“…I wanted to know the story those numbers were telling me.”

Karens sketchnotes

Karens sketchnotes

Last week my accountant said something that has stuck with me – and come back to me – every day since he said it.

I traveled, attended a lot of events, met amazing people and re-connected with ones i knew already, had new business opportunities… and yet the one thing that stands out in my mind the most was breakfast with my accountant.

It was because of one phrase he used that appealed to me as a business owner, as a person, as a client. (I say ‘my accountant’ but that term is a lot broader lately. He owns the accounting firm we work with at PF, and whenever we get together we talk like business owners about growing our businesses. It’s one of the things I like best about the accountants we have.)

He said “I was looking at your numbers before I came, because I know we’ve been looking at the progress PF has made in the past three years since you took it over yourself, and…”

(here’s the phrase)

“…I wanted to know the story those numbers were telling me.”

One of our themes at PF this year is “stories”.

I love the way marketing has moved from “telling people what to buy” to telling people’s stories so the potential buyer can say “oh, i feel like they did – maybe this is what i need to buy”.

It’s human. It’s personal. And as accountants you know that numbers tell a story.

So Paul told me my story. He told me that in the past three years, we have 40% fewer clients…and an average fee increase of 100%.

I knew that in my head, vaguely. I knew that we aren’t doing the £99/month or £395/month offerings we used to have years ago. I knew we are working with fewer firms in a more focused, more personal way – and I know we’re doing it because that’s what gets them the best results.

The firms who just needed a few things here and there, and weren’t ready to invest too much, we found were not going to get much return, and marketing wasn’t the amazing experience for them that they want marketing to be (and that we know it can be).

So a year or two ago we started changing the way we did things. We created the Marketing Map – not based on what we want accountants to do, but on what DID actually work for accountants. We looked at all the firms who were getting amazing leads and high quality ones and literally turning business away….and all of them followed the Marketing Map.

And we adjusted our services accordingly.

And we’ve spent the past year refining those services, and even building a very cool dashboard app for our clients to manage the outsourced marketing they get from us. (If you’re on a retainer with PF and want to have first look at the dashboard, let me know.)

So I knew all of that. I knew – or thought I knew – what was going on and what changes had happened and why.

And now my numbers are telling the exact same story.

That’s encouraging. Exciting. We’re delivering what is absolutely best for our clients and we’re not trying to be all things to all people.

Because it’s possible for us as business owners to think a story in our own heads, but that’s not the story the numbers are telling.

What stories are you telling your clients? More importantly, what story can you share with them from their numbers – as a story? Something they get excited about and remember and share with the team and use as motivation to keep delivering the very best for their own customers?

 

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ON THE GRAM

“The biggest mistake accountants make in marketing”….

I’m not usually a big fan of focusing on the negative - the don’ts, the oughts, the shoulds. But I was asked this question at a conference last year and I answered by saying the mistake was to look at marketing as a list of to do’s rather than an identity as an accountant. 

And if you look closely you can see a copy of my book The Accountant Marketer to hand while I was speaking! 

Day 25/100 Video Challenge 

#100dayvideochallenge #100days #justkeepgoing #theaccountantmarketer #marketing #video #cpa #conference #accountants
Taking a walk is one of my favourite things to do. It clears the head, connects me to this world, opens the mind, brushes away the cobwebs, helps my breathing, and shows me new kinds of landscapes to enjoy. 

Ironically, today I’m resting from just about everything - swimming  and walking and working and recording a video - because my cold has settled in and my voice is a big creaky! Here’s to getting back to walking again tomorrow 🙏🏻💪🥾

Day 24/100 Video Challenge 

#100dayvideochallenge #walking #justgetstarted #justkeepgoing #getoutside #onestepatatime #hikingboots #beach #scotland #northcarolina #london #isleofmull #phoenix #brokenankle #healing #stepoutthefrontdoor
A walk in the sunshine past the river and a whisky distillery naturally makes me think of… marketing! Haha! 

Was a guest on a podcast this week and we talked about the difference between long term marketing efforts and short term quick wins, and it struck me that each is dependent on the other. 

If you only do short term things, like one post or one series of emails or one week of follow up or one event on its own, you can get discouraged. 

But when you do the longer term marketing consistently - showing up, being present, talking about the same topics to the same audience - that helps make your short term efforts more effective. 

Day 22/100 Video Challenge 

#100dayvideochallenge #video #marketing #whisky #clydeside #dailywalk #bytheriver #sunnyday #happysunday #glasgow
Remembering this gorgeous day last year where we took a very long and winding single track road for hours to get to a ferry that… wasn’t running 😆😆 

Glorious day and views, so there was much to be grateful for! But also a good reminder that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but it doesn’t always show the full story. 

Happy restful Sunday. May your views be beautiful AND your ferries be running. 😆❤️✨

#acharacle #windingroads #roadtrip #beautifulday #beach #scotland #travelscotland #viewsfordays #justkeepgoing #sometimesjuststop #rest