Lead Generation: How Firms Can Get Accounting Clients

Why do accounting firms find it hard to generate good leads? There are mainly two reasons:

1. As the requirement of accounting services has increased, so has the number of accounting firms in the market.
2. The evolution of digital and social media platforms has brought all types of accounting firms at the same level of competition.

So what should accounting firms do to generate more leads? How do they find them?

In this digital age, we are past the time where firms had to organize events and invite people to generate leads. Nowadays, we have inexpensive and yet highly efficient methods of lead generation. Some of these are –

1. Identify Your Target Clients

Not every client your firm serves is similar. Some may be easy to get on with, while some may not. There are different types of clients accounting firms cater to – create a checklist of what you’re looking for in your future clients:

• Do they value professionalism?
• How profitable are they for your firm?
• Can your team function effectively with their team?
• Do they boost your firm’s reputation?
• Do they give you exposure to capture more clients?

You can have some other factors in mind as well. The aim is to understand what you wish to see in your client before you create a plan and start chasing them. Money is not the only parameter – you work for less profit if it’s good for your firm’s reputation, or you feel that the client is going to stick for long.

2. LinkedIn Networking

LinkedIn is a great social network for professional networking. It has a user base of more than 690 million in 200 regions globally, making it a great way to find leads. Here’s how you can do it:

Create and optimize a professional profile with a suitable picture for other users to see. Optimizing here means giving your profile a suitable title, headline, and summary. It is a simple but necessary step. This is how you will create a first impression (as you’ll connect with a lot of new people).

The next step is to create a page for your company where all the services it offers are mentioned in detail (mention your company page in your profile summary too). Also, connect with your existing clients and request them to recommend your firm over LinkedIn and provide you with testimonials.

Testimonials show that the services your firm offers of high quality and builds trust among potential clients.

Post regularly on your company page and feed your audience the content it needs. You’ll see that people will start coming to you automatically, or there will be an increase in the people who accept your connection request.

3. Website Optimization

Modern businesses search for accounting services online on popular search engines like Bing and Google. If you wish them to find you and your accounting firm, you need to appear in their searches. This is where you need to optimize your website with the help of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Search engines like Google need to understand your website and improve the results they display. In short, SEO helps your website rank up in searches so that the users can visit your website when it matches their search criteria.

There are a lot of technicalities and keywords involved that help your website rank better. It also builds an online reputation if you include links from other highly ranked websites.

Dedicate some time for building an SEO strategy, and your website will rank better for phrases used by people searching for accounting firms, say, ‘best accounting firm in New York’ or ‘best tax accounting firms in Manhattan.’

4. Educate People

The world has moved from push marketing to pull marketing. This can be done by promotions or educating people – it has multiple names like content marketing or inbound marketing.

There are several other techniques as well, but the fact is that the basic principle is the same, and the focus is on gathering more and more quality leads.

This new way of marketing has changed the world of online marketing. Instead of reaching masses and shouting about your services, you educate people and show them your area of expertise. Add value to people’s lives, and you will see that hot leads will start coming to you automatically.

For example, you can do this by writing a blog post on “the best tips to save tax.” This is a topic that small businesses would be genuinely interested in. Or you can create a small video on the best accounting software applications that businesses can use. This will help companies smoothen their financial operations.

5. Leverage Technology

Accounting firms are now moving to the cloud, not because it’s a buzzword, but because it is useful. Quite a few accounting firms have started saving time and money by working remotely; they have moved over the geographical barrier and are now serving clients worldwide.

If you’re a technology lover, invite businesses to seminars or webinars where you showcase how you’ve used technology to improve your services. Send them regular updates about the latest technological advancements, tech stories, and relevant videos. Share content about –

• Cloud Accounting
• AI and Big Data
• Latest software and hardware advancements

Please note that less is more here. Do not spam them with updates.

Conclusion

Getting new leads will not happen in one day. It is a constant process that needs hard work and patience. The above mentioned will help you and your accounting firm get more leads. You can also try a combination of all these and figure out a strategy that works for you.