Good, now that I have your attention, as an editor and journalist for over 30 years I fully realize that ‘advisory’ has more than four letters. But in the world of accounting, this term become somewhat divisive, at the very least fraught with some controversy in how it’s been marketed to the profession. This doesn’t have to be.
What I mean is that over the past decade or so, the message to accountants coming from the vendor community all the way up to industry organizations has been, basically “your future is advisory, go advisory or die.” If this wasn’t enough to rankle even the most hardened of accounting professionals, then add in how every mention of the word rarely comes with an explanation of what it actually is.
In reality, ‘advisory’ means different things to different accounting professionals. Tax pros see it one way, bookkeepers and CPAs another. All have their approach and some are actually doing this kind of work and finally charging for it. For the rest, it has been a lot of non-explicit noise. Perhaps it is finally time to change the message, or even the wording.
This is why Kellie Parks, CPB and myself are going to do our level best to have the discussion that is needed around this term and the marketing behind it. We will be a part of Insightful Accountant’s ‘Future Forward’ virtual event Sept. 26-27.
In this panel, simply titled: Advisory Isn’t A Four-Letter Word: Part One, Marketing Your Services, we will noodle through how to replace the term “advisory” with relevant phrases and words that actually explain what we can do to help our clients grow and prosper. Phrases and words that we can use to market and sell our “advisory” services to achieve proper revenue for the work we do.
Learning objectives:
- How to rephrase “advisory” to a meaningful, less “hype-filled” set of words and phrases
- How to use more realistic language in marketing of services to current and prospective clients
- How to achieve more value for your services – don’t give away your brain! (You may be doing some of the work now and Not getting paid for it!)
- What tools and tactics actually make sense to move forward as an advisor, and not just a compliance officer
Registration is Free and this particular session is good for 1 CPE credit. Do join the conversation! Together we can cut through the hype and the rhetoric and hopefully get some clarity on what advisory or some better term can mean for you and your business.