CPA Practice Advisor - 20

BUILDING YOUR

Each month we explore the
advantages and intricacies
of developing and growing
a niche practice.
This month we're examining
what it takes to attract and
serve construction and
contractor clients.

NICHE PRACTICE

5 Marketing Tips to Attract Construction Clients
By Becky Livingston

IF YOU HAVE a large repository of returning customers and referrals, you may not feel like you need to focus on lead generation.
But, even regular clients can stop coming back. So, rather than
resting on your laurels and letting the competition gain market
share, consider these marketing tips to keep generating leads
and growing your firm.
If you're starting from scratch, or
are looking for new ideas, below are
a five marketing strategies you can
implement quickly to help reach your
industry goals.

LOCAL SEO
RESOURCES FOR
THE CONSTRUCTION
ACCOUNTANT

* Construction Accounting
TIps & Terms Glossary:
https://bit.ly/2XyLepZ
* 6 Examples of
Construction Accounting
Best Practices:
https://bit.ly/3236WS5
* Construction Cash
Management Tips:
https://bit.ly/2Xpjvc4
* Accounting for
Construction Contracts:
https://bit.ly/326i6Wy
* VIDEO: Construction
Accounting vs. Regular
Accounting:
https://bit.ly/2RJ808Y

Building Your
Niche Practice
is sponsored by
Intuit QuickBooks.

JULY 2019 ■

Maximizing your free, local search
engine listings in Bing and Google
helps your firm to rank on the first
page of search results each and every
time. Avoid doing the basics here.
Add as much information about your
business that would appeal to the
construction industry as possible.
Including terms like Construction

Accounting, Construction CPA and
Tax Firm, and QuickBooks Pros, in
your business description will help.
Also, add high-profile services the firm
offers, such as lease and equipment
accounting, financial statement audits,
payroll services, cash flow guidance,
and more. Including industry-related
images in the profile also immediately
identifies the industries you serve.

LANDING PAGES
Landing pages are web pages created
for a specific purpose - to capture
leads. Even if you don't have any
content specifically for the construc-

tion industry, you should have a
construction-industry landing page.
You could provide a downloadable
brochure that outlines the services
you offer to construction clients. In
addition, leverage industry-specific
images and language, while keeping
the call to action relevant, such as
"Stop digging for help. Give us a call
today!" Free tools, like Canva and Pablo
by Buffer, are easy to use for graphics
and brochure design.

PAIN POINT WEBINARS
Consider the pain points construction
owners and chief operating officers
have and create a short webinar
series to help them overcome their
challenges. Consider a series of hot
topics, like lease accounting, common
accounting errors construction companies make, employee misclassification,
equipment financing, and more. Also,
deliberately name the webinar series

Transform Your Thinking on Serving the Construction Industry
By Tonya Schulte

ACCOUNTANTS IN THE construction industry often approach me
and ask for tips and tricks pertaining to working for this challenging industry. TIP 1: Be sure that you are aware of the differences
between types of construction companies and the greatly varying
compliance and analysis needs that can exist among them.
Start by clarifying the type of
contractor you plan to serve.
■ Do you plan to work for residential or
commercial contractors?
■ Will you be serving general contractors or subcontractors and specialty
tradesmen?
■ Have you considered that developers
can be a standalone type of construction client with very distinct needs of
their own?
The next question I am usually
asked is which software works best for
construction clients, yet that question

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

can only be answered once the above
questions have been resolved.
Not all software is created equal.
There are so many apps and some are
more suited to one or another of the
contracting businesses. Whereas one
app tracks things like square footage of
roofing supplies or linear feet of piping
for a subcontractor's needs, a totally
different app will help record the
entire scope and range of ground-up
home building stages that can range
from demo and site work to final trim.
Knowing what your client needs to

track and report is crucial.
One of my preferred things about
today's cloud accounting influx is the
fact that cloud app developers are able
to update and upgrade their software
on a very regular basis. Which brings
me to the second tip.
TIP 2: Taking the time to develop a
good relationship with app developers
is one of the best ways to add value
for your clients. Being able to say to
a client, "I see exactly how a change
to that aspect of the program could
improve your workflow. Let me reach
out to the app developer team and let
them know how that would improve
your experience," is a huge benefit to
our firm.
Not all the changes that we suggest can be made immediately, but
many of the changes that our firm

https://www.bit.ly/2XyLepZ https://www.bit.ly/3236WS5 https://www.bit.ly/2Xpjvc4 https://www.bit.ly/326i6Wy https://www.bit.ly/2RJ808Y http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

CPA Practice Advisor

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