New contacts are just one source for accounting lead generation. There's also the alternative of targeting your current customers for entirely new leads. Many people have compared this strategy to B2C loyalty programs because it focuses on retaining current customers.
However, is it really a good idea to to have a B2B version of such programs? Well according to this article from StreetFightMag, not even B2C loyalty programs are as effective in influencing customer behavior:
“A recent study by First Data found that only 4% of rewards program members indicated that their membership influenced their decision of which restaurant to visit. In other words, a customer that buys a product nine times is going to buy the product a 10th time regardless of whether it’s free or not.”
Don't think that this could just apply to restaurants or even just B2C. The fact is relying on freebies and promos isn't all that effective in changing customer behavior. While the article goes on to describe how B2C businesses can fix their loyalty programs, this excerpt summarizes a point that could apply to any business (B2C or B2B).
“Customers are loyal to a restaurant because of good food and good service — not because of a deal, coupon, or a buy nine, and get the 10th free offer. No customer loyalty program in the world can drive customers to a restaurant with bad food and bad service.”
Now suppose you were to just replace words like restaurant, food, and coupon with things like accounting service, financial reports, and discount costs. While there's no doubt that lower costs are a major selling point for B2B accounting firms, relying on promos instead of the sheer quality of your service will eventually raise up those costs and the point becomes moot.
Using these promos and programs can also be bad business practice if you're using them as a means to keep customers dependent on your services. If you want a customer to continue business with you, then that dependence should still be based on the quality of your service and how you distinguish yourself from others. It shouldn't be based on anything else.
For a start, remember that you need to develop a relationship with your B2B clients. Even after you've closed your first deal with them, stay in touch and be at the ready if they suddenly have something to complain about. You can also ease communication between your business and theirs by:
- Diversifying Customer Support – Outsource to call centers with professional telemarketers to help manage calls from clients. Fix up your email response strategy so that they'll hear from you much sooner. Should a prospect request a meeting with you to discuss a problem, give them a date that they're most comfortable with.
- Doing Surveys – These can be phone surveys done using your current customer database. These can also be polls conducted on your business website. In both cases, you generate feedback from your clients and that feedback will give you insight on how to maintain (and even improve) the quality of your services.
If you're planning on using some sort of loyalty program, it shouldn't focus on anything but the quality of your accounting services. That's the only true way of gaining loyalty from any business, not subtle schemes that make it hard for them to find an alternative for reasons that have nothing to do your with your niche.
