If you’re an accounting company looking for strategies to generate more leads, consider B2B appointment setting. We also advise knowing exactly what you’re getting yourself into before you make the investment to do a program like this. Doing your research will help you to be more prepared and will set expectations.
Lead generation for accountants can mean a lot of different things; cold calling, email campaigns, website leads, or referrals. What companies in this industry must realize is that every strategy is different, some of these will be warm leads, others will require more lead nurturing and qualification before they become customers.
B2B Lead Generation for Accountants: 4 Key Stats You Should Know
The best way to learn more about a lead generation strategy that is completely foreign to you? Look at a lead generation accounting success story or look at data from companies who have already tried similar programs. If you’re an accounting firm looking into B2B appointment setting, these statistics will help you enter into a program more informed and prepared.
Here are four key statistics you should know when entering a B2B appointment setting program for your accounting firm (all of this is data based on real programs).
Average Deal Size
Average Deal Size: $13,500.00
Your first question naturally might be, what size deals can I expect to close with B2B appointment setting? The average deal size for our accounting partners is $13.5K. Keep in mind that this is an average, and deals might be smaller or larger depending on the types of companies you choose to go after and the geographic location you’re looking to target.
B2B appointment setting keeps a variety of potential customers in your sales pipeline. Constantly working your pipeline ensures that you’ll close a good mix of deals. Smaller deals may include things like audits, whereas bigger deals may include ongoing consulting and general accounting services. Again, deal size will depend on the types of companies you target.
Most Common Key Decision-Maker (KDM)
Most Common Key-Decision Maker: CFO/Controller
When you begin cold calling and emailing prospects, it’s also important to target the right individual at a company. If you aren’t targeting the right decision-makers, you’ll spend even more time trying to close appointments and won’t see ROI as quickly.
Don’t waste your time speaking to the wrong people. If your accounting firm has a solid list of potential customers, you should always target a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Controller. These are the people within organizations who, more often than not, will be making a decision regarding outsourced accounting services. If you want to close more deals, target your messaging towards these individuals.
Number of Days Between First Dial and First Appointment
Typical time between 1st dial and 1st appointment (days): 585
This might be the most important statistic of them all. From the time you make your first cold call to the time you set your first appointment, it takes (on average), 585 days. This number might initially scare you off, but hear us out—do you really expect to close a deal selling accounting services from a cold call? This industry is about trust, and if companies already work with a firm they trust, they have no reason to switch.
Even though cold calling rarely helps you find a person who is looking to make an immediate change, it’s still important to do this kind of activity if you want to generate leads. Here’s how cold calls and other outbound activity will help your accounting firm:
- Imagine how long it would take without appointment setting. If it takes 585 days to schedule an appointment when you’re constantly working your pipeline, just imagine how long it would take with all of these efforts. If you weren’t cold calling, emailing, and constantly following up with people in your pipeline, sales from outbound leads would be nonexistent. You’d be relying solely on referrals and word-of-mouth to grow your business. If you’re not spending time on appointment setting, you’re missing out on a ton of opportunities.
- Nurture and stay top-of-mind. When do companies make a switch or look for accounting services? When they’re either A) looking to make a switch (unhappy with their current partner) or B), they have an immediate need for extra help and want to outsource. If your accounting firm is the one that’s been reaching out and developing a relationship with their company, who do you think they’re going to call when that need arises? You, or ABC Accounting Company down the street who they’ve never talked to before? Your company, without a doubt.
You can’t let the longer timeframe scare you, B2B appointment setting is a critical component of business growth for accounting firms.
Number of Dials Between First Dial and First Appointment
Number of dials between 1st dial and 1st appointment: 18.9
Again, because of the amount of time it takes to get an appointment, you’re going to have to make a few phone calls before you land a meeting. The average number of dials it usually takes for our accounting clients to get an appointment is 18.9 dials. Some of these are conversations; others are voicemails. All phone calls are in an effort to remain top-of-mind. You already have the right target in your pipeline, and you’re using the right messaging; it’s simply about waiting for the right time—when will it be the right time for them to buy?
Start the Conversation With People in Your Market Today
You’re an accounting firm, and this is simple math—if ten conversations result in one closed deal, you need to start having ten conversations today so one will convert into a deal later down the road when you need it. The idea of B2B appointment might scare you just because it’s so different from anything you’ve done before, but it really shouldn’t. If you’re used to getting new customers from warm referrals, and you start using a tactic where it takes you almost 600 to schedule a meeting, you might be thinking, ‘what’s the point?’ But if you go into a B2B appointment setting program with realistic expectations and have faith in the process, you could be closing big deals consistently a couple of years down the road.
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, we know better than anyone that B2B appointment setting works for accountants, we’ve seen it firsthand with one of our longest-standing clients, and we’re continuing to partner with accounting firms in exclusive markets all across the country. Are you ready to see what B2B lead generation could do for your accounting firm?
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