ACCPAC Conference Review by Geni Whitehouse, CPA

Marketing Finesse Breakout Session

Susan Sheridan is an industry star, complete with her own following.  Her career has been closely watched by key members of the press, and I imagine they look for a change in her demeanor to portend strategy changes within ACCPAC.   I had not seen Susan in action before this conference and without sounding like a groupie, let's just say she lived up to her reputation.

When Susan first took the floor in this breakout session, she owned the room. She exudes knowledge and confidence which just can't be ignored.  Her topic, which is one that resellers need to take to heart, was on marketing.

Specifically, Susan discussed two main concepts - Branding and Direct Marketing. 

Her discussion of branding included an explanation of logos, colors and the requisite number of impressions needed to make an impact on a prospect.  She used several interactive demonstrations to prove her points. 

Susan spent a good bit of time talking about colors and the look and feel of your company.  She talked about the importance of consistency and that you need to keep the same look over time to have an impact.  She showed ACCPAC's color scheme, on brochures, on literature, on the website, etc.  They use a white background with a blue swipe on the edge.  My favorite thing about this session (which I would have totally missed if not for the sharp eyes of my astute colleague, Mary Lou) is that Susan is such a believer in this message that she sported manicured nails in the ACCPAC colors (white with the blue swipe.)  She made no mention of this, but rather wore the nails as a subliminal message.  Talk about walking the walk. (You heard it here first! This kind of information is what brings you to our site, isn't it?)

Susan's marketing message included key points about measuring results, which is one of those areas where most resellers, in fact most companies, fail.  It does my little accountant's heart good to hear someone in marketing talk about measurements and accountability. Susan listed these signs that you need more direct marketing -

• More than 75% of your business comes from sales referrals (kudos for getting those referrals, but you need to have other sources of business)
• Living off of existing customers
• Feeling desperate to close leads (we see this one often - resellers force a deal that's a bad fit because they don't have anything else in the pipeline)
• Getting into the sales cycle too late  

She listed the reasons that people respond to a campaign which include:

• Greed
• Guilt
• Anger
• Fear
• Exclusivity
• Salvation

Susan talked about her own experiences with a Direct Marketing campaign.  She had two options, a quiz (which has been shown to be a great marketing tool) or a promotion that begin with the phrase "Lucky You".  She was convinced the quiz would be most successful but tested both ideas and discovered that the "Lucky You" campaign was more successful by 2 to 1.   This and other concrete examples really seemed to connect with the resellers in the audience, and I expect most of them will go back to their offices and put her suggestions to work.

For a presenter, being told that you provided at least one new concept or idea that can be put immediately to use is the best way to measure your success.  By this and every other measure, Susan Sheridan's session was one that shouldn't have been missed.

Okay, so maybe I am a groupie...