I've been reading an article which states that Accountants (which I'm taking to include Bookkeepers!) don't understand marketing. Do you think this is true? Why?
One accountant quoted had this to say about marketing: 'I can tell you that marketing doesn't work for us so we try not to do any'. Is s/he correct or misguided?
I think such a statement is rubbish. It hugely generalises and as these forums will tell you, if you have a read, we are not all the same. We all have our own way of doing things, our own experiences and life skills. What about someone who has been involved in advertising and become a bookkeeper? Do they understand marketing?
I have looked at some bookkeepers and accountants who are fantastic at marketing, some who are rubbish, and a lot in between.
As for the second statement, i can only imagine they don't understand marketing. We all market our business and services all the time. Every time we meet existing clients, potential clients, other professionals. Every time we speak to friends or family about work. Every time we post on forums like this. Marketing is not just advertising, thats where people get confused.
Like with anything in life - it takes an investment of your time to learn a new skill. If you find you're not good at it and it's essential to business success, then find someone who can! Sonya.
Now this is a funny question. I think that Marketing is quite frankly a pain in the ###, however, a lot of people think that bookkeeping is a bind too. I would say that the initial comment is a very silly comment, and could be applied to any profession... including some Marketiers. I recenly heard a Website Designer say that it doesn't matter what is on your website, it just has to look good. This is quite possibly one of the most rediculous things I have ever heard... but it did make me smile.
Everytime you are sweet talking a referral that has been made you're marketing your skills. A lot of my new clients are found through current clients so they're already half way to taking me on, but even shiney new clients are easy to sell to... Perhaps it's because our skills sell themselves and the marketing we do involves building a rapport with a client more than trying to convince a client to buy a gagdet they don't need.
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Please correct me if I'm wrong... I am only human sucking up knowledge... Sometimes bits leak out!
Ginny also posted the same question in the AAT forum and UKBusiness forums last September (why do we come third Ginny, I'm hurt now! lol).
See here : http://forums.aat.org.uk/showthread.php?35257-Accountants-Don-t-Understand-Marketing-True-or-not
And here : http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=270063
Didn't really seem to spark much of a debate in any of the forums and I agree with Kris that the statement is pretty rubbish and a sweeping generalisation in the women can't drive, men can't multiprocess, sort of vein.
The paper was obviously desperate to fill a bit of column space so came up with something like this rubbish. I really would have thought better of the telegraph but guess they even the better papers dredge the sewers to fill column inches sometimes.
All in all I wouldn't waste your time on it Bob. It got one mention over on Accounting web where the only comment summed it up perfectly in that the article was just the writers little cry for attention.
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
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