When it comes to running a successful accountancy firm, there is a very good chance that you will understand what it takes to be a great accountant and be able to offer this expertise and knowledge to your clients.  

But who are your clients? Do you really know them? If you do, then would you be able to identify which of them are your best and why that is? The chances are that you may find these things hard to do.   

The trouble with this is, if you want to really maximise the efforts that you make as an accountancy firm with your clients, it is to really know them and understand the best ways to appeal to them.   

The good news is that there is a way that you can do this, and it is by taking the time and making an effort to put together a client persona. So, what is a client persona, and what do they contain? Let’s take a look at them in a little bit more detail.   

What is a client persona?   

Client personas are a representation of the ideal client for your firm. Rather than just being a summary that is plucked from thin air, a client persona is put together thanks to research and data that you may have to use.   

A common misconception when it comes to ideal clients is that these will be the ones that are easiest to manage. Of course, you are going to want to deal with clients that are going to be as easy as possible, but this isn’t what makes them ideal.   

Instead, they are the clients that are worthwhile putting time and effort into, giving you the most value possible for your efforts; and hopefully allowing you to convert them into fully-fledged leads.   

Client personas are going to help you to understand the relationships with these perfect clients and ensure that you not only keep them on board but that you also can attract more clients, just like them, to your accountancy firm.   

When you have put together your client persona, then you can start to think about the content that you share and what it may look like (or contain). You can also think about how best to follow up on any leads or sales that you may have for these clients and how you can make sure that you have the best outcomes possible for your accountancy firm.   

How do I create one?  

So, as you can see, it is definitely worthwhile putting effort into creating client personas. However, just because you can make the time for them, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you know the right way to approach them.   

To help you to put together a client persona, I have put together my guide on how to create client personas.   

Think about your accountancy firm first  

The first step that you may want to take in creating client personas is to think about your firm and what it is that you are looking for in a client. When you have this information, then you can start to formulate an idea of what your perfect clients are going to look like and what they are going to want and expect from you.   

Plan your research  

In order to put together your client persona, you are going to need to know how best to research what this persona will be and how you can appeal to it. There are a variety of different ways you can research your client persona.   

You could use surveys, reports, conversations with sales teams and also client interviews too. All of these things will really help you to think about what it is that makes these clients so ideal and what you are doing to meet their needs.   

If you want to try and gather as much data as you can, then you also need to think about how you can do this. Do you want to directly contact your clients and ask them questions, or perhaps it might be better to have a form online that they can fill in so that you have all the information you need?   

Find the pattern in your research  

It is one thing to take the time to put together research; the next is to actually use it. This can take some time to do, but I can promise you that it is definitely worthwhile doing.   

You will need to look at all the data that you have collected from your clients and any internal data, then look for links, patterns and other signs that may point to the behaviours or traits that are going to match with your ideal clients.   

There are lots of things that could form a pattern. It could be the age of the client, where they live or whether or not they run a business (and the type of work that you do).   

You may also see a link in the type of service that these clients are looking for, which can pinpoint how best you can help them (and make a good impression on them too).   

Put together your accountancy firm persona  

The last part of the process is to develop the persona and create a message that you want to share with others in your accountancy firm. You want to make sure that this information is presented to you in a way that is going to be easy to understand across many different aspects of your firm.   

You should see this as a pitch of sorts, as a way to present this ideal client and make sure that those key players in your firm understand why you are targeting them and how to do it too.   

Once you have put together this persona, then you are going to be able to use this to really boost the marketing for your firm and to try and locate those clients that are going to be the best fit for what you do.   

The important thing to remember is that it will take time to gather the information that you are going to need for your client persona, but it definitely will be worth it in the long run.   

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