Fatrank Podcast

James Dooley:
So if I have an accountancy business and I want a consistent flow of enquiries what would you do, where would you spend your marketing budget and what do you recommend. If I'm looking to grow an accountant's business then first and foremost what I'd be wanting to do is try to start getting leads as soon as possible. To get leads as soon as possible I would be wanting to team up with a lead generation company. There are many different lead generation companies out there that provide leads. Bark being one of the biggest ones. My only issue with certain lead generation companies is that they will resell that lead four or five times so you are not getting exclusive leads. If you are an accountancy company looking to grow I'd strongly recommend you going to Fatrank.com. They provide accountant leads and you only pay on converted jobs. That means you don't pay anything for the SEO or the PPC or anything for the leads. You only pay when you convert a job. We do have a qualification process so fill in on Fatrank.com your details and let's go through exactly what type of leads you're looking for.

Moving on from that, from getting a consistent flow of enquiries instantly from a lead generation company like FatRank, you definitely can't throw all your eggs in one basket. You need that diversification and I think the biggest part is trying to generate your own leads. The whole grail of an accountancy company is having an inbound set of leads that you're generating yourself. The best play that's going to get you the highest multiplier if you're ever looking to sell your book or sell your accountancy company is trying to do SEO. Trying to get your website ranking to the top of Google for keywords that you want and you think you can convert. Also having educational posts for some of your existing customers. If they have a question and you can do a blog post and a video and send that out, that engagement through the website is good. You might also be able to leverage more out of existing clients like tax savings and R&D tax work. R&D tax relief is a great play in the UK but there are always different ways that you can try to get more out of existing clients as well as trying to get new customers on board.

What’s your thoughts on PPC. PPC can generate leads fast. It is expensive but it can generate leads fast.

Karl Hudson:
I actually have a little bit of experience in this industry. I've tried running PPC and it is very expensive. If you don't have a well optimised converting website it can be even more expensive. If you don't have a back end to support the lifetime value of the client it becomes even more expensive. If the lifetime value of your client is only around £500 or £1,000 it can be very expensive on the PPC side. You need a really good product. For example if your lifetime value of a real estate client is strong because you know they need a limited company and will stay with you for five years, that might be worth £2,000 over five years. That could work if you're going after really long tail keywords. But if you're targeting accountants near me or accountants Manchester or accountants London, that becomes very expensive. Then you also have click fraud. You have competitors clicking on your ads. You have window shoppers clicking two or three ads and never enquiring. PPC can work but it's risky.

SEO is where I would focus. Generating my own enquiries. Like you said earlier, if you ever decide to sell your accountancy business, generating your own leads through your own website adds a higher multiple to your valuation. It is competitive because accountancy is in the finance sector but it is worth it.

James Dooley:
Some people say to grow an accountancy firm you should be doing traditional marketing. Billboards, TV ads, radio ads, magazines. If you are an accountancy practice the one thing you're always checking is profit and loss. Your marketing needs a return on investment. Traditional marketing is difficult to track ROI. For that reason I'm not a massive advocate of it. With PPC at least you can track whether you're making money. SEO is a longer play. It builds trust. You can get testimonials and case studies. The next part is social media. You want to build social proof. You want that trust and networking online on Facebook, Twitter and especially LinkedIn. If I'm dealing with CFOs or managing directors I want to network with as many of them as possible. If I know doing accountancy for only fans creators or dental practices or law firms makes me more money, then I'm hitting up every single person in that sector on LinkedIn and giving them 30 percent off in the first year. Almost break even in year one but knowing the lifetime value is huge because they stay for 10 to 15 years. If it is £1,000 a year profit for 15 years that is £15,000 lifetime value. Then you have cross sells like payroll and bookkeeping. Lifetime value can hit £30,000. So to acquire a customer for £2,000 or £3,000 makes sense long term.

Networking and sponsorships can also be a good play. If dental practices are your focus you want to be at dental conferences and sponsor stands. If a stand costs £2,000 and you get one client worth £30,000 lifetime value it is worth it.

Karl Hudson:
Manufacturing is a great Niche. They have many staff and they fall under R&D tax. Some accountancy firms charge 25 percent of the claim so if the R&D claim is £100,000 the accountant gets £20,000 to £25,000. Dentistry is another good one. Startups need everything from company registration, business plans and ongoing support. There are many cross sells. So pick a sub Niche within accountancy and double down on it.

James Dooley:
For us at FatRank when generating accountant leads we try to stay away from startups. We want established businesses doing £1 million plus in revenue. They have payroll and many needs. If someone wants leads from FatRank we ask questions like where do you make the most money. That tells us what leads to generate. If it's doctors or manufacturing we can target that. You should target it too. If you are a business owner of an accountancy firm check out FatRank.com. And when you were talking about certain niches, get those filters on LinkedIn and connect with manufacturing business owners, managing directors, CEOs and CFOs. Build that network to grow your accountancy firm.