Tag: finance

Marketing for accountants is a unique challenge. The preconceived idea that people have of accounting firm is difficult to overcome since people won’t choose to engage with their accountant until they have too. When they do have to choose an accountant, they might not shop around to find the best solution, instead going with what is close or what they already know through experience or recommendations from friends and family. Many people will choose an accounting firm and stick with them.

Professional services firms encompass a far broader range of functions including marketing and recruiting, who often have the liberty of embracing differentiation and diversity from their competitors. Yet, when the words ‘professional services’ are thrown around, they usually bring to mind an amorphous mix of accounting, legal, management consulting and financial planning firms.

The reason that this mental melding takes place is due to the desire of professionals services firms to shy away from the crowd and attempt to blend in with their competitors.

This takes place because:

Financial service firms face a variety of challenges when it comes to marketing their products and services. They must cope with customer and market-related restrictions in addition to working in a highly regulated industry, which can make it harder to effectively engage with clients and prospects and challenging to make themselves distinguishable from other firms to potential clients. As marketing techniques evolve, leading accounting and finance firms have revolted against traditional marketing techniques, as they have become increasingly aware of the danger that faces those who fall behind.

If you are constantly challenged by the fast pace of change, then don't worry - so is the rest of the world. We are all in catch up mode and it isn't something that too many of us like, until we catch up and realise that we were worried about absolutely nothing.

The IT industry is buying less hardware, says Andrew Thomas

It’s been a year of mixed fortunes for IT businesses.