One of the biggest mistakes made by many accountants is the tendency to think that accounting is an ‘invisible service’ which contributes to the wellbeing and success of other businesses without being obvious or ‘flashy’ about it. Like leather elbow patches on tweed jackets and smoking pipes in the office, this is an accountancy idea that died many years ago!
Accountancy is an increasingly competitive market. Keeping clients, winning clients and being able to charge effectively for services are all part of being viable in the accountancy world. Beyond just standing in place, the results of branding will allow even solo traders to benefit from these three key elements of success.
Why do accountants need to brand themselves?
There are 3 major reasons that branding improves an accountancy practice:
1. Recognition and memorability
The first level of branding benefits an accountant by differentiating that accountant from competitors. If you can’t be seen, you can’t be hired, and if you aren’t memorable, you won’t get that business that didn’t need you at the time, but really needs you now! Having a unique identity runs through websites, print media (brochures and business cards), office design etc gives you the chance not only to be seen and be remembered but to focus your attention on your business plan in visual form.
On a personal level, when you incorporate your values and ambitions into your business image, you are constantly reminded of your big dreams – which helps you spend your time on the things that move you towards you goals.
2. Increasing market share
Developing brand is not just about your logo – being memorable is great but it’s also important for you do define the qualities that help you express your specific services and reveal the benefits your clients will get from working with you rather than somebody else. An experienced designer can help improve your business just by assisting you to discover the market segments that you most want to work with. Then they will define your brand in ways that appeal to that part of the market so you are naturally hitting the target with the people you’re most keen to reach.
A solid brand helps you get it right from the outset. There’s nothing more demoralising that chasing the wrong clients or investing time and energy in relationship building that doesn’t pay off. By reaching the right market from the beginning, you can save yourself time, money and heartache in the early phases of client engagement.
3. Training, gaining and improvement via brand identity
Even the smallest one man band needs to work with others, whether it’s somebody to answer the phones, a subcontractor who takes on some of the grunt work or the person who stuffs invoices into envelopes … and for those aiming bigger, growing a business means employing others.
Your brand identity means that you can help your partners, employees and even suppliers to understand who you are, how you operate and what you offer – this makes everybody with whom you work into an enthusiast for your brand and it makes training your team much easier, because your values and offering are embedded into all your materials – every time your clients, your suppliers and your team come into contact with your brand materials they get a subtle reminder of who you are, what you do and what makes you special.
That’s cost effective branding because:
- it’s a spur to improvement in working practice,
- an effective advertisement for your services
- a shareable billboard for who you are, meaning your clients can easily inform others about you.
A complete and unique brand identity needn’t cost the earth. Creative Harmony has wide experience in developing powerful brands that work for service professionals – allow us to help you reach the next stage in your business development with a brilliant brand image that is a down-to-earth investment in growing your accountancy practice.
Call us today, or use our contact form to begin the process that moves you towards success. Call us now on 0203 773 9137 or email info@creativeharmony.co.uk to discuss your needs.
