RSS feedsAnd, as Phil Shohet pointed out recently (‘Panic stations’, March Best Practice), accountancy practices and their clients are not immune from the challenges that lie ahead.
Cutting costs and battening down the hatches are often the standard knee-jerk reactions to such bad news. However, there is a way in which your practice can not only thrive in the coming months but literally move streets ahead of the competition and that’s by building a strong brand. Research has always shown that in an economic downturn a firm’s brand is the most resilient asset it can own.
Having a powerful brand can maintain revenue levels through premium pricing opportunities, engender customer loyalty and help attract new clients. A strong brand can also reassure and motivate employees during uncertain times.
The problem is, most accountancy practices have little or no understanding about branding. They focus on areas such as re-designing their logo and wonder why nothing significant happens as a result. Or they think a brand is built around selling the benefits of sophisticated accountancy software and hardware.
A brand is not a logo. Neither is it about technology. It is only about psychology. Your brand is, by definition, an emotional customer experience because all brands are emotional, never rational. How, then, can businesses create a powerful emotional customer experience?
The answer is through the use of the senses. Our brains process at least five of them sight, sound, touch, taste and smell which in turn generate emotions. For example, we might hear some music that triggers a pleasant memory, or see a picture that makes you laugh. These emotions are exactly the same as those that drive all purchasing decisions, regardless of whether it’s for a Ferrari or someone to handle the end-of-year accounts.
So the more senses through which we engage customers, the more likely we are to deepen their emotional ties to our practice and retain their custom over the long term.
Yet most accountancy firms utilise only one sense that of sight to drive their branding, and it’s usually done so inconsistently it fails to provide anything worth remembering. It also means neglecting four-fifths of the branding opportunity and in today’s sensory-based world that spells disaster. You’ll be far better off if you focus on strengthening your brand, using the five senses in your practice:
1. Sight: Creating consistency in the visual sense is about achieving a uniform business look. Most accountants have some kind of reception area. What does yours look like? Is it consistent in style, colour and image with all the other visual aspects of your business? Is it attractive, compelling and emotive? What do your staff look like? Even if dress styles are varied within your business, what are the visual indications that they all belong to the same firm?
2. Sound: How well does your firm speak to its customers? How professional are your staff (and partners) in answering the telephone? Are they poor communicators? Studies have shown that customers may avoid purchasing a service just because there is no rapport with the person/people who represent the business.
3. Touch: What aspects of the touch sense can you incorporate into your customer experience to give it a feel all its own? Presentation materials, collateral and promotional items can all be given tactile enhancement.
4. Taste: How can you incorporate the taste sense in your accountancy practice? Perhaps one of the most successful brands this year is Skoda and its Fabia car. And it’s pretty much down to their ‘tasty’ campaign, which shows the car being made entirely out of cake. What’s your version?
5. Smell: How well are you incorporating the sense of smell into your business? According to research, 75% of our emotions are triggered by aromas and smells. Even something as simple as a special fragrance for your reception area can give you a sensory branding edge.
James Hammond is the brand doctor and author of ‘Branding Your Business’, part of the Sunday Times Business Enterprise Series
