Golden Practices

Killer Powerpoint

Sorry for any confusion...that's "killer" the good way...the way we used to use the word growing up in Southern California. The way that, if I say it now, my kids look at me like I'm a total dork (same goes for "gnarly" "rad" or "stylin'"). I think they use "phat" now, and "sick" to mean, essentially, the same thing. Yeah, like those terms are any better...  :-)

Back to the point of the post, Seth Godin is recycling a previous article about being effective with electronic presentations. With "Really Bad Powerpoint" he is trying to save the world from bad use of a potentially cool tool. His post is a great read. In it, his main points are:

• Communication is the transfer of emotion....If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.
• If you believe in your idea, sell it....Your audience will thank you for it, because deep down, we all want to be sold.

Four tips for success:

1. Make cue cards (don't use the slides for this)
2. Create slides that demonstrate, with emotional proof (pictures), that what you’re saying is true not just accurate.
3. Create a leave-behind document as the proof that helps the intellectuals in your audience accept the idea that you’ve sold them on emotionally.
4. Create a feedback cycle to determine, "Did you sell people on your idea?"

And he finishes off with 5 rules to remember. The first is (gulp) "no more than 6 words on a slide"!

Egads, I'd better go change the two presentations I'm giving in the next 7 days!! I'll let you know how well it goes.

(See, also, Guy Kawasaki's "best of" post on the subject called The 10/20/30 Rule of Powerpoint)

I've Been Wrong All Along. Service Doesn't Matter.

Everything I've believed and taught about marketing has been based on great service as a differentiator. Things like listening, caring, being accessible and available when your customers (clients if you prefer to call them) need you. Being friendly, returning calls, making people feel like they are important. That kind of stuff.

Nevermind. Don't waste your time. You can make enough money without doing any of it.

Here's a successful CPA's tax preparer's approach described on his website:

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

1) Every Wednesday in February and March is BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WEDNESDAY. I will be unavailable and inaccessible on Wednesdays during the tax season. My phone and fax will be unplugged on Wednesdays and I will not be checking my email.

2) I never answer the telephone without first screening the call via my answering machine - so don't hang up because I may be listening (except on Wednesdays)!

3) Do not attempt to contact me at any other phone number other than....This is my only telephone number!

4) Returns than are not literally in my hands, with all the necessary information, by March 31, 2007 will be automatically extended.

5) I will not be responsible for any late payment penalties on returns that were not literally in my hands, with all the necessary information, by March 31, 2007.

6) Before you send me your "stuff" be sure to make and keep a photocopy of all your 2006 Form W-2s.

7) When sending me an email be very specific in the "Subject" line. If you need a copy of your W-2 - write "Need Copy of W-2". If you have received additional info - write "Additional Info".

If you have a question on a completed return - write "Question on Finished Return".

I do not have the time during the season to read and respond to "Are We There Yet" emails.

I will not open or read emails for returns I have not yet started until I am working on the returns - unless your "Subject" indicates a timely response is needed. Do not just write "URGENT" - note why it is urgent!

I retract my previous marketing advice because, if this guy has clients (and apparently he has quite a lot—too many perhaps) then people will apparently work with anyone regardless of how inaccessible, unresponsive, and impersonal they might be to work with—thus my advice is all for naught.

I will say that he's definitely doing a great job setting client expectations!

Oh, if you thought the above was a joke—fabricated for entertainment—it's not. This is on the homepage of Robert Flach who also has two blogs: The Wandering Tax Pro and NJ Tax Practice Blog.

Working Globally

Pam says, "It's not 'political correctness,' it's courtesy." and she's right.

Knowledge of multi-cultural business and social etiquette is increasing in necessity. Living in such an electronically connected time, when even telephone access to the farthest reaches of the world are reasonable (or free with Skype! gotta love Skype...). Even I hardly go a day without speaking to or corresponding with someone from another hemisphere (and that doesn't include blogging).

