Many small accounting firm managers mistakenly believe that customer relationship management (CRM) systems are just for big firms. However, integrating CRM technology into your small accounting firm can be a wise decision for a number of reasons.
Why do big firms use accounting CRMs? A CRM helps them to find focus in their business development process. It helps them gain insights about their contacts, cultivate their reputation as valuable business advisors, and create the ideal experience for their clients. But wait—aren’t these all things that you want for your small accounting firm, too?
Despite the differences in size, large and small accounting firms have similar processes, goals, and needs. Whether your firm is big or little, using a CRM can help you solve problems and achieve success. What’s more, there exist accounting CRMs designed specifically with small firms in mind. Read on to learn how a CRM for CPAs can help your small accounting firm achieve success!
Focus Your Business Development Efforts
Used to monitor your business development efforts, a CRM’s sales pipeline tool tracks sales opportunities, measures referral activity, and manages team accountability. Real-time metrics and the ability to sort your sales pipeline are built in. They make it easy to see where and how you should focus your business development efforts.
Gain Insight About Your Contacts
Use a small business CRM to define and manage your relationships in an intuitive way. The CRM can help you determine which contacts are most important, guide you in investing in these relationships, and track your progress.
Additionally, a good client relationship managements system offers a survey tool for measuring your clients’ satisfaction. ABLE, for example, uses the Net Promoter Score® (NPS) survey. The NPS survey is the leading metric for client loyalty. The more you know about your clients and contacts, the better equipped you are to grow your accounting business.
Cultivate Your Reputation
To remain relevant in this increasingly automated industry, accounting professionals must position themselves as more than just accountants. They need to develop reputations as valued business advisors. One great way to do this is by regularly reaching out to your contacts with relevant content. This demonstrates your awareness of what is happening in the field and helps you to grow a reputation as a thought leader.
Many small business CRMs offer some type of tool for aggregating content and sharing it with contacts. Some CRMS, such as ABLE, even populate the content library themselves, making it easy to seamlessly share content with your contacts.
Create the Ideal Experience for Your Clients
To keep your clients happy and satisfied, it’s important to offer them a seamless and enjoyable service experience. A CRM can help in this area.
Offer consistent, personalized service to your clients with access to a detailed, firm-wide catalogue of all activities and interactions pertaining to each particular customer. With all of your client information collected in one central location, every team member can better understand and provide for the needs of each and every client.
Keep up with your important contacts with regular reminders from your CRM. Establishing and maintaining a pattern of regular contact will help you to build strong and long-lasting client relationships.
ABLE is the CRM for Your Small Accounting Firm
Want to learn more about ABLE, the CRM for accountants? Request a no-obligations demo today to discover how this small business CRM can help you achieve business development success!