People often think that a merger will just ‘happen.’ But it doesn’t just happen. Whenever you have two groups, reporting to different people, with their own initiatives, you have to answer the question, “How do you come into alignment?” It starts with keeping in mind that there’s a reason for doing things a certain way that might not make sense at first—and trusting that others will be open-minded about the things you do that might not make sense to them. It’s about setting a tone. We are all putting in the work now because we know this will set the blueprint for the mergers to come.”
Marketing KELLY SCHUKNECHT Maintaining Our National Brand As We Align With Anders
As a nationally recognized brand, Summit has a strong digital marketing presence and a unique style that reflects our strong culture. While traditional accounting firms use an outbound marketing approach that involves proactively casting a wide net through local ads and sales calls, our inbound approach is all about connecting with a more targeted group of potential clients nationwide. Over time, they grow to know and trust us because of our educational content and, ultimately, seek out our services. In addition to the speaking engagements we do and the books we publish, our thought-leadership strategy is reflected in our regular blogs, social media, video marketing and our podcasts (where Jody’s often wearing a Hawaiian shirt in lieu of the traditional accountant garb). We don’t just have a YouTube channel; we generate leads from our YouTube channel. Our presence is so well established we now get regular requests from business owners across the country asking to be on one of our podcasts, because they see the potential impact of appearing on a show with national reach.
This isn’t your typical merger. Often when a larger firm acquires a smaller firm, that smaller firm might have a single marketing person or a streamlined team. The fact that Summit brings with it its own full-fledged marketing department, with a distinct style and presence in the industry, introduces challenges right off the bat. The differences hit home once we got down to the details. For all our shared culture and vision, our two firms aren’t apples-to-apples in the way we are structured, how we bill, our systems, and our marketing approach. Not only are we blending remote and in-person teams, we have to integrate the two brands while maintaining what makes each unique. We’re currently working to align our two separate marketing teams to create a single message and a unified strategy.
-LINDSAY SUELMANN (ANDERS)
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