Warren Averett, one of the largest regional accounting firms in the
country, launched a marketing/prospecting campaign to support its Benefit
Plan Audit group. For years, the Accounting industry has struggled to
properly audit benefit plans as required by Department of Labor Employee
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) standards.
A benefit plan audit is a highly specialized audit and too few accountants have the required skills and experience to properly complete, which puts billions of dollars and millions of beneficiaries at risk. Department of Labor research reveals that the deficiency rate for firms that audit 1-2 plans a year is 75.8%. For firms that audit between 25-99 plans a year, the deficiency rate is a still-staggering 41.5%. Meaning, experience matters and the risk of using an inexperienced firm is significant.
The goal of the project is to help benefit plan administrators evaluate their current auditor and choose one that eliminates the risk of audit deficiencies and potentially significant penalties.
Client:
Warren Averett
Industry:
Accounting
Service:
Leads at Scale
Department of Labor research reveals that the deficiency rate for firms that audit 1-2 plans a year is 75.8%.
Lack of (specific) Talent – This large SE US Accounting & Consulting firm has great Accountants & Consultants, but they were not very good at sales and/or relationship development
Lack of Bandwidth (Quantity) - Not enough bandwidth to make the number of calls needed
Lack of Systems/Knowledge – A lack of systems & processes that were scalable and duplicatable prevented them from undertaking this internally with temps or interns
Lack of Bandwidth (Timeliness) – They needed a team to follow-up on a White Paper and direct mail piece that was sent to targeted prospects within a tight timeframe before the material became stale
Lack of Consistency – They considered having people within their multiple offices undertake pieces of this project, but they lacked the know-how and consistency required for a successful outcome.
The campaign included a combination of traditional direct mail and direct telephone follow-up. Leads at Scale targeted Benefit Plan Administrators in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. The final contact list included more than 3,000 Benefit Plan Administrators. The call-to-action led prospects to engage through either a phone call or an insight-driven webinar.
In support of the direct mail and online elements of the campaign, Leads at Scale created a direct outreach program to facilitate conversations between prospects and Warren Averett’s lead auditors. This outreach program focused on personal interactions with key decision-makers, leading to a more meaningful conversation with the auditors.
Warren Averett’s initial target/goal was 17 qualified lead opportunities. Because of Warren Averett’s deep experience with benefit plan audits, their close rate on these well-qualified leads was unusually high.
Theses benefits were achieved in less than 50% of the time originally scheduled for the program.
Number of Calls
Contact Rate
Appointments
56% over project goal of 17
How to get more leads
1. Request a demo
We start by learning about your business, your objective, and sales goals.
2. Select your leads package
Based on your leads goal, we’ll create a custom plan and implement.
3. Get more sales
Your sales team will receive well-qualified, warm sales appointments ready to be closed.
