Thanks Mark for replying,
I have had a customer recently drop off due to his lack of business.

I used to cold call for a telephone sales job quite a few years ago and wasn't keen on, but looks like I will have to bite the bullet and follow up!!!
I supppose if you don't ask you don't get.

I hope it picks up soon too.

Thanks,
A

-- Edited by Amanda on Monday 20th of September 2010 12:32:54 PM

Hi Kris

That is a good idea about selling a single part of your business in each letter giving you the opportunity to follow up. I had always done one letter saying here we are and this is what we do and if that didn't work I wasn't left with a follow up. But this way you get the additional opportunities.

Thanks

Mark

It takes time Amanda. I find that sending a letter every month, or even every 2 months is a good way to keep my business in the forefront of peoples minds. The reason I do this is because I believe of the businesses I target, only a small percentage will be actively looking for the type of services I offer. The remainder will be passive, but I want them to think of me when they do need the services I offer. I think that it is very difficult, near impossible to make sure your letter lands on the mat when they are thinking about buying your services.

I posted here a few months ago about sending a simple 2 page newsletter out to businesses. This had the benefits of not being simply a sales medium, but rather providing information with my branding. I feel this puts you in clients minds without feeling pressure from you. The other thing is that by sending useful information business owners will think of you as knowledgeable in your field and may recommend you to friends even if they don't use the services themselves.

I have moved away from the hard sell to a softer option, and will be moving further away from hard sells in the future. My number one aim through my marketing is for every small business in Ayrshire, when they think bookkeeping, to think KM Bookkeeping Services.

The other thing I have had difficulties with is helping people to understand what a bookkeeper is and what they do, and most importantly how that differs from an accountant. The 2 biggest knock backs I get when calling businesses are "My Brother/Uncle/Sister ect does my books" and "I have an accountant". I am now aiming my marketing materials towards addressing the second issues.

When I first started sending letters, and those of you who have a copy of my early letters will know, I concentrated on telling business owners "I can do this, and this and this. You need me", I have now turned that on it's head and start my letters with a single issue that small businesses like those I am writing to face, and then tell them how I can solve it.

I feel I have gone on forever here, but I hope you can decipher all of my ideas and maybe use some to improve those you have already.

Kris

I think the number of businesses available to target will have an effect on the success of a campaign. I subscribe to selectabase. They send me a list every month of about 40 new businesses starting in Ayrshire. I try to send about 20 letters out every week. I tend to mail on a Tuesday and follow up the following Wednesday. 20 is a manageable number for me, and I find the time-scales work for me as people have had a chance to read the letter, but not enough time to forget it.

I don't offer tax returns, but sat my exam on Friday so may offer them soon.

I work my prices on value pricing, so the quarterly fee doesn't come into play much. I generally encourage all my clients to have their books done monthly. It makes it easier for me, and it can be sold to them as having their books completed on a monthly basis will help them better understand how their business is performing. Tell them that you can do it quarterly but as there is the same amount of work it'll still cost the same, but will only give them historical information to make decisions based on.

Personally I try to aim to earn £35 - £45 per hour.

Kris

I've just done my ICB Self Assessment Diploma, hope to be able to offer self assessment if I pass.

Selectabase costs me about £45 per month, I'm sure I could get it cheaper, and when the contract is up in a few months I'll try to beat them down a bit.

I offer all of my clients a fixed price, selling it on the basis of no nasty surprises, always know what your paying, don't pay me more for being efficient etc. I'm sure you know the stuff. On that basis I am very careful to evaluate the amount of work from each client. But if I do make a mistake then I would take the hit. I make an agreement with all clients that unless their workload exceeds preset limits I will not increase the price within a year. To be honest I'd need to make a massive mistake to get less than the £15-£18 per hour I'd get if I charged by the hour. If I ever make a mistake that bad you can be assured it would only happen once.

You'll see from many of my posts that I'm a huge fan of fixed prices. When I charged by the hour I'd tell the client it was £15 per hour, their next question would be how long will it take. People just want to know the bottom line. If you can ensure that your process is streamlined enough you can make so much more money per hour with fixed prices and no one bats an eyelid. If I asked for £35 per hour I wouldn't have half the clients I have.

Kris

I completely agree with Kris and allways try and go for fixed prices and a value based model.

The difficulty I find with hourly rates is to work out the charge to clients for answering emails and phone calls. To echo Kris, I also sell it on the basis of everyone knows where they stand. It's easy for me and the client to budget. Plus it's in my interest to complete the work as efficiently as possible.