Pam authors Escape from Cubicle Nation and she has a terrific post with insights about consideration of non-US cultures. After enjoying her post, be sure to read her post comments. They are laced with even more ideas and points--definitely worthy of reading.

After that, you might enjoy my prior posting: Doing Business Abroad: Need to Know Etiquette. The post is over a year old and still gets very high readership. In it, I link you to resources for tips by country.

Special hat tip to Rob Millard who's post about Pam's led me to catch up on her blog in my aggregator! 

It Wasn't Me

I'm sure you were wondering so I just want you to know that I am not the lucky winner of last night's Powerball for $254 MILLION even though the winning ticket was sold across the street(!!) from my office.

Can you believe? Do you think lightning might strike twice?

I'm just trying to imagine what *I* could come up with to spend over $8mil a year on for 30 years in payouts...Guess I'll be sticking with the consulting gig...

Where Can a Marketer Get High-Level Continuing Ed?

Got a great e-mail yesterday. A request for resources.

Q

Hi Michelle! I am subscribed to your blog and read Golden Practices often. I am a marketing coordinator in [an 80 person office of a 600 person CPA firm located in 6 states]....We have a marketing director, graphic artist, copywriter, etc. in our headquarters and marketing coordinators in our major offices.

All that to ask...do you know of any good 'marketing professional services' training I can attend in 2007?

I am a member of the Association of Accounting Marketing, but my [boss thinks] their conference is a little too introductory and geared towards smaller firms...and would like me to do some research and attend at least one conference, but I can't find anything applicable, so thought you might have some ideas. Thanks for your help!

A

It's unfortunate to hear that AAM's conference seems too introductory—this is something AAM has grappled with for several years:  how to appeal to the most experienced marketers when so many new marketers continue to enter the profession. I'd not heard anyone suggest that AAM is geared for smaller firms—I'm not sure I agree—the issues seem largely the same whether small firm or large, though resources for initiatives are certainly vastly different. 

Still and all, AAM is a good conference for accounting marketers—I would just urge attendees and members to challenge the speakers and organizers more for new and deeper topics. And, if needed, topics that address the unique needs of larger firms. As a volunteer driven org (and conference) people like you can and should become organizers and establish things like a "large-firm track" at the conference. It is, after all, "your" organization. :-)

I really don't know of anything else specifically geared for accounting or even legal marketers that will truly get you to a much higher level than you receive at AAM or its legal equivalent, LMA. Some say they do, but I've not found that. What I have found is that looking outside the industry helps a lot.

It's really healthy to look outside of our "professional services" niche and explore teaching that is geared for the rest of the world, too. People, in general, become really good at "navel gazing" and benchmarking against each other which immerses us in mediocrity. We need to be climbing mountains, not staying comfortably in our valley.

(The challenge comes when bringing ideas back to the firm and convincing partners to try things that no other firm is yet doing! I've had those conversations—still have them, and they aren't usually easy. But when you succeed in making the case, it is awesome! And so are the results).

Not knowing what your particular job focuses are, your whole marketing department might enjoy "dividing and conquering" a la carte education such as the stuff below. Then maybe each of you can come back and share the "best of" with each other in a one day retreat or periodic half-day gatherings. As Stephen Covey says, we learn best when we teach what we've learned to others.

Some topic oriented education to explore might be:

• http://www.ana.net/about/  they have conferences and regional meetings all year long...it's one to watch and it's where the big boys play for branding/advertising and other external marketing initiatives
• http://www.prsa.org/ public relations
• http://www.iabc.com/ business communications
• http://www.iaf-world.org/ facilitation (skills for facilitating teams internally or focus groups, etc)
• http://www.womma.org/ word of mouth marketing
• http://www.amanet.org/ see just their marketing seminars here
• http://www.corante.com/  they have conferences later in the year. Here are last year's Innovative Marketing Conference, CMO Summit and Marketer's Forum to get an idea of what is offered
• http://www.emarketingassociation.com/2007/index.htm  e-marketing association has 2 events per year

I'm posting this on my blog so that others can expand the list with comments! Thanks for a great question...

