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Research Center >> January 2009
The economy may be sputtering, but CPAs are gearing up for one of their busiest “Busy Seasons” on record. CPA Trendlines research shows that 42 percent of CPAs expect the 2009 season to surpass last year’s season, compared with 36 percent who expect to do at least as well and only 22 percent who are bracing for declines.
I’ve been canvassing CPAs about busy season expectations and performance for several years now. Although there is much more uncertainty in the air, CPAs are as confident as ever. If past tracking is a guide, then the season could finish even stronger than usually conservative CPAs are currently predicting. “While there is increasing fee pressure for compliance services,” according to CPA Blake Christian, who is also an editorial contributor to the Insider newsletters, “we saw a very strong year-end, particularly with respect to year-end and advance 2009 tax planning.” “The favorable tax changes under the Stimulus Package, as well as uncertainty over the 2009 economy and Obama tax regime, focused our clients more intensely on short-term and long-term tax planning,” Christian said. Busy season always presents special issues and opportunities to CPA channel marketers. On the one hand, CPAs are too busy making money to spend money. So many marketers naturally make the mistake of pulling back. But, in fact, CPAs are more engaged in their business during busy season than at any other time of year. In the “off-season,” CPAs have the time to relax a little and to delay decision-making. But during busy season, CPAs are making decisions — buying decisions — every minute. To be sure, those decisions don’t get implemented until after April 15. But if you haven’t been advertising to CPAs during busy season, you’ll be caught flat-footed during the “buying” season. That’s because CPAs will have already made up their minds. During busy season, you see, CPAs are paying attention to every detail of their operation. They are deciding what to keep for next year, what to change, what to buy, who to hire and fire and which new products and services they’ll need. So, during busy season, the most successful CPA channel marketers maintain constant contact with CPAs. In fact, veteran CPA marketers can pretty well predict who among their competitors will succeed and who will fail based on the level and intensity of their busy season advertising. MORE, FOR CPA CHANNEL MARKETERS:
RICK TELBERG is president of Bay Street Group LLC, which provides research and marketing and communications services to CPA firms and the vendors who serve them. He is the founding editor of the Insider newsletters and serves as AICPA Editor at Large and Director of Online Content. In his two decades in media and marketing for the finance, tax and accounting industries, Telberg has played pivotal roles in the development and operation of the leading media and e-commerce outlets in the business, including Accounting Today, The Practical Accountant, Accounting Technology, WebCPA.com, SmartPros.com, and CPA2Biz.com. Contact Rick at rtelberg@baystreetgroup.com or (914) 674-4531. He blogs at cpatrendlines.com. |
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How
to Market to CPAs in ‘Busy Season’