How This Accountant 5x’d His Lead Flow Before His Funnel Even Went Live

I didn't realize how important messaging was until I actually had a conversation with Peter and the team. And that translates to the services that you provide, the people you talk to, your leads, and even your internal team. Honestly, even before the funnel was released, my lead flow increased. The percentages would be crazy, but I got like five leads in last month and closed like three of them. Because your team actually helped me understand how to speak about what I do. And it took me down a rabbit hole to really understand the value that I'm providing. I feel confident that I have a good funnel that can lead somebody to the sales call and then I can close. So because of that confidence, my next job is to get the right people at the door. Don't doubt they can actually deliver the automations, the systems, the skills. But even more than that, they are going to elevate the way that you think about your business, brand and the services that you offer. The strategy, strategy and the mindset thing is actually what takes you over the top. My name is Zoe, I'm the owner of Zopia Accounting and Consulting.

So Zoe, what was it that made you realize that you needed to do something different with your marketing?

Well, for me it was the lead flow. It felt like all of my efforts to actually try to attract my clients were falling flat. And so I knew I needed to have some better strategy, some better tactics, something to just do differently. And that's why, you know, I tried to reach out.

So like, what was that growth plan before we started working together? What were you doing?

Oh man, it's been in progress and in development for the last two years. So I've been trying to solve this whole marketing equation through getting coaches through YouTube University. The things that I did is what I knew. So I started doing like static posting on social media, like short, short form content, not literally like video, but like short form in that you, you double tap and move on. So it was a lot of static images and things. That's all I could manage. I tried to move to video. I saw that was a bit too much. I hired a coach. The coach taught me, introduced me to the world of funnels, but it was also too much for me to dive deep and get, become an expert in. And so word of mouth was my go to. Like I felt like if I gave a good service, maybe I'll grow and I'll keep growing. But you can't grow fast enough with just people talking, at least at the level I was.

And for context, can you tell us just like, you know, what is Your offer and how does it work?

Yeah. You mean as a cpa you feel like you offer everything, Right? I was more so taking everything from taxes to bookkeeping. I've been transitioning to CFO fractional CFO work more recently. These days, my offer is. It's a fractional CFO offer in which we perform a business assessment, which we call the A list review, and basically give you a financial overview of your business and the. And the monthly strategies on how to stick with that plan. It's a plan you can believe in.

Nice little tagline there. I love it. And talk to me a little bit about, like, where you were at before. We kind of built out this system for you. Like how many clients did you have? How often were you bringing on new clients from that word of mouth traffic?

Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing. I'm not going to lie. For my CFO offer that I was. I've been workshopping for a while. It was probably like honest, like four, four to ten leads a year. Whoa. Yeah, it's. It's quite embarrassing. Well, I don't know if it's embarrassing. It's just that you have to go through that, the learning process. But I was good at taxes. But taxes didn't incentivize you to have great marketing. I mean, people took on anything. Bookkeeping sometimes will come, but it's been a learning experience. So I think that honestly, even before the final was released, my lead flow increased because your team actually helped me understand how to speak about what I do better. And it took me down a rabbit hole to really understand the value that I'm providing and to be able to articulate it to a lead to a client to. And that that led to. You know, that wasn't only just online. That was also in person because a part of this whole thing was like the ecosystem of the marketing funnel. And so I went on in person, did some, some, some interviews, some panel discussions, and the percentages would be crazy, but I got like five leads in last month and closed like three of them, so that's way better.

That's almost a year's worth of leads right there.

Yeah. So I appreciate the learning that you all helped me with.

That's awesome. And so now today we, we set up these backend systems for you. Right. We built out the social strategy that you're going to be following months. So. Yeah. What, what's the plan moving forward? Walk me through what that looks like.

