| By Scott H. Cytron, ABC
Adrian G. Simmons, CPA, practices at David G. Simmons, CPA, a family-owned firm in Laurel, Md. With experience as an auditor in a Big 4 firm, Adrian joined his father in public practice in 2002. Over the last several years, he has helped energize the firm with his focus on social media, client service and change management. He also writes his own blog. I sat down with Adrian to find out more about how he uses social media to retain clients, convert prospects and communicate with various audiences.
Scott Cytron: The Washington, D.C./Baltimore area has a lot of great CPA firms. What does your firm do differently than other firms? How do you stand out from the crowd?
Adrian Simmons: There are so many great firms in this area, and fortunately, a lot of economic activity. While doing some soul-searching the past couple of years, it really came home to me that there is no single model that is “the” model.
A few of the things we’d like to be known for are: (a) recognizing that people and relationships are more important than money, and building our systems around this belief; (b) finding ways to make the unavoidable complications of the financial world simple (or simpler) for our clients; (c) promoting technologies that reduce, rather than increase, the demand for attention; and (d) injecting a little fun along the way.
Ultimately, of course, our clients are the true judges of how well we achieve this, but my hope is that bringing our view of the world into a clearer focus helps us become more distinctive in the marketplace. |
Adrian G. Simmons, CPA |
Scott Cytron: The firm seems to be everywhere in terms of many social media networks. I know you’re on Twitter; what else do you participate in?
Adrian Simmons: The fragmentation of communication channels leads to an even greater need for a sense of self, as well as new practical habits, so that you use technology instead of it using you, e.g., becoming a subordinate to your BlackBerry.
I do like to tinker, so it can lead to having accounts in many different communities, some of which get used more than others. To me, social media is really just tech-speak for a “way to connect.” Telegraphs were the cutting-edge social media of their day, just as tweets are for our day. Using that broader definition, I connect mostly through Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube/Vimeo and my blog. We don’t currently have a firm Facebook page, but the changes Facebook rolled out for businesses a few months ago, combined with updates from our broker/dealer, may mean that will happen sooner rather than later. Other places I like to connect are iShade, Tumblr and Delicious.
Scott Cytron: Which networks are the most beneficial to helping you recruit prospects or retain clients? How about securing referrals?
Adrian Simmons: To be honest, I haven’t personally experienced clients pouring in the doors because of our social media presence, but I do know of accountants who do get referrals via Twitter. I’m starting to see more of my clients wanting to connect via LinkedIn, and also current and prospective clients who have taken note of my blog or videos.
Right now, I think the benefit is more peripheral then direct, but that’s starting to change. It’s a slow build, until one day the landscape changes and it’s the standard way of doing business. For example, Amazon released the Kindle in 2007. It wasn’t until July 2010 that Amazon sold more Kindle books than hardcover books. Then, only six months later, Kindle book sales surpassed paperback sales, and only a mere four months later in April 2011, Kindle books sales exceeded both hardcover and paperback, combined. Astonishing!
I think the same trends will hold true for social media – it’s going to be soft the next couple/three years, and then it’s just going to be a standard. As with many innovations, there’s no ROI on the front end, but I also look at it from this perspective: Our main goal is to help our clients. To the extent social media can help us do that, it’s a good thing, whether I have a chart to show it. A great interview of Gary Vaynerchuk on MSNBC covers this quite well.
Scott Cytron: What is your most basic advice to other practitioners reading this to get started in social media?
Adrian Simmons: For those who haven’t started yet, I would say don’t be daunted by the seeming techno-babble. At the end of the day, social networks are just people – people just like you finding new ways to connect and communicate with each other. Maybe your first step is to set up a Twitter account and just follow one or two people for a while, then post your first tweet. There’s no rush, and you don’t have to get everything right to begin with. You’ll find your voice, and there’s a place for everyone. Authenticity is the currency of new economy, so just be you.
Scott Cytron: I know you use video quite a bit on your blog. Why are you such an advocate for video? Is it difficult to produce?
Adrian Simmons: I started experimenting with video last fall and have three video-based posts so far. Video is just another tool in the box, and some messages come across better through video than text.
For example, I did a short video demonstrating five new features of QuickBooks 2011, something that’s easier to show rather than just write about. The other videos I shot were of me talking to my web camera. These were conceptual and emotional topics, which also can come across stronger in video format. My webcam came with video recording software, which is pretty straightforward to use and has built-in YouTube uploading.
The hardest part is pulling together ideas in a cogent enough manner and doing it in one take. I usually end up editing while I’m talking, so I have to start over at least a few times to get all the way through. And, while my hope is that the videos are helpful to my clients, they end up helping me because they force me to think through questions and arrive at answers, along with ways of describing things that I can then use again and again in my client interactions.
Scott Cytron: I know the firm has a wealth advisory services component. If CPAs are “trusted advisors,” how does the firm market this practice in terms of securing a client’s trust?
Adrian Simmons: The wealth advisory element of our practice is really starting to grow this year, but I will say it’s not an easy integration and it’s riddled with its own set of regulations. We really see it as an extension of the trust we have already developed with our clients, opposed to building trust from scratch. There is some breaking of misconceptions that we’re CPAs and therefore, we’re really good at tax returns – and that’s it. Often, prospects don’t realize that our broad base of financial knowledge puts us in an excellent position to advise them in financial decisions. For some, they make the connection easily, while others take a little more time.
Scott Cytron: If you were stranded on a desert island and had access to only one kind of technology, what would it be and why?
Adrian Simmons: A satellite phone, so I could call someone to pick me up! Joking aside, I must say that I’ve really used my iPad heavily over this past year and am still exploring ways to use it. I can read a book, listen to music, play a game, check e-mail, tweet, run calculations, access my office computer, book movie tickets, read The Wall Street Journal, sign documents, search my tax quick reference guide, complete a crossword puzzle, talk via Skype, take notes at meetings, watch TV and more. After a fizzled start from Windows four or five years ago, I think tablets are finally here to stay, and will soon be ubiquitous to conduct business. In the meantime, it would keep me busy until the helicopter responds to my call.