July, 2002 - Vol. 10 No. 7

Hiring Marketing Help: Full Steam Ahead

To get your marketing done, you should hire:

a. Marketing Director
b. Marketing Coordinator
c. Marketing Consultant
d. none of the above

A few firms have such market-oriented and capable partners and staff at all levels that they don't need any of the first three. Most firms, however, won't be able to meet present and future market competition without someone whose primary job is to get marketing done.

One school of thought holds that if you hire a high-powered marketing director the first thing he or she will do is request an assistant to do all the running around and nuts-and-bolts work that marketing involves. Therefore, you may as well save yourself some money by just hiring the assistant - usually called a marketing coordinator - directly and having them supervised by the managing partner or practice development partner. Adherents of this view state that much of what isn't getting done in most firms is the nuts-and-bolts stuff; therefore, that's what you need to hire for.

If you (a) have a managing or practice partner who knows exactly what needs to be done to market your practice in your communities, and (b) have a partner and staff group with the interest, time and capability to do their part, but (c) are limited by lack of marketing administrative support, then a marketing coordinator is for you. Such a person can keep the records, track prospects and referrals, set up seminars, get the newsletter out, and do all those many things necessary to help partners carry out a marketing plan.

If, on the other hand, you lack (a) above, you need a marketing plan tailored to your client base, goals, values, communities, opportunities, and partners and staff. Such a plan must include individual assignments, due dates and accountability. You can get one by working with a consultant or by hiring a high-level marketing director.

The consultant will probably gel your people to write most of the marketing plan. He or she won't get to know your firm as well as a marketing director will, but many consultants will have more exposure to what other CPA firms are doing. The limited nature of consultant-client interaction means the consultant won't be able to press (hassle?) your partners and staff to carry out their marketing responsibilities as consistently and daily as a marketing director could. On the other hand, a consultant's involvement can be controlled and terminated at will, whereas a marketing director becomes an employee.

Costs vary accordingly - high-powered marketing directors tend to go for $65,000 and up per year. Consultants typically get $150.00 - $250.00 per hour plus expenses. Creating a marketing plan can involve as little as 25 hours of consulting time, not including follow-up monitoring.

Since consultants can be selected and brought on board more quickly than can marketing directors, the former can help you make progress while you work on hiring the latter.

The key is to analyze where your marketing efforts arc falling short - or where they might fall short - and supply the needed input.

Reprinted from Martin Reports, Marketing & Management for CPAs.