What I like most about this article (and the concept overall) is how Eric creatively blended two mediums to develop a powerful and effective strategy for his firm. It makes me wonder what other combinations CPA and accounting firms could use to either broaden their brand in select markets or attract new prospects and referral partners.

The article also provide some tips on how to approach radio advertising. I found these helpful because as someone with little experience with radio, they provide some much needed insight. These items include;

• Employ Valuable Calls to Action – Paid commercials MUST have a call to action that’s valuable to the audience. Seminars, checklists, whitepapers, survey results, consultations, diagnostic tools, etc are all good value offers. These value offerings differentiate you and engage which aligns perfectly with social media integration.
• Promote Niche Practices – Don’t be afraid to use radio that goes deeper than just “general awareness” – just be sure the station is the right format and demographic for your niche.
  Leverage Radio for Earned/Free Media Opportunities – Develop relationships with news department and people besides the account exec – they have needs (experts on short notice) that you can fulfill! On-air expert clips often get aired throughout the day. Watch the value add up!
• Stretch Your Radio Dollar – Get the MP3 of your radio spots (most stations will give this to you for no charge) and distribute them widely among your social media outposts – for guest appearances, link to the station’s audio vault (sending visitors to them is a way to thank the station).
• Know Your Lead Sources – Use unique identifiers (URLs, phone numbers, etc) to track response sources so you can see what works best and modify for greater effectiveness where needed.
• Negotiate Wisely – In radio buy negotiations, don’t disclose your budget up front. Make them work to find your limits. Negotiate rates for small flights, then add additional weeks if the rep works with you to sweeten the deal from there. They are usually willing to add extra value.

To review the entire article, click here.

FP: What have been the results of your firm’s SEO efforts?
KT: “We have made tremendous leaps in placement and are now of the first page of the major search engines for many of our identified keywords. Initially, we saw a large jump in traffic with a lot of fluctuation. That has now leveled off a bit, but we are seeing a lot more conversions. Those visitors completing the contact us form on our site has increased dramatically and that has lead to increased revenue. More than half of leads we received through the Website the past six months have made it onto our pipeline, and we’ve had enough wins to put us well into positive ROI.”

FP: What type of clients are you attracting via the web?
KT: “We do get a number of individual leads, but the majority of the leads generated are tied to a business. Probably most surprising is the number of international business leads – those looking to come to the area or still relatively new to the area. And the services are across the board from monthly accounting to audit to tax. “

FP: Where did you obtain your skill set?
KT: “I’ve attended a heck of a lot of seminars and have read a lot of material on SEO. When I first starting looking into SEO a few years ago, it wasn’t as popular as it is now. I spoke to numerous companies that provided the service and realized many of them didn’t even know what they were talking about and many of their suggestions contradicted one another. However, there were common best practices that came to the top even then.”

FP: What are you doing to optimize your website?
KT: “We’ve optimized the site as a whole and are in the process of optimizing the individual pages. We’ve spent time link building, especially local links. We’ve even purchased a few links on other sites that rank high to help increase our placement. We’ve submitted articles to online resources and optimize our press releases. Next up is a blog and other social media to help us take it even further.”

FP:How do you use social media to enhance your overall SEO strategy?
KT: “We are in development stages for a blog that we plan to launch this fall. It will be automatically tied to Facebook and Twitter. We’re putting the finishing touches on our social media plan that will spell out specifically how else we will use those mediums. In addition, I’ve presented to our partners why social media fits into our marketing plan. During that presentation, I gave them a LinkedIn demo and provided step-by-step instructions on how to build their profile. We’ll be auditing those profiles in the months to come and making suggestions on how to improve them. The presentation will also be made to the rest of the firm in October. All of these tactics will improve our SEO efforts. It will help with placement as well as links into the site. While I’m doing this primarily to assist in our SEO strategy, it’s just good marketing strategy, as well.”

FP:How much time do you spend on SEO?
KT: “I only spend an hour or so a week, but I do outsource the bulk of our SEO efforts. I’ve found that you have to dedicate time on a regular basis to be successful. I wasn’t sure I had that time to dedicate and document what worked and what didn’t – and I wanted to make sure this didn’t fall through the cracks. Even though we allocate dollars monthly for our SEO efforts, we have a positive ROI. Last quarter alone revenue generated was 10 times dollars spent.”

