It takes an average of eight calls^[1] to reach a prospect – so it’s easy to see why outbound calling can feel frustrating, or even thankless, and why it may even fall off the to-do lists of your team.

But with the new year well and truly underway – it’s important to ensure your accountancy practice is doing all it can to supercharge its sales efforts, and that means getting a head start with outbound calls.

Whether it’s booking appointments or qualifying leads – proactive outbound calls are essential. It’s how hard-fought opportunities are converted into business.

Here, Louise Wilson, head of finance sector from Moneypenny, which offers outbound as well as inbound call handling to accountancy firms across the country, shares five tips to maximize outbound activity.

1. Categorise calls.  Think about the different types of calls you need to make.  Perhaps it’s to qualify enquiries, get feedback on quotes, reawaken old data or gather client information to speed up onboarding. Categorising calls will help to ensure the right person makes them, identify how promptly calls must be made and where support might be required.
2. Set targets. If you’re faced with a huge list of calls to make it can feel daunting. Set targets so that the team feels motivated. They might relate to the number of calls or the conversions you want to hit (this could be incentivised), but they could also be in relation to how much time will be spent on the task each week.
3. Be prompt. If your outbound activity is following up leads, then it’s important to be prompt. We know that 30-50%^[2] of sales go to the firm that responded first. Make sure your outbound team knows the urgency of different types of calls. Responsiveness wins business.
4. Embrace CRM. Most accountancy practices know the value of CRM systems, but it’s important to ensure everyone tasked with sales calling is using it properly. Put CRM guidelines in place, stipulate the core information that must be captured and ask for calls to be recorded directly into CRM as they happen. It will save trying to decipher hand scribbled notes at the end of the day.
5. Remove the headache.  32%^[3] of accountancy practices cited cost cutting as one of their key objectives for 2021 and mid-sized firms said they were most likely to reduce headcount – so it’s fair to say that many practices may well be feeling time poor and over-stretched as we start a new year.  For these practices outsourced support is the answer and it’s why we launched our outbound service.  Using our experienced employees to qualify leads, provide detailed quotes, convert enquiries, assign the matter to a fee earner or department, and input the relevant data into CRM – we take the headache out of outbound.   We respond to leads from any source, calling them promptly from the practice’s office telephone number and guaranteeing a professional experience. Problem solved.

Louise Wilson, Head of Finance Sector at Moneypenny, said: “Failure to prioritise call backs and follow ups can lead to a leaky sales funnel, as well as bad sentiment.  Outsourcing outbound as well as inbound calls provides the perfect solution for busy accountancy practices. After the economic turbulence of the last couple of years, firms must prioritise client care and progress all opportunities before a competitor gets to them.”

Moneypenny provides telephone answering and live chat services to hundreds of financial services businesses and is trusted by the UK’s top accounting firms, including 8 of the top 20.

[1] Stat from Sirius Decisions as quoted on The Brevet Group website: https://blog.thebrevetgroup.com/21-mind-blowing-sales-stats

[2] Stat from Inside Sales as quoted on The Brevet Group website: https://blog.thebrevetgroup.com/21-mind-blowing-sales-stats

[3] Taken from Moneypenny research of 250 senor decision makers in accountancy practices, conducted in December 2020 with Censuswise. https://www.moneypenny.com/uk/resources/blog/priorities-what-accountancy-firms-are-focusing-on-report/