Sure. So I feel confident that I have a good funnel that's. That can Lead somebody to the sales call, and then I can close. So because of that confidence, I. My next job is to get the right people at the door, like, to the door. That's going to be through my podcast that I just launched, shameless plug, the ZFO Insider on YouTube, like, comment, subscribe the podcast, as well as in person business development. So I'm going to be going to some industry event, particularly in my industry that I'm focused on, which you all kind of unlocked for me. Like, the riches are in the niches. So the goal is just to get as many people there as possible, whether it's in person and I'm sending them there or they're, you know, engaging with me through my podcast through LinkedIn, where I'm really active, or through my email list. And one thing that you had mentioned and share with me is just that, you know, it's about building the ecosystem so that your, your leads can have multiple touch points in different areas with you. And once that happens, you. They're more likely to engage with you after they spent some time with you.

Yeah, well, and the beautiful thing about this is, like, there is an element of marketing that's like kind of throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Right. But at this point, you've got the system on the back end here where you can do that and actually capitalize on it every time. Right. Like, you can try going to an event, you can launch a new podcast, you can post on social media or, you know, whatever other, you know, tactics you want to try to get in front of new people. Regardless, we already know that if we're getting in front of them and it's the right people, that we can convert them through this process.

Yeah. Which is the big thing. That's the confidence I'm talking about. It's like, I cannot meet people and just guess what their journey is going to be like. It's like, no, I meet them and they're likely going to, you know, get on a call with me. So I'm happy about that.

That's awesome. So how would you kind of describe the way you're thinking about growing the business now that we've got this client acquisition strategy moving forward?

Honestly, the thinking around marketing, like, what you, what is it that you sell and what is the value to your client? Help me to get more specific and even what I'm delivering, and that, that's a, That's a downstream effect on the rest of the business and how I'm organizing it. So how I'm growing Is I'm a. I'm fractional CFO service company, like for audio, video and event production company. Specifically. How I'm thinking about that growth is with each new client, I'm building out a core team of five. For me, that core team could look like a cfo, a financial analyst, a senior accountant, and two bookkeepers in that team of five. Like, I see, okay, I need to fill the funnel so that they can have an manage a certain level of revenue. Right now I have that team of five, but I'm operating as the lead cfo. Goal is get out of being the lead cfo, hire that core team of five so that now I'm spending most of my days either on public consulting, on stages and on podcasts, or internal team development through just internal trainings and refining our skill. That's the goal. I think figuring out this marketing piece is going to really help me to get out of the day to day of the business.

Yeah, that's awesome. So you're thinking about, okay, we can get more focused with our services here to where our team is really, really dialed in. And obviously that's gonna help profitability. Right. And you're also able to focus on making sure that your time is spent on stuff that actually moves the business forward, rather than just delivering on the.

Promises you made to get the client 1000% for sure.

Love it, man. So, like, looking back at the experience of kind of like building this funnel and building out the social strategy over the past few months, like, how would you describe that experience working with us?

I would describe it as introspection. Like we had a couple hours that we talked really about getting to the root thing that I provided and the value. And so getting to something that resonates with me is something you and your team also said was important. Like something that I'm passionate about, something that I can get behind and going through that practice within the first those two hours. Right. It started there, but ironically, in our process, as we finished our funnel, it didn't really end there because by the time the funnel was actually ready, I had grown past what we initially talked about, which I don't know if you intended that, but that's just what I was. What I do sometimes, like, I'll take a tip and I'll try to get as much out of it as I can and just really figure it out. Because at the end of the day, if I get better, I'm going to be the one who's reaping like you all going to help me to do the thing. I really take that part seriously. So it was, it was a maturation process and I. I'm actually even looking forward to getting to the point where we're not just doing this one off projects together, but it's like, no. These people help me strategize marketing in general.

Yeah. That's awesome to hear. I love it, man. So wrap it all up for me. What would you say to another firm owner who's kind of in the position you were before? They're thinking about working with us, but they're kind of on the fence right now.

I would say that you don't have to doubt their quality of service, like the actual deliverable, but even more than that, they are going to elevate the way that you think about your business brand and the services that you offer. I didn't realize how important messaging was until I actually had a conversation with Peter and the team. And that translates to the services that you provide, the people you talk to, your leads and even your internal team and getting them all on the same page. So yeah, don't doubt they can actually deliver the automations, the systems, the skills for sure. But the strategy and the mindset thing is actually what takes you over the top. Love it.

Zoe, I appreciate it, man. Thanks for taking the time and it's been a blast working together.