FP: Why is it that more firm’s aren’t using SEO?
KT: “I believe it comes from the mindset that we are a relationship business. A prospective client gets you’re your name from someone they trust, they come and meet you, they like you and hire you. While that’s true, online relationships are built every day, and people are turning to the Web to decide who they want to build relationships with. Plus, people turn to the Web to do research. They find hotels online and check them out before they make reservations. They search for are restaurants and read reviews before heading out to dinner. Why wouldn’t they find their CPA the same way? Why wouldn’t they turn to the Web to read about you? It’s a fact that more and more people are turning to the Web for help in their decision making process, and not every CPA firm our there truly believes this behavior transfers to professional services.:

“If firms were to look at the number of times a certain keyword is entered into a search engine any given day, they would be floored. As they figure this out and recognize that consumer behavior is changing, I know we will see more firms focusing on SEO.”

What is one thing you find most surprising about the results Rea & Associates are experiencing?

Our first segment features Ms. Sarah Templeton, Director of Marketing for Templeton & Company. The discussion focuses on the changing trends she is seeing inside her own firm and across the industry. As you watch this video consider how many of you are facing similiar changes at your firm.

Some of the resources provided during the conference include:

Social Mention – This website provides a quick and simple way for you to determine the ROI your firm is receiving from social media marketing. It assesses your presence assigning scores in the areas of strength sentiment, passion and reach.

Scoopler – This website searches a number of outlets to determine what is being said about your firm, where your firm appears in search engine rankings and how much visibility you have. It is an interesting tool because it provides real time updates unlike other tools available.

Almost.at – This website allows the user to follow events happening in real time. It is an interesting site because it provides access to information on worldwide events from those attending. It provides a section for live posts, photos and other information relevant to the event. This tool has a lot of potential for firms hosting large events that they want to publicize in innovative ways.

Technology Story – This is a blog managed by Scott Klososky of SpeakerManage, Inc. Incidentally he was the first speaker at the AAM 2009 conference and was great! This pay for view blog researches and analyzes trends in technology and what impact they are/will have on the business world. This is definitely worth checking out especially if your firm is considering making a push into the Internet medium.

That is all for now. Great meeting a number of other bloggers including Rick Telberg and Joe Rotella.

This is a question that was posed in the Association for Accounting Marketing message board on LinkedIn recently. Since Flashpoint provides executive telemarketing and other marketing services to professional service firms (accounting, law firms, etc), I thought this would be a good opportunity to discuss telemarketing and how/when it should be used in the marketing mix for CPA firms.

First let’s define what telemarketing in this context means. When we speak of executive telemarketing we are not talking about professional business to consumer telemarketing. We are speaking of something very different. This type of telemarketing has a bad reputation and for good reason. It is characterized by someone from an organization calling to solicit money or subscriptions from you right in the middle of dinner or the middle of weekend when the last thing you want to discuss it making a donation. Executive telemarketing is vastly different from the description above. It refers to the process of a company calling a C level prospect in another company to educate them on service offerings, discuss their situation and offer to be of assistance in the future. A key difference is that the calls are being made to businesses and are done so by educated professionals familiar with the industry, service and are able to professionally represent their organization.

Executive Telemarketing In the Marketing Mix

The executive telemarketing process is as effective a lead generation tool as any other components of the marketing mix. In fact, I would argue it is more effective than many traditional lead generation tools because it provide the opportunity to directly interact with the prospect. No other lead generation tool I can think of including email marketing, direct mail marketing, social media marketing or pay per click advertising provide the opportunity to engage the prospect in a conversation about the issues and challenges they are facing. The tools mentioned previously provide a flow of information that pushes out, delivering a message to the prospect but does not provide a forum for interactive communication. Now these methods may eventually lead to a phone call especially if the prospect has an immediate need, but the initial flow of information is still one sided. The interaction component is critical and sets executive telemarketing apart from any other tool to generate leads.

Right Process – Right Results

Despite the fact executive telemarketing allows for interaction it cannot be a successful tool if the process guiding the effort is flawed or ineffective. Below I have detailed out the main roles executive telemarketing and the sales people should play in the process. All too often the process breaks down and becomes ineffective when expectations are not set or the wrong professionals are brought into the process.

