How to package, price and promote your accounting services

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Introduction

Starting a new service is a great way to expand your revenue and enhance your proposition in the market.

That’s especially true when many firms are responding to changes in what SME clients want and need as a result of COVID-19.

Perhaps existing clients are starting to ask for services that you don’t yet offer but feel you could. Or maybe you’ve started to provide a service on an ad hoc basis to a few clients and it’s now got to the point where you want to build it into a service offering.

When starting anything new, planning is everything, and designing or integrating a new service into your firm is no different.

Before you get stuck into the plan ask yourself why you’re doing it and who it’s for. This will provide a quick sanity check and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, with a target client in mind.

Where to start?

Here are five tips to consider when putting your plan together.

Start small, think big

Even during the planning phase you should certainly think about how you’ll scale in the long run, your growth trajectory, the number of clients you might eventually get and the likely revenue over the first few three to five years. But when it comes to kicking off your service, you’ll have to start small. Business owners often overestimate likely revenue in year one.

Remember, this first stage is about getting the plan down, building momentum and proving to the market that you can deliver.

Model your finances

As an accountant, this is your sweet spot, and if I have to spell it out, perhaps you’re in the wrong business.

In brief, our advice is to be realistic about the volume of business you’ll get in year one. Your annual and monthly run-rate of customer acquisition is key to success. It will also support your marketing plan later on.

Know where to invest

Starting a new service will require additional investment, be that time or money. You’ll need to model what resources, skills or external support you’ll need; what processes you’ll need to establish; and what technology you might need to help ensure you stay efficient and effective as a firm.

Do your research

This is one of the areas most businesses skip but it’s vital. No singleperson can represent an entire customer base. You need to understand what your customer cares about with regard to your new service and what’s going to attract them to it. Use research to test your hunches and to inform your direction. Consider a mix of desk research and client interviews.

Know your enemy

Don’t assume you know the market. Take some time to find out who the key competitors are and how you’re different. Don’t just focus on the obvious – you may find yourself competing against tech vendors, professional bodies and consultants. Not all of them will be after your clients but all of them will be taking up a share of voice, which will affect your marketing strategy.

How well do you really know your clients?

Earlier we mentioned the importance of doing your research and knowing your enemy but getting to know your clients is important, too.

It’s surprising how many firms skip this part and rush into defining a service based on internal discussions and hunches alone.

While you’ll have an enormous amount of client knowledge, you need to test the market and approach the research through the lens of the new service. This will avoid costly mistakes such as getting the service wrong, not positioning it properly, not solving the right problem or missing a critical feature that clients really want.

You also need to know the total size of the market. This will give you a good sense of whether the new service is worth the investment of time and money.

Next, you need to work out the size of the total addressable market. This refers to the
portion of the market you want – your ideal clients.

Three types of market research

Desk research

Also known as secondary research. The aim of desk research is to find and review previous research findings to gain a broad understanding of the topic. Look at the output of research institutes, professional bodies and competitors to find articles, studies and data that might inform your direction.

Customer interviews

There’s nothing better than speaking directly to potential customers. Write out a selection criteria for potential interviewees and define a set of open-ended questions that will help you test your hypothesis. Allow two to three weeks to recruit candidates.

Aim to interview five people for each of your buyer personas.

Surveys

If you know the questions you want answered, a survey is a great way to gain opinion on a larger scale. Define a set of questions, usually multiple choice, tick boxes and scales from 1-5, for example. Anything open-ended that requires them to write in an answer is going to be hard to analyse……..

Download your copy to read further sections on:

• Packaging versus promoting
• Packaging your service and example of adding R&D tax relief as an add-on service
• Deconstructing the package page and positoning core services
• How should you price your service?
  1. Value pricing
  2. Bundle pricing
  3. Subscription pricing
  4. Pay-as-you-go
  5. Fixed fee
• How do you promote your service?
• Measuring, reflecting and revising your service
• Key takeaways and further reading

How we can help

Our strategy programme builds a strong brand and proposition which increases your firm’s credibility and visibility in the market.

Our service will set your firm apart from your competitors and provide clear, compelling messages for your ideal clients.