ICB / good news - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

Julie Dawn · Senior Member

ICB / good news

Julie · Senior Member

Hi Julie,

Good news about the accountants - I did the same a while ago and get regular work from three now.

Well done.

Julie

Julie Dawn · Senior Member

Thanks, thats good to hear. I wasnt sure whether I would get any response with times as they are but its really positive news and will encourage me to keep trying for more.

Julie · Senior Member

I have found that accountants are more prepared now in the currently climate to take on basic bookkeeping jobs. This has ceratinly been the case with the ones I am working with.

Also, some businesses are wanting to free up their time from doing admin/accounts, when once they would do it themselves. This is particularly relevant to smaller companies and sole traders.

It is encouraging to know that there is some work out there !

Terri · Senior Member

That is fantastic news.

Terri

Marky65 · Guru

Hi
That is really encouraging to hear because my task for today is to mail all local accountants offering my services, and this news has given me a bit of a boost. Lets hope the accountants in my area need services like yours do in your areas.

Regards
Mark

-- Edited by Marky65 on Wednesday 8th of July 2009 08:20:36 AM

Julie · Senior Member

I just wanted to add .... I have also sent sales flyers out targeting small business such as gardeners, electricians, handman services - the last batch were sent in April 09 and I have just received a few enquiries. Again, this reinforces the point about many businesses wanting to spend more of their time looking for customers and less time doing their admin.

Julie

Marky65 · Guru

Hi Julie

After you sent your letters in April did you follow it up with a phone call or did you just leave it. Because I recently sent quite a few letters out to local small businesses and am awaiting a response but I am about to do some more and was wondering how you approached it.

Regards

Mark

Julie · Senior Member

Hi Mark,

I did follow some up with a call. The way I approached it was... if you know your local area you would be able to work out which businesses are working from home. The businesses I targeted are as described above, they would probably be out during the day working and busy of an evening quoting for work etc., so these I tend not to call because they would probably be expecting a call from a prospective customer and really would not want to be bothered by a sales pitch on the benefits of using a bookkeeper !

Businesses that I know are operating from actual business premises I will call during normal office hours, as these types will have someone employed to answer the phone. When I have contacted them, you never get to speak to the boss, you just leave a message.

You have to be very methodical in your approach and accept that there are no quick and easy results in mailing companies - you just keep at it.

Hope this helps,

Julie

Marky65 · Guru

Hi Julie

Thanks for your response, it is interesting to hear how you approached it.

Regards

Mark

steve12 · Veteran Member

Hi

On the subject of direct mailing (sending leaflets or letters to potential clients) a good response rate is considered to be about 1% and a normal response rate is about 0.5%. Therefore if anyone is using this method as part of their marketing plan then based on these statistics you would realistically need to send out at least 200 leaflets to receive 1 enquiry and 1000 leaflets to be in for a chance of receiving around 5 enquiries. If you follow up with telephone calls I have read that this could increase the response rate by 100%. Therefore, if you sent out 200 leaflets and followed up with phone calls then you may receive two enquiries instead of one.

Julie · Senior Member

Hi Steve,

I hear what you are saying and take on board your comments about follow up calls, but I still feel that business - particularly those operating from home and the trades that I have noted already do not want to be bothered with a `I recently sent you a leaflet regarding bookkeeping.......` you can almost hear them groaing under their breath.

So I am well aware that this kind of marketing does not produce quick and instant results - you are in for the long haul with this strategy. Bear in mind, it only takes a few positive responses to make your client list grow.

Julie