Try describing your firm without words
Richard Brewin • January 20, 2020
You don’t have to look at too many websites for accountancy firms to spot a fair degree of repetition.
“We are different”. “Proactive”. “Help you grow your business”. “Leading firm”. Photographs of smiling accountants.
All commendable and the right messages to have but, given their commonality, do they really give a true message of what your firm is all about? Do they resonate strongly enough with your clients and target market to make you stand out?
To attract the right clients and the right responses you want a firm that reflects the right personality, a firm that creates strong and relevant impressions and messages. Limiting that to just words weakens your voice.
You want to be the leading local firm for ambitious business owners in your locality, supporting and advising them as they grow their businesses; standing side by side with them through the challenges; improving the lives for them and their family.
Do you just say that or do the imagery, colours, structure, tone, sounds, smells of your website, office, material, team reinforce it?
I see firms that talk about being local but with images on their website of capital skylines that are hundreds of miles away.
I see firms that talk about exciting ambition and success but with magnolia walls and calendars for decoration.
I see firms that promote growth and personal service but have nothing but dying plants in reception.
Your firm is more than words. We spend a long time proof reading copy but don’t give the same attention to all the other messages we give out, or fail to promote.
Try describing your firm without words.
Is it a warm colour or a cold one? Is it a soft material or a strong one? Does it smell of lavender or tar? Does it sound like Mozart, Jay-Z or Iron Maiden? Is it a painting by Monet or Miro? Is it old or new? Exciting or sensible?
It can be whatever you want it to be, but the message will only be clear if you think about your delivery in a wider sense.
Make you firm much more than words.
In the Accountant/client relationship, “yes” often feels like the default. Yes to urgent requests. Yes to timeline shifts. Yes to “just one more thing” added to the scope. We want to say yes to our clients. We want to support them, be helpful and build more work, but every unqualified additional yes becomes an invisible cost; on your time, your margins, and your wellbeing. Bold accountants think differently. They know that “no” isn’t rejection. It’s honest and professional. It’s a strategic decision that protects quality, strengthens relationships, and reinforces your value.
Let’s be honest, most business owners have a perception of an accountant that probably falls far short of our ambitions. They want someone who helps them make sense of the chaos, plan for growth, and sleep better at night knowing someone’s got their back, but their accountant doesn’t usually spring to mind as this person. What they dream of is a coach, not an accountant, but, weirdly, they often don’t trust coaches but do trust their accountant. Their accountant can be both, so the client gets the trust and the coaching
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