Commenters: if you plug a conference or source of education, please keep it relevant to accounting or law firm marketing and please indicate what type of learning will be gleaned. Please no product or consulting spam. We're looking for legitimate recommendations, preferably from other marketing types.

____________________

Appended 30 Jan:

Cameron Fuller with accounting and law firm associations TIAG and TAGLaw, respectively, recommends the Marketing Partners Forum that some of their members find to be of value in addition to their own periodic marketing director fly-ins and monthly webinars or teleseminars.

A marketer wrote in to add Society for Marketing Professional Services

Debra Helwig at accounting association, IGAF Worldwide, wrote in:

I would strongly suggest they check out their firm's general association membership to see if there are resources for marketing directors. For example, we have a robust Marketing Directors Group with a strong peer network that engages in regular email exchanges, monthly conference calls, and an intense and high level annual [marketing] conference.

Most associations provide at least some level of support to their member firm marketers. What's more, most of the time these services and offerings are at least partially included in a firm's general association dues so marketing directors may have access to these resources either free or nearly free. One of the things I've observed is sometimes association benefits stay trapped at the partner level and information doesn't get to the marketing staff who may not learn of all the things that are offered. So find out who your firm's accounting association is, and if they offer marketing director support, take advantage of it!

Organizations like Debra's and Cameron's do offer continuing education for their marketers, both in person and virtually. When I was in-house, my accounting firm's association was an enormous resource for me in many ways and, to this day, I'm still close to several of those marketers and partners though many of us have changed roles, and even professions in some cases.

Thanks for writing in!

Impressions of Your Office on Visitors

The other day I posted about what it might be like in your lobby when people come see you.

Today I offer a hat tip to my pal Dan Hull for blogging about perceptions of guests who visit your office. Dan directs us to an article by Ann Macaulay found on CBA Practice Link (Canadian Bar Association's website) called "Making Your Law Office Client-Friendly" (a good read for accountants, too).

The article focuses on improving the experience of being your guest. It's loaded with tips and examples on everything from reception area lighting to offering a usable work station to your actions when you meet with people. Check it out!

About That "Trusted Advisor" Goal...

I'm thrilled with Charlie Green's post, "Bad Marketing 101: Trust Me!" in which he writes:

...“trusted advisor” is something you want others to say about you, not say it yourself.  You can talk about it amongst yourselves, hope for it—but not proclaim it.

Saying you are, or want to be, someone’s trusted advisor, is like saying you are, or want to be, really humble.

His post is SO right on. "We are qualified to be your trusted advisor" (or similar) is one of the most annoying promises that I see on professional firm websites and in collateral materials. Besides being quite presumptuous (who says you know what I want in an advisor, and what I deem worthy of trust?) it is so commonly stated that it's now cliche.

Charlie, by the way, co-authored with David Maister, THE book on the subject, The Trusted Advisor, agrees it is an inappropriate claim in one's marketing materials. Thank you Charlie!

In his post, he says he googled "to be your trusted advisor" and it generated over 31,000 results. He opines:

Trust is personal—an outcome, not a come-on. On a first date, asking for either sex or for a very long-term relationship is likely to get you neither. “Trust me” is the business version—socially inappropriate, especially on the “first date” equivalent of the internet.

It's very similar to what I wrote in "Please Don't Put This on Your Website" when I recommended against staking a claim to be a future client's "partner" in their business. I wrote not to say:

"We partner with you…"

...This is a status you earn with a long-term client or it may be a role you are invited to act within for a new client. Either way, It's not something you promise to the general public.

The same with the trusted advisor thing. (My original post lists more things to avoid...)

I couldn't agree more with Charlie's post. Be sure to read his blog post comments, too.

Fly on the Wall #4: What Happens When People Are in Your Lobby?

It happened again.