Telemarketing

The role of the executive telemarketing professional is to identify qualified prospects from a prospect list. Essentially they open the opportunity by asking pointed questions to uncover issues, problems, challenges or opportunities. The goal is to document as much information as possible so when the conversation ends they can share the details with others in the firm. Although this sounds quite straightforward there are a number of areas where issues arise which ultimately reduces the effectiveness of the process. These include:

• Improperly Vetted List. Having a well researched list is important to the process. It is quite embarrassing and destroys credibility when you call into a company and don’t have a name or don’t have the right name for the prospect you want to speak with. Often times what happens is the gatekeepers identify the call as a “cold call” and put it into a general voicemail box or offer to take a message. When this happens the call is lost because it is impossible to know if the message you are communicating will get through. So it pays to research a list and even have the company website and regulatory filings available (when applicable).
• Skill of the Professional Calling. The person making the call is as important to the process as the sales person or partner that delivers the proposal. If you have someone who is not comfortable on the phone, who sounds monotone or appears to be reading from a script you will no doubt experience less than optimal results. No one wants a call where someone is reading to them. The skills of the person making the calls are critical. In many instances this is the first time a prospect is interacting with your firm. It is imperative the impression left be a good one. Remember the adage; you never get a second chance to make a first impression? Well it applies here. Ensure you have a qualified professional making the calls not only from a technical standpoint but also from a sales standpoint.
• Improper Follow Up. Following up is the trickiest part of executive telemarketing. How many times should I call? Should I leave a voicemail? How many voicemails should I leave? These are questions that must be addressed prior to the start of the calling effort. Define the process exactly so the professional making the calls knows how to handle each situation. In our experience we generally call once every 7-10 days and no more than three times per month. This includes leaving voicemails, leaving messages with secretaries, etc. Doing more than this may convey the image you are desperate for work or don’t respect their time.

Business Development/Partner

The role of these professionals is generally to follow up with the prospect based on the information provided from the executive telemarketing professionals. Their job can vary from discussing technical issues, scheduling appointments, or simply engaging the prospect in a conversation about their situation to further qualify the opportunity. It is important to note once the lead has been handed off the telemarketing team generally does not become involved in the process again. The function of this group is to take the lead from the opening stages and nurture it to a close. This requires a skilled sales professional that understand the sales process and has experience in the area. Although this sounds quite straightforward there are a few broad areas where trouble can arise. These include:

• Technical Professional Selling. If your firm passes leads to the professional who is technically savvy on the services being sold, but has weak sales skills there may be a problem. Often times the most technical person is not the best sales person. (Note this is not always the case but it is a general rule). Despite their best intentions and vast knowledge in the area they are unable to make a connection or get to the point where the firm is invited to submit a proposal. Why? The answer is simply that sales and technical accounting, auditing and consulting require different skills sets. If the person following up on the leads does not have the correct skills it will reduce the chance of success.
• Consistency. The same as listed above can be said here. Define how often the sales professional should follow up with the prospect. I have personally been involved in situation where it took five phone calls before I got the “interested” prospect on the phone. It was not that they were not interested but they were busy with quarterlies, year end, etc. Remember consistent and professional follow up t every stage of the sales cycle indicates your interest in their business, but respect for their time.

The information provided above is only a brief outline of an effective telemarketing process and the pitfalls which can hamper success. The key thing to remember is that the program is only as good as the structure and professionals implementing it. Unlike many other lead generation tools executive telemarketing is highly fluid and requires the appropriate set of skills across the process.

Looking at executive telemarketing in terms of the larger marketing picture I don’t believe a firm should solely rely on it as a means of generating leads. It needs to be part of a larger plan that incorporates both push and pull methods. Some prospects will respond better to executive telemarketing than direct mail marketing. Others will not respond to the executive telemarketing but may come to you through your social media outlets because they prefer to communicate using the Internet rather the phone. Appealing to the prospect through as many mediums as possible makes the most sense for any company seeking to generate leads.

So Is It Still Effective?

Executive telemarketing is still an effective lead generation tool. Remember the name of the game is balance. Use all the tools at your disposal to find the most effective one for you. Once you have identified it continue using that method until the results tell you otherwise.