The Practitioner: replacing partners with Twitter

BEEN struggling over the past month or so to convince my Partners over the best way to win new clients. Personally I think that the new methods of marketing, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even a regularly updated website are the ways that the firm should be using. Other partners don’t always agree. I think they just hear the word Facebook and think of it as something that their 15 year-old son does in his spare time to avoid exam revision!

I wish they would just let me get on with it and see the results for themselves. Word of mouth referrals are obviously always going to be the best new business leads, but there is no reason why the more modern online methods mentioned above can’t be used to try and increase word of mouth activity.

Their lack of understanding is playing a part in their scepticism I am sure, but it is annoying when they appear to not even want to learn about the benefits. We have started to record what marketing source gave rise to new clients and more and more the results are – website, Twitter, Facebook. This then starts me thinking about the modern accountancy practice and how it will look in the future. The more senior partners are becoming less and less productive as far as bringing new work in is concerned and with the more modern methods of marketing available I do start to wonder whether a firm needs the same number of partners as in days gone by.

I am probably grateful to be honest that the senior partners don’t want to get involved in Twitter etc, the results would be horrendous if they started to dabble in it themselves. We have a good team of younger, motivated staff who enjoy spending time marketing the firm online, and for as long as they are rewarded and it is successful then everyone is happy.

Well almost everyone.