As discussed in class perception plays a fundamental role in postioning our products or services. The more positive those feelings are, the easier you will find to make sales.
This is why it is fundamental to understand the marketplace's perception of the industry to which our product is related. If it's a good/positive perception, then we need to build on it, if it's a poor /negative perception, then you need to break it! Your message, your quiality control, customer service and everything else, should be designed to absolutely shatter any negative perceptions about your industry.
I find this article very related to the Science of Customer Behaviour reviewed in class.
If you were a CPA,
-How could you become of greater value to your customers compared to your competitors?
-What characteristics from your sevices would you highlight in order to attract new customers other than your cheeper fees?
While perceptions are hard to change, with a clear vision and proactive positioning statement, these perceptions can be managed. If we assume that the perceptions are a result of the “brand promise” that we have proactively or not developed over time, then we need to work on the repositioning of that brand to create different perceptions. According to Kotler (p.241), the challenge for marketers in building a strong brand is “ensuring that customers have the right type of experiences with the products, services and their marketing programs to create the desired brand knowledge”. As a CPA, I would reassess what my “brand” as a service provider represents to my customers and work on the stages of brand development (see Kotler p. 245) which include:
ReplyDelete1)Identity – to measure salience of the brand (brand awareness)
2)Meaning - to measure points of parity and differences
3)Responses – to measure judgment and feelings - reactions to the brand
4)Relationships – to measure the loyalty to the brand
Once these questions are addressed and the brand strategy is repositioned, then the next stage is to communicate that brand using multiple tools – social media, customer testimonials, advertising ,community involvement, word of mouth, conferences.
When it comes to Accounting Firms it seems there are the Big 4 (Delloit, Ernst&Young, PriceWaterhousCooper and KPMG) and everyone else.
ReplyDeleteSo the question to your question is are you on of the 4 or not.
If you are one of the 4 you only have to compare yourself against the other 3, if you are not then you've got an entirely different task.
The article mentions companies like Gillette use famous faces to align themselves with. A CPA firm has to be vigilant that they don't get paired with the infamous. Look at the accounting firm that managed Enron, Arthur Anderson. That was a one-way ticket to hell.
That's not to say that mistakes aren't recoverable, the Big 4 have been regularly involved in accounting scandals, the most recent seems to be Ernst&Young's problem with Lehman Brothers just last year.
What this does do is opens the door for the smaller firms to separate themselves from the trouble the big guys create or fail to identify. So beyond fees CPA firms have honesty, integrity, and accountability to work with.
Ref:
Accounting Majors; Top 100 Accounting Firms in the U.S. 19 Apr 2009, http://www.accountingmajors.com/accountingmajors/articles/top100.html, accessed 12 Feb. 2011
Wikipedia, Accounting Scandals 11 Feb 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals, accessed 12 Feb. 2011
As a CPA, I will not compete with the big 3, therefore I will try to target sole proprietorship or small partnership as these 2 categories will be most likely interested in my services.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned by Frederick F. Reichheld in ‘The One Number you need to Grow’ article, I will ensure that I develop a strong relationship with my customers in order for them to recommend my services to someone else.
It’s very difficult to talk about brand unless you are a big 3 but CPA services are recognized by quality, speed and also fees. I actually been using a CPA for my tax return through recommendation by a friend through social network. The interesting thing is that he is based on a different State and I never meet him but I can say that he is providing a very efficient service at a reasonable fee. After speaking with him, he told me that his business as grown considerably since the implementation of facebook and that he has now customers throughout the entire Country. This is I guess what we can call ‘Growth by Word of Mouth’!!!
I think that Joe's point regarding the fact that a CPA firm has to be vigilant that they don't get paired with the infamous is exactly what this article is about. And based on this, how can a CPA set himself apart from the big four? I agree that firms have honesty, integrity, and accountability to work with, however, how can a CPA create awareness among his potential customers regarding the values that he brings to the table?
ReplyDelete