RevBoss’ing: Top Strategies for Accounting Firms To Generate Better Leads

Note from the editor — we used to do a lot of cold email reviews and we got a lot of positive feedback on the content. We decided to revisit the idea, but instead review our stuff.
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Here’s how we used smarter targeting to double the conversion rate and generate more leads for a bookkeeping / accounting firm client.

Overview

Our client Gringotts Accounting (their top secret code name) provides full-service outsourced bookkeeping and accounting. In our first few months of working together, RevBoss generated 47 leads, several of which are active opportunities, and a few of which are already clients. How is that for results?

Here’s a summary of our initial strategy:

• Target Company: Industry agnostic, Small businesses (Tech & Professional Services) & Consulting Firms
• Target Prospect:  Owner/founder, Entrepreneurs, Operations titles
• Messaging Strategy: Launching a new product / partnership with a top 100 accounting firm that makes outsourcing bookkeeping easier and more cost effective for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Flow #1 — Founder-To-Founder

Subject: Make bookkeeping easy…

We provide bookkeeping & accounting services for entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses throughout the USA from our locations in Chicago, Nashville, and Indianapolis. 

I’ve founded and sold a few businesses over the years, and my least favorite part of running small companies was spending time on bookkeeping/accounting rather than growing my business.

We eventually hired Gringotts CPAs and Advisors to manage that for us, which in turn led to the creation of Gringotts Accounting, a partnership where we bring the traditional accounting and bookkeeping services online to companies like [prospect’s company].  

Do you have 15 minutes next week for a quick chat?

What We Learned:

Here are our early numbers:

— Opens: 325 (36.3% open rate)
— Replies: 46 (5.1% reply rate)
— Leads: 6 (0.7% lead rate)

…and here is our thinking: 

• We were getting some engagement, but it wasn’t quite there to get consistent and quality leads — messaging was using a good mix of prior experience and the credibility to back up the offering.
• Prospecting based on the company stage aims to reach a potential client before it has already developed a relationship with an accounting / bookkeeping firm. A prospect might be receptive to the message, but it doesn’t matter if the timing isn’t right.
• A strong start in numbers is a good sign, but other variables can impede the health of a campaign. It was crucial for us to quickly identify them and problem solve.

What We Did:

We tried out several iterations of similar messaging, but struck gold when we focused our messaging to aid businesses in the beginning of their journey — before they found their bookkeeping and accounting solutions elsewhere. 

What was more important than the campaign at any given time was establishing trust with Gringotts Accounting. We owned that the campaign had a slower start, but instead of letting the problem persist, we created a strategy to optimize everyone’s resources. 

Once we proved that our process worked and that we could deliver results, little dips here and there weren’t a big deal and the client knew that with some adjusting (or sometimes even without) the next week would probably yield more activity. 

And it certainly did…

Flow #2 — Company Stage

Subject: Bookkeeping for [prospect’s company]

I’m a technology entrepreneur and I’ve partnered with a top 100 accounting firm to change bookkeeping and back office support for entrepreneurs and small businesses. That led to the creation of Gringotts Accounting. 

What makes us different is that we’ve invested heavily in technology to make outsourced bookkeeping nearly effortless, giving business owners the freedom to run their business.

I’d love to connect. Do you have a few minutes later today or early next week for a quick call?

The numbers:

Thinking like this gets the client double the reply and lead rates. For Gringotts Accounting, this led to a closed deal, many more in the pipeline, and a growing relationship with RevBoss. 

So, tweak your targeting fearlessly. Use the credentials and experience your clients have to boost reply rates. Focus on the relationship you have with them and believe in the work you’re doing. Timing is everything. Gold is sure to come 🙂