Want Your E-Mail Read?

eRoi, Inc. (Portland, OR) research indicates that Wednesdays and Thursdays have the highest open and click-through rates for e-mail messages. During business hours, most messages were read at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.


Day - Reads - Clicks

Monday - 26% - 4%

Tuesday - 23% - 3%

Wednesday - 27% - 5%

Thursday - 26% - 5%

Friday - 23% - 4%

Saturday - 12% - 2%

Sunday - 14% - 2%

AAM Conference - Register Now!

Don't delay in registering for the annual summit of the Association for Accounting Marketing - Wild On Marketing - June 3-6 at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego! There are already 332 registrants compared to 128 at this time last year. Check out http://www.accountingmarketing.org/conference.asp for all the details. What I've learned so far is that the AAM Summit is the place to be for best practices and networking in accounting marketing.

Risky Business

The December 15, 2007 issue of Marketing News includes a "Back Page" interview with Maryam Banikarim, CMO, Univision Communications, Inc. A couple of her responses were particularly interesting.

Q: What qualities make a marketer great?
A: A great marketer has empathy, a genuine curiosity about consumers and a willingness to take risks.

Q: What qualities undermine an otherwise talented marketing executive?
A: Fear, for the marketing executive; and lack of commitment, for the organization. Risk-taking isn't exactly what most folks are being rewarded for ... but in order to succeed, individuals and organizations alike need to embrace novel approaches.

Taking risks may mean making mistakes. However, every successful person has made mistakes and learned from them. When was the last time you took a risk? Is it time?

Four Reasons to Fire a Client Today

Rick Telberg, president and chief executive of Bay Street Group, recently addressed this topic on his blog, http://cpatrendlines.com/2008/02/25/four-reasons-to-fire-a-client-today/#more-1000. His post is on target. I'd like to add a few more reasons to fire a client:

• Unsatisfactory realization
• No growth potential
• High risk
• Client doesn't need your firm's expertise

What I've learned so far is that most CPA firms won't consider firing clients - even the difficult and unprofitable clients - despite the fact that those firms that regularly do so are more profitable and have happier partners and staff. Perhaps it's time to take another look at this worthwhile strategy?

Why CPAs Don't Market

I attended an AICPA conference over 10 years ago at Bally's Las Vegas (my notes are on a hotel notepad). A panel was charged with giving reasons why CPAs don't market. Here are a few:

• Too busy
• Firms don't require marketing skills
• Presume clients know what they need and that they'll tell the firm
• Egos - CPAs don't want rejection
• Don't value marketing hours like chargeable hours
• Unfocused marketing efforts
• Don't measure results
• Negative mindset - don't believe they can do it

How many of these reasons are still true today? What I've learned so far is that effective marketing requires consistent effort. Firms must establish expectations and accountability. Marketing plans focus marketing efforts. CPAs benefit from marketing and sales coaching/training and must believe in their skills. And, perhaps most importantly, CPA firm leadership must "walk the walk" to support their firms' marketing programs.

Elf Yourself

How many of you received an "Elf Yourself" e-mail during this past holiday season? I received four, one of which included me and my husband. Very funny.

OfficeMax's ElfYourself.com holiday site allowed users to paste their own photos on the heads of four dancing elves and e-mail the results to friends and family. As reported in the February 15, 2008 issue of Marketing News, from its launch in mid-November to just days before Christmas, the site received more than 120 million vists during which more than 75 million elves were created at an average rate of 60 elves per second. Statistics weren't given for ScroogeYourself.com or ReindeerArmWrestling.com.

What would be some options for the accounting marketing world? How about NetworkYourself.com? CloseTheSaleYourself.com? CPAsCreatingFirmLeaders.com? Let me hear from you!

Personal Action Plans

They go by different names. Gary Boomer (www.boomer.com) refers to 90-day Personal Game Plans. Morrie Shechtman (www.fifthwaveleadership.com) promotes Personal Action Plans to develop financial, personal and professional goals for 90-day, 1-year, 3-year and 5-year time periods. And, one of David Maister's (www.davidmaister.com) favorite stories is about coaching pigeons, "Come on pigeon, you can do it, I will help you." The story relates to setting short term goals, acknowledging achievement, and setting subsequent short term goals in order to achieve the overall goal.

Whatever you call it, writing your goals and making a commitment to achieve them is a key to success. Goals keep you focused and help you prioritize your time. What I've learned so far is that accomplishing goals is very satisfying and is the motivation to accomplish even more.