That’s it, Accountex 2019 is over for another year.
Accountex London was a big event for PracticeWeb. While we have been attending for several years, until now we have piggybacked on the AccountingWEB stand. Accountex 2019 was different as we took our very own place on the floor.
We’ve seen Accountex grow and mature in recent years and took the decision to set up our own stand hoping to meet the kind of ambitious accountants we like to work with and to whom we can add value.
So, a few months ago we signed on the dotted line, sent over our logos and started to put together the design for our stand.
Fast forward to Tuesday and we were packing up in Bristol and heading to the big smoke to seek fame and fortune (and hopefully meet lots of forward-thinking accountants).
Accountex 2019 was impressive. The huge exhibition hall at the ExCeL was busy from the moment that klaxon sounded at 10am Tuesday 7 May 2019, with our team engaging in deep conversations from the off.
Having been at a few Accountex shows now, it was interesting to see how conversations have moved on. Gone are the days where preparing for Making Tax Digital dominated the conversation, the sessions and messaging from the bigger vendors.
It was noticeable that when we asked “why have you come along to the show this year?”, the answers rested on a reoccurring theme:
I’m here to learn more about the technologies that will help me make my practice more efficient. I want to be able to speed up processes, automate steps, and get my time back. I can then take on more clients, do more work, without having to take on more resource.
Automation and efficiency at Accountex 2019
I think this can only be a positive shift. As an industry, we’re coping with change and embracing technology. We are thinking about how it can improve our clients’ experience, increase overall capacity, and ultimately drive profit.
Of course, if they are looking to increase capacity; the ambitious accountant wants to grow with the right type of clients.
How PracticeWeb can help
If you want to put yourself in a position where you can take on new clients, the last thing you want to do is take on prospects that cause you pain and who you don’t enjoy working with. Ultimately, they suck away time and profit.
On Thursday afternoon, I spoke for a full 40 minutes in the Sales and Marketing Theatre at the ExCeL. I touched on how to target your marketing efforts to win the right type of clients – the ones you can really help, that you enjoy working with, who listen to your advice and stay loyal. In other words, the ones from which you can derive good levels of profit.
Stuart Pringle speaking at Accountex 2019.
The room was packed and lots of notes were taken by those assembled. I was pretty chuffed with the turnout considering it was late on day two and free beer was available elsewhere. Thank you to those who attended.
We’ll re-run the session as a webinar – complete with an easy-to-follow five-step marketing plan – in the coming weeks. Watch this space, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
And now we’re back at our PWeb HQ in Bristol, lightly rumpled after a week on our feet and with more than 100 new contacts interested in our services to follow up on. We’re looking forward to working with more aspiring accountants soon, helping them grow, aiding them in working with the clients they really want to have on their books.
Thanks to Zoe and all of the Accountex team. As you can probably guess, we are already making plans to be back in 2020.