Accounting Firms – Growth Path & Branding

Branding has a strong influence on the positioning strategy of an accounting firm. By differentiating oneself, one should be able to stand out from the competition. Right at the beginning, it is very important to recognise that branding does not mean advertising in the context of accounting profession.

The accounting profession is governed by very strict regulations. The core fact remains that such regulations are ethical standards. The accounting profession accepts and observes these standards in its relationship with clients, employers, employees, fellow members of the group and the public in general.

That is one side of the coin. There is the other side. In terms of an accounting professional's ability to advertise, market or solicit business, the regulatory provisions are very stringent. The coverage extends to even the stuffing in an accountant's website also. There is a temptation to say that there are more don'ts than do's.   

An accounting firm provides a variety of services. The attest-function is only one such service. All functions involving services other than this attest function, can be and are being provided in fact by professionally managed entities on commercial lines. The result: accounting firms that render regulated services are placed at a disadvantage. A majority of accounting, firms whose revenue from regulated services is at best a high single digit percentage of total revenue, experience their competitive edge being badly blunted. The reason is not far to seek. The clearly marked boundaries of regulation, encircling activities such as advertisement, marketing, soliciting, etc. apply to the firm as a whole. A part of the firm not engaged in providing regulated services, does not find an exemption from regulations.

The success of a service-centric accounting firm depends on its ability to maintain and improve the customer base. What speaks here is the service quality. Any dent, manifests as repeated customer service enquiries, low customer satisfaction and lost revenues. Competition counts.  And, a question floats up here.

In the midst of very many competing accounting firms, how would a firm differentiate itself and stand out from the other? The answer lies in Branding.

Branding is a process of generating an intangible asset. This intangible asset symbolizes and incorporates a set of features and capabilities that an accounting firm is identified with. In the eyes of the customer, it is this set of features and capabilities that distinguishes a firm from its rivals.

Branding plays an important role in shaping the growth of an accounting firm as much as it does to a B2B and a B2C company. The skill-sets and capabilities that a Brand denotes will usually include one Unique Value Proposition (UVP). When this UVP is unmistakably conveyed to clients, they do take cognizance of the "stand-out" features.

The Brand is a promise to a client. The Brand proclaims what the clients can expect from the services rendered by the firm. The Brand eloquently describes “what the firm is, where the firm wants to be, and what the people perceive the firm to be”.  The Brand heralds the manner in which advantages can be transformed into gains by the consumer-customer. The upshot is that the branded firm gets differentiated from its competitors, and is espoused by those who adopt it.

Branding Concept

Branding helps a firm (an individual too) to cultivate its reputation by delivering on its promises that its Brand stands-for. For a Brand to carry positive vibrations, the firm ought to have a clear understanding of the “emotional” and “functional” needs of its customers who represent the target market. The Branding of a firm should mirror, echo and reverberate its values, principles as also its capability and readiness to meet the customer needs. This is possible only if what is communicated by the Brand is unambiguous and execution of what is communicated is genuine and timely. 

A Brand aims at a link with the Client. Over time, this link gets transformed into a bondage between the firm and its clients. There is a caveat here! How authentic is the utility of Brand (and hence its value) truly bears the characteristics of an embedded derivative. That derivative draws its value from the satisfaction-level of experiences the clients gain each time they interact with the firm. The more unfailing is the consistency in the delivery of exceptionally useful service, the more sought-after the Brand becomes. Obviously the opposite is true as well. 

The clients do expect a high degree of efficiency in service. In contrast, very few firms take the time and effort to define the confines of what efficiency in service really means. Reasons can be many. One aspect deserves to be highlighted. Partners or Management do not communicate to members of staff what the latter needs to do in order that exceptionally efficient service is delivered on a consistent basis. This leaves a gap. The staff-team gain an impression and image of the firm, which does not synchronise with the vision that the firm has.

Brand Integrity

A firm's ultimate business and management strategy should be to maintain the integrity of its Brand. The brand-integrity connects three elements. 

• First, what the firm represents (e.g. core values, mission, vision and strategic benefits).
• Second, in what direction the firm is headed (e.g. goals and strategic plans). 
• Third: how the brand value gets communicated by the set of individuals representing the firm through their behaviour and experiences to achieve the desired results. 

Branding – four realities

Let us keep in mind a few core aspects of what Branding should mean to the firm.

• The brand is not a part of the business of the firm. It is business in itself.
• A brand is about experiences, not logos or tag-lines. 
• A few small things a firm gets done or accomplishes consistently are much more important than the big things that it exclaims.
• A well-executed Brand strategy is the single-most important differentiator between a good firm and a great firm.

Many firms believe that they can offer and they do offer, something unique. Yet what supports this belief does not get clearly communicated. For this reason, a prospective client is unable to identify what really distinguishes that firm from others offering similar services. A review of websites of the accounting firms will reveal that in their websites, they often use service as a positioning strategy. Such a presentation disregards the crux that Service is not a USP.  But, the way the firm delivers that service could possibly be one. 

