technology
Case studies: CRM
CPAs make a case for customer relationship management
BY seth fineBerg
Despite best intentions and good advice, accountants have long avoided or been mystified by the
concept of customer relationship management practices and tools. to be fair, many in the pro-
fession still barely understand what CrM is or can do for a CPA practice, but times are changing.
In 2011, our survey of the Top 100 Firms
found that CRM was the most popular technology plan among those that were planning
on implementing anything new that year.
Firms discovering the benefits of the latest
CRM tools are doing so for the purposes of
better communicating with their existing client base, marketing services, building practice areas, or as a key component to overall
firm growth. Below is a small sample of the
CRM solutions CPAs selected, how and why
they chose them, and their overall experience
of working with them.
The technology comes last
Firm: BDO USA / Chicago
Size: Approximately 2,600
Product: Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Commencement date: August 2011 (pilot,
October 2010)
On record: Senior manager of IT Jeff Clark
and national business development director
Erica Yesko
Challenge/objective: Growing the client
base, improved outreach to the existing client base and taking a collaborative approach
to doing so.
Amount spent: Pricing was by seat. Due to
firm size, cost was “seven figures with consulting and licensing.”
Process: CRM had been on BDO’s road-map for many years, but lack of understanding of what a consolidated CRM system could
offer a partnership slowed the process. Many
partners in the firm had used other contact
management systems, ranging from simple
Excel files to Goldmine and ACT!
“I think what finally clicked for us was partners getting clear on the goals and strategy
of the firm; technology needs to be the last
piece of the puzzle,” said Yesko. “This new
system would involve anyone who touches
the sales process and that was key to building momentum and adoption from partners,
administrators and IT. We really spent the
seen. “What we are seeing is an enhanced
ability in making sure we are growing our client base and being more collaborative in doing so. We also built out additional processes
so there is structure and accountability, and
hired people who can support the process
that the system represents,” said Clark. “The
investment doesn’t end with licensing and
consulting costs; you need to have the right
people to support the system effectively and
a growing understanding and willingness to
work with the system.”
Next steps: At press time, the firm was using Dynamics Version 4.0, but looking into
using Dynamics CRM 2011, which has added
mobility features, among many others. Clark,
Yesko and their teams are also identifying
what reports partners need.
“This is a multi-year effort; we planned for
24 to 36 months of realizing the full potential
of this investment,” said Clark. “If CRM is just
another initiative brought to you by IT, it will
fail miserably.”
better part of a year before we even began the
selection process.”
In 2010, BDO asked for requests for pro-
posal from CRM product finalists, and Clark
pointed out that what stood out about Dy-
namics CRM was that it “looked and felt
much like Outlook.”
The product was piloted in a few offices in
Octotber 2010, after which a firm-wide roll-
out occurred between May and August 2011,
but there was much more work outside of just
product installation.
Not small for long
Firm: Hughes Accounting Services /
Blissfield, Mich.
Size: Two staff
Product: Zoho CRM
Commencement date: September 2011
On record: Principal James Hughes
Challenge/objective: Marketing and building a client base quickly.
Amount spent: $24 a month, no set-up fee.
Process: Hughes started up his firm last
fall, initially focusing on write-up, basic bookkeeping, complete tax work, tax planning,
and business assessments. His main focus is
on small, growing business, and he needed to
grow his client base as quickly and efficiently
as possible.
He engaged the services of a telemarketing
firm, which recommended Zoho CRM — a
cloud-based system — as a link between his
office and their efforts.
“I found Zoho CRM to be very intuitive;
there’s nothing complicated about it,” said
Hughes. “I just sign in, it has a dashboard,
it’s a point-and-click. I don’t put in any data
and I use it to retrieve what is put in by my
telemarketer.”
Hughes picks an area to target marketing
efforts, runs ads in a local paper, follows up
with letters (direct mail), and then has his
telemarketer follow with phone calls. He uses
Zoho to keep track of where he had positive
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