above simple yet effective strategy to create awareness for the need of the service and move a client through the process to ensure they are qualified when they make the initial contact with you.
The Financial Impact On A Practice Using This Strategy Although there are a great deal of financial practices offering advisory service, very few are packaging them and developing real point of difference. Once the service is defined, developed and the value of delivery is calculated the following conservative calculations could be applied. Average sell price of the Advisory service per annum - $10,000.00 Target 100 ideal existing clients Conversion rate - @ 10% Additional revenue to the practice - $100,000.00 Run the campaign every month – 12 x 100,000.00 Additional revenue to the practice per year - $1,200,000.00 Automating the process will reduce delivery and promotional costs, providing greater leverage resulting in higher profit margins.
Summary ALTHOUGH THE MAJORITY of practices say they are comfortable with their existing level of business, existing clients can no longer be relied upon to return year after year. Consumers are becoming more aware of their options and looking for businesses to partner with and contribute to the growth and development of their businesses not just report on it.
The emergence of savvy practices developing targeted and focused products and marketing strategies to attract their ideal clients, will see a number of changes in the profession. This will be the rapid growth of some practices and the demise of others. These savvy practices will also have higher value clients through automated marketing and delivery systems.
Other practices will be acquired or continue to battle it out in the commodity based price sensitive market segment. The foregoing strategy can be automated and will increase the profits in a practice, increase retention rates, client loyalty, referrals and client value. For any additional information or clarification on the above,
9
Increasing Your Time, Value, Profits and Client Retention Through Strategy + Attraction + Engagement = Conversion
Marketing Influences
Phone: (Australia) 1300 509 564 Skype: Jason.andrews01 Fax: +61 (0)2 8004 1295 Postal Address: P O Box 748, Narellan, NSW, 2567, Australia
www.MarketingInfluences.com