Unfortunately, many industries in services-sector do not fully appreciate how powerful the differentiation between two brands could really be. One such cluster is accounting profession.

Do you deliver on your Promises?

There is a popular saying "Love you today, shame you tomorrow".  This saying points a finger at any one that does not keep a promise.  

In a situation where a firm wants to thrive on a specific value proposition whatever that proposition may be, there should be an unfailing certainty about the firm's ability not to swerve away from what was promised. In fact, no firm can build a strong emotional connection with clients to generate customer loyalty, unless the values that underscore the 'keep the promise' philosophy particularly in times of crisis runs through both in print and in practice. When it happens, the Brand will make the transition from being abstract or intangible to being truly beneficial.

Branding Strategy

There are many key elements to building a branding strategy. Some of these are outlined here. One may say, these occupy the rank of being BIG 5. 

1.   Differentiate the Experience

Unless serving a particular niche market, the firm need not spend much time placing an emphasis on services rendered. Providing services is and cannot be the Unique Value Proposition (UVP) of a firm. Services can be procured for a price, from any one of the many who compete in the arena. It is the experience resulting from service or the efficiency level at which the service was provided that marks the difference. Experiences generated by completing the service, are unique. Providing services per se are not.

2.    Paint a clear picture of your ideal target consumer:

If a popular marketing jargon can be used, we can say, develop a buyer persona. A buyer persona is defined as a semi-fictional representation of a firm's ideal customer, derived from a detailed market research.

The target consumers are known. But, what do they need in terms of specific service? The firm can specialise in its services only when it understands what the shoe the customer wears and where does it pinch? What are pain points? To use lay-man's words, this process is nothing short of identifying what the problems causing pain to the client are , and whether the solution one offers permanently removes the pain. This process means more than matching the customer needs and your providing a service.

By developing a value proposition that identifies the problems at client-end, and a solution that resolves the issues, the firm can reveal itself from the rest.

3     Prioritise Communication and Trust

Factors such as communication and trust, top the list of what drives firms to outsource their critical services. These non-technical skills prove to be critical factors for businesses when engaging professionals from outside. When specialist skill categories become more standardised, softer skills become important differentiators.

4    Be Client-Centric than Firm-Focused

A prospective client has a ready list of options in its hands. The objective of the firm is to make that client feel that the service-provider understands his needs better than others. The growth strategy should be modeled around the client’s needs rather than the services a firm can.

5    Aim High

Jim Collins and Porras who co-authored the book "Built-to-last" had discussed in 1994, what ambitious long-term goals should be called. The former came out with a term that vividly conveyed the excitement, energy, and boldness in setting up goals. That term BHAG coined by Collins has come to stay. BHAG is an acronym for Big Hairy Audacious Goals. 

A firm should set for itself an ambitious goal that is persuasive enough to focus on the objectives the goal represents. An ambitious goal is one that is daring.  

But, we need to push up one step higher. A Big Hairy Audacious Goal is a clear and compelling one that serves as a unifying focal point of effort. It acts as a catalyst for team spirit. Yet, it declares a sense of urgency. It has a clear finish line. It should propel everyone within, to shoot for the finish line.

Developing an Accounting Firm Brand – People (Resource) is key

Branding means delivering a promise. In delivering that promise, the key stakeholders are the members of staff at all levels. It is imperative to develop a catalogue of on-brand behaviour intended for the personnel involved. It should be comprehensive. For example, providing clients with industry data or benchmarks, holding regularly scheduled consultations, strategy discussions, all of these revolving around services needed by or target services to berendered to the client. 

In addition, off-brand behaviour of personnel requires to be defined and inculcated. For example, offering expertise assistance to clients in areas not perceived as strong, or support to meeting deadlines, besides improving on aspects such as active listening, using open-ended questions, ensuring that client gets updated on changes in legal and financial and environment in which it operates, are some of the areas that deserve unvarying attention.

Training the personnel on all brand-promise related issues, and making them breathe the brand-concept are an inseparable part of branding-strategy and brand-recognition programme. On-brand and off-brand behaviour should be given a weightage in annual performance evaluations. The skill-set of the personnel should leave no gap between "an awareness of what is expected of them" and "their confidence and capability to deliver the brand-promises".

Bottom Line

The benefits of branding go beyond positive interactions with clients, prospects, and referral sources. The investment of time, money and energy in brand-building is expected to culminate in:

The firm progressively earning the trust of the clients, being the beneficiary of more referrals, attracting talented staff and enjoying a competitive edge.

The client experiencing a much-less reduced level of perceived risk in engaging the firm and contributing to the reputation of being a thought leader.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Shri CA S D Bala (Coimbatore) & Shri CA N Anush Shanker, with whom my interaction on this topic has helped me write this article.

M P Vijay Kumar

https://in.linkedin.com/in/mpvijaykumar