Differentiating Your Firm: How One Accounting Practice Embraces Becoming A Commodity

By Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D.

Boy, do I have an interesting firm to tell you about. I came across this very cleverly positioned firm In Dennis Howlett's always interesting blog, AccMan. He always has a thought provoking perspective that is nicely captured by his tagline, "Never knowingly under opinionated."

The firm he profiled is a UK based accounting firm called Mazuma, and it takes a very counterintuitive approach to differentiating itself.

If you follow this blog you know that we are big fans of developing a strong differentiator for your firm. This doesn't arise from marketing theory (although it is in fact consistent with it) but rather from our research on real operating firms. High growth, high value firms are much more likely to have strong, easy-to-understand differentiators.

Now the thing about differentiators is that you have actually do something different (imagine that!). When all competitors head in one direction, you go the other way. Thats where Mazuma shines.

These days, most professional services firms run from the idea of becoming a commodity. Most also shy away from dealing with the headaches and price pressure associated with small businesses. Mazuma embraces them. How do they do it? They have developed a very cleverly branded structured service package. Each month, their small business clients receive a purple envelope (the whole brand is built around purple). The business person puts all their receipts, bank statements, etc. in the envelope and sends it in. Thats it from their perspective.

Mazuma then does the bookkeeping, prepares a monthly accounting summary, files the taxes, etc. for a fixed monthly fee. That fee is transparent and posted right on their website. Very easy to understand, easy to do for the client and even fun. (Did I just say that about an accounting firm?) I think of it as sort of a Southwest Airlines approach to small business accounting.

Of course, to pull this off they have to have well developed systems and an appropriate cost structure. They have a central processing hub and a local franchise system.

The AccMan post delves into some of those details, so I won't go in to them other than to say that the people and operational structure must be designed to deliver on the brand promise.

From a marketing perspective they have carved out a very clear, compelling brand promise and a strong competitive advantage. While the types of bookkeeping and accounting services they offer are clearly a commodity, Mazuma has found a way to make them unique and easy on the client. To spread that message they use SEO, paid search and direct mail. They are also dedicated users of social media to promote their firm. They are actively testing ideas and acquiring new clients with Twitter. Watch and learn.