Jaclyn Anku, ProAdvisor Training & Certification Leader: On today's episode of In the Know, we'll be diving into a new Mailchimp discount. In case you missed it, Mailchimp was acquired by Intuit a few years ago. Now, as a ProAdvisor, you can offer clients an exclusive discount of 30% off for one year when they sign up for a Mailchimp standard or premium plan.
To tell us more about it today, we're joined by our very own Pro Advisor leader, Jim Dzundza, and we'll chat with ProAdvisor correspondents Terrell Turner and Michael Ly.
Hey ProAdvisors, I'm Jaclyn, and you're watching In the Know. It's the show designed to keep you in the know on the most exciting updates to QuickBooks Online and Mailchimp. Jim, it's so nice having you here.
Jim Dzundza: Happy to be here.
Jaclyn Anku: Thanks! Can you tell us a little bit more about the Mailchimp discount?
Jim Dzundza: Yes, of course. In November [2023], we launched a 75% off discount on Mailchimp for your firm, and most recently, we launched a 30% off discount for your clients. So that discount extends to the standard and premium SKUs, and you can access it in the ProAdvisor benefits tab.
Jaclyn Anku: Okay. Tell us more about how to access it. Where do folks go?
Jim Dzundza: You want to log in to QuickBooks Online Accountant and navigate to the ProAdvisor benefits tab that is on the left hand side. Scroll down to benefits for your clients or discounts for your clients, and from there, just click the link and you can share it with your clients.
Jaclyn Anku: Love it. What's the “why” behind this update? What were you hearing from the community?
Jim Dzundza: We've seen more of a shift from general accounting and bookkeeping to advisory practices. Small businesses are looking for advice from their accounting professionals on how to grow their business, and really how to navigate challenges like sales and marketing. So as part of that, we launched our discount off of Mailchimp. On top of that, what we saw when we launched the firm discount was tons of questions from ProAdvisors on how we can extend this to our clients. As a result, you have the ProAdvisor discount for their clients.
Jaclyn Anku: And remind us how much the discount is for folks as firms?
Jim Dzundza: So for your firm, it's 75% off of the standard plan; for clients, it's 30% off standard and premium plans.
Jaclyn Anku: That sounds pretty sweet. So to talk a little bit more about how to guide clients on their sales and marketing, and how to talk to them about Mailchimp, we’ll now be joined by ProAdvisor correspondents Terrell Turner and Michael Ly. Michael and Terrell, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of In the Know. It's awesome to have you here with Jim and myself.
Michael Ly: Thanks for having us.
Jaclyn Anku: So, Terrell and Michael, I know that you talk to your clients about a whole range of things, from general ledger to payroll to technology, and even sales and marketing. How do you approach these conversations with your clients to help them understand how they can really engage in more revenue-generating activities? Terrell, let me start with you.
Terrell Turner: When you're looking at a client's financials, a couple of things are going to usually jump out: People costs are going to be very high and marketing is another high expense. So when we start looking at that, one of the questions that we're starting to have with a lot more clients is “are we spending the money wisely?” Some of that gets into conversation around what tools they are using, and we want to make sure we can get data on where the money is being spent.
Unfortunately, there have been a lot of conversations I've had with different clients where you ask the question about the money, but the data just isn't there for us to answer that question. So we're not able to do what we need to do as advisors to help them move to a more profitable business. I think that is how we start moving into the conversation. If there's more data there, we can get more substance out of it, [especially] if they are using a tool that actually provides it.
Jaclyn Anku: Michael, I see you nodding your head. Is that something you can relate to as when it comes to talking and coaching your clients on their marketing and sales?
Michael Ly: Definitely. Just like Turrell started running a firm, my firm, Reconciled, has had the similar journey of creating a marketing system and sales process to reach and close clients. So we're able to speak from experience and relate to our clients on what it’s like to launch and try to grow your small business from nothing and from scratch. What are the tools necessary you have to implement in order to be successful so that you can have continued growth?
Jaclyn Anku: I heard you both mentioned tools, so that's the perfect segue.
Jim Dzundza: Terrell, I think I'll direct this question to you. How does Mailchimp play a role in advisory for your clients in the marketing and sales space?
Terrell Turner: Anytime you're looking at marketing, one of the first, essential steps is really being able to capture contact information. A Lot of times, we may over rely on things like social media or your website, but if you aren't capturing people's information to be able to get back in touch with them, your marketing strategy is going to have a huge weakness. We see Mailchimp being able to capture people's information to build out that email, text, and the contact list. With Mailchimp, we know who we need to retarget and how we can get back in touch with people who could be potential clients or potential referral partners.
Jim Dzundza: Do you use Mailchimp for your firm as well? How does that work?
Terrell Turner: What we did is we actually built a contact form into our website using Mailchimp. When people filled out the contact form, we were having a problem finding where the information went. People kept telling me they filled it out, but I wasn't finding their information, so we switched to Mailchimp. Now when people fill it out, there's an easy dashboard we can go to to see everybody on the mailing list. And we can get better analytics, because when we go back to actually target people, we know what page they landed on when they filled it out. We can actually do a better job retargeting in our marketing.
Jaclyn Anku: And how about you Michael? I know you've done an incredible job growing Reconciled. Are there any marketing sales tactics, strategies, or automations you've put into place that you would guide other firm owners to or other clients on?
Michael Ly: You want to make sure you're able to collect contact details of customers who are visiting your website or customers you meet at different conferences or trade shows. You won't be able to capture those into a central place and then communicate with them, so you need a tool like Mailchimp in order to execute and make that communication super easy.
You also want to track the following: Is the communication being opened, are people reading it, what is relevant and not relevant for the customers, and then driving them either to buy services in some way off your website or on a sales call.
Jaclyn Anku: Well, Michael and Terrell, I admire you both so much as firm owners, firm leaders, and thought leaders in this space. Thank you so much for exploring the world of Intuit Mailchimp with us, and for hanging out on the show with me and Jim.
Terrell Turner: Thanks for having us.
Jaclyn Anku: Thank you. And Jim, thanks for being here. It's so fun having you.
Jim Dzundza: Thanks for having me Jaclyn.
Jaclyn Anku: And thank you for watching this episode. I'm Jaclyn, the host of In The Know and leader of ProAdvisor Training and Certification. Be sure to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell so that you don't miss a single episode. We'll catch you next time.
Meet the ProAdvisors
ProAdvisor Terrell Turner: Co-Founder, TLTurner Group
ProAdvisor Michael Ly: CEO, Reconciled
