Problem

There are over 4M+ accountant profiles on LinkedIn.   But most accountants don't leverage LinkedIn for marketing their practices.   Mainly because LinkedIn was built for recruiters and interacting with professional groups – not for accountants who want to get new clients.

Solution

Teaspiller’s goal was to see if you could make LinkedIn even more effective in getting clients for accountants.   But in a really simple, client friendly way.

• Import an accountant’s resume from LinkedIn into Teaspiller automatically
• Create a beautiful webstory with the accountant's LinkedIn resume

Methodology

• Surveyed 49 potential clients
• Asked clients to compare a real accountant’s LinkedIn profile with her Teaspiller’s Webstory

Results

Almost 90% of clients preferred the accountant's Webstory over LinkedIn.

Suggestions

Firms can leverage their employees' LinkedIn resumes to get clients--just by making it more visible to potential clients.  Here are some quick and easy to implement suggestions:

• Clients get reassurance seeing a LinkedIn resume -- it creates the effect of transparency.   Consider placing a link to your LinkedIn profile on your website or email signatures.
• Clients like seeing LinkedIn recommendations.   Make your LinkedIn recommendations visible to potential clients.    With pictures of existing clients, links to the client's business website, or even links back to the client's Linkedin profile,  LinkedIn recommendations are perceived by clients to be more authentic than the classic text testimonials on accountant websites.
• A beautiful online presence does get noticed by clients -- it can make a practice look even more professional.

What people said about an accountant’s Linkedin profile

• “I like the fact that I can see the resume and experience. it would make me want to see more information about this accountant.
• “It provides past experience, education and affiliations. It also shows that she was recommended.”
• “I think LinkedIn is great for networking purposes, but not so much for finding service providers like an accountant.”
• “I can understand all i need to know in one window.”
• “Everything was right out there showing the persons experience and education where as [on Teaspiller] you had to click on multiple things to learn about the person”
• “All the information was right there on the Linkedin profile but had to follow links on the Teaspiller site”
• “The accountant experience, education, and past are very helpful. I like the layout of the site because all the information I need for this accountant is on her bio page without clicking on separate links.
• “Her education, location, number of recommendations, her experience”
• “This gives me lots of relevant info right up front such as education and experience and location. Everything I would need short of an in person meeting.”
• “Past, Education and number of recommendations”
• “Experience and how many people recommend them"

What people said about a Teaspiller Webstory

• “When purchasing anything online, I rely greatly on reviews other people have written on the product. [Teaspiller] seems to be similar for services .... The reviews were much easier to read on Teaspiller, and also it had more of them.”
• “[Teaspiller] has more information (contact info, etc.) and a generally 'warmer' feeling.”
• “… more information about the criteria I give more weight to”
• “[Teaspiller] had way more useful information on the website and I liked that she was upfront about people's reviews.”
• “I get to see an in depth reviews/ratings of an accountant, a list of accomplishments, clients' evaluations/reviews, etc.”
• “I picked [Teaspiller] because it provided me with fees and payments for the accountant. Plus this site layout seems more professional than [Linkedin].
• “[Teaspiller] just seems like the person who puts up a profile there has to put more effort into it and it shows more like what people actually think about it instead if they recommend or not.”
• “[Teaspiller’s] Webstory profile provided a lot more details and portrayed Logan's skills very effectively.”
• “In terms of volume and quality, the Teaspiller site had significantly more useful information. It was also more visually appealing.”
• ”[Teaspiller] had way more information about her on the website.”
• “[Teaspiller] was much more professionally presented and lent legitimacy to the accountant's practice.”
• “Better layout, does not look like an ad.”
• “I prefer to read what people have to say.”
• “Teaspiller appeared to give more information about the person in question.”
•  “The Teaspiller website was better organized, gave more detail description, and I liked the layout more.”
•  “[Teaspiller] seemed more personal and there was more information”
•  “I liked how clearly the information was laid out, especially the graph of practice areas.”
• “The page was much easier to read and locate information. Set up more like a website than a resume.”
• “Easier access to pertinent information”
•  “[Teaspiller] appeared to be a much more reliable source. While [Linkedin] seemed unreliable.”

Sign-up for a free Teaspiller Webstory here:  https://www.teaspiller.com/accountant-marketing/pricing/

(download)

Click here to download:

study-how-teaspiller-makes-linkedin-work-even-better-for-accountants-gjdDjxDervsFCCerwIot.zip (199 KB)

The Solution:   Teaspiller has come up with an amazing and innovative solution =)

1.  Faster setup.   Teaspiller allows you to download your information from all your social networks into your site.  Your picture, resume, blog posts, and tweets.    Making the process even faster -- and helping clients get a better picture of your quality.

2.  More word-of-mouth referrals.   Every time a client uses the the Teaspiller platform,  we automatically ask clients for referrals from their colleagues on social networks.   An average client has about 100+ connections.   This greatly accelerates word-of-mouth referrals in way that has never been done before.

3.  Smarter social marketing.   Whenever a client leaves a great review, we'll promote it on your practice's Linkedin, Facebook, or Twitter automatically.   As a result, potential clients who are searching your social media pages will see great posts from your current clients -- helping you close even more clients.

4.  Google optimized.   Now with more social content on your site and shared on the social networks, you'll see your Teaspiller site for your practice move faster to the top of Google results.

And this is only the beginning ... No one thinks about accountant marketing the way we do -- giving you the edge to get more clients and retain current clients.