I was visiting a new client. No one knew me yet. The receptionist was fine. Greeted me as one would expect. I was a little early so I expected to wait. She asked if I needed anything and made sure I was comfortable. Then she continued her work.

As I waited for about 10 minutes, I observed that the lobby served as part of the office traffic pattern as well as an open elevator bank. The seating faced the traffic flow.

As more than a dozen people went through, I smiled politely and watched each one. Here's what I took in:

• More than a dozen people passed by, in both directions, within 10 feet of me.
• Most people walked at a slow to moderate pace with the exception of one woman who bustled through.
• Most people looked down as they walked through.
• Not one person met my eyes or glanced in my direction...nobody said hello or otherwise acknowledged my presence.
• People passing each other did not exchange greetings or smile at each other! Nor did anyone speak to the receptionist.
• No one smiled, whistled, seemed amused, had a spring in their step, or in any way displayed that they were enjoying their day.

What are your impressions about this firm? (I know what mine were!)

Does this seem like a nice place to work? A friendly environment? Like people you want to work with?

What if you were an important prospect? How about a highly desirable job candidate? A perfect referral source?

Could this be your firm? Wouldn't you be mortified?

Do you pay attention to the experience of someone in your lobby? Do people behave the same passing by an occupied lobby as when it is empty?

When people come visit you or your business, it makes you a host. Would you walk in your front door and pass a stranger in your living room without greeting them?

5 minute marketing idea:
E-mail your entire team and remind them to go above and beyond to be friendly and outgoing when people are waiting in your lobby. Link them to this post to save some time typing...

Brilliant New Accounting Blog

Chris Laughton, a Chartered Accountant, has launched InsolvencyBlog.com.

Chris is a business recovery partner with Mercer & Hole in the firm's London office and he is a "UK licensed insolvency practitioner with a keen interest in European and international cross-border restructuring issues"

I met Chris in Dublin in late October when I presented on blogs and RSS technology to his firm and several other member firms of TIAG - The International Accounting Group.

Immediately grasping what a blog could help him accomplish, Chris jumped in with both feet. His blog offers useful and timely information and it's clear Chris is having fun as he learns about this new way to serve as a resource for clients and others interested in his field.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Chris! Wishing you many years of blogging success!

Some Clients Don't Want You to "Give the Answer"

In a brilliant and thought-provoking post, Jack Vinson of Knowledge Jolt from Jack writes:

I've been learning in my consulting practice that when I come across as "having the answer" I never get as far as I do when I offer a suggestion (that I think will work), and ask my clients why it won't work.  There are a variety of questions I could ask along these lines, but they all center around surfacing obstacles and unintended consequences of the idea.  And, conveniently, when I bring other people into the conversation, I usually get a better solution in the end. 

He shares this astute observation after reading and citing a post from Bruce MacEwen's blog. I urge you to read Jack's full post that links to Bruce's.

On a separate note...IT'S A VERY SMALL WORLD

(feel free to skip this story...)
I discovered Jack's post through a very pleasant coincidence. It really IS a small world. I met Jack Vinson at Matt Homann's and Dennis Kennedy's BlawgThink! just over a year ago. Always thought a lot of Jack's blog but admit I haven't been keeping up with it (or most of my RSS feeds lately).

What's really weird is that I just got back from a facilitation conference in Australia (one of only two Americans there). An Aussie from the conference, Andrew Rixon, requested participation in an on-line survey on some deep facilitation stuff. On clicking "done" I was forwarded to a blog called Anecdotes. (This is totally weird because I hadn't met any facilitators through IAF--Int'l Assoc of Facilitators--yet who blogged or knew much about blogs!)

The very first post I see, Stop Trying to Solve the Problem, references Jack and Bruce, two names I know well from the legal blog side and would never in a million years expect to come across in my facilitation circles--a very separate world for me from my legal and accounting side. Isn't this huge world small indeed?

Well, just goes to show, brilliant thinking is appreciated and it gets around! Good to bump into you again, Jack. What an unexpected way to do it.