MARKETING STANDARD 2: HELPSHEET 04 REF PAS2/HS04 ISSUED FEBRUARY 2005

This helpsheet provides a brief guide to the marketing of practice activities.

The Value of Membership Advisory Services The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Gloucester House, 399 Silbury Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 2HL Tel 01908 248320 www.icaew.co.uk

© 2005 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. This helpsheet is copyright. All rights reserved. The copyright is waived when the helpsheet is used within a member firm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

MARKETING

Who is this helpsheet for? All members in practice.

Contents This helpsheet provides an outline of the principles governing the marketing of practice activities. It advises on the means by which you may make contact with targets and potential customers, and the restrictions and requirements regarding what you may or may not say about yourself in order to attract new business. This helpsheet should be read in conjunction with Statement 1.211 of the Members Handbook.

For enquiries relating to Practice Assurance monitoring, please contact Further information on Practice 01908 546388 or email [email protected]. Assurance is available from www.icaew.co.uk/practiceassurance.

If the information in this helpsheet does not address your enquiry please visit the Ethics Advisory Services webpages at www.icaew.co.,uk/ethicsadvice or call the confidential Ethics Advisory helpline on 01908 248258.

Disclaimer No responsibility for loss occasioned to any persons acting or refraining from action as a result of any material contained in this helpsheet can be accepted by either the authors or The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

2 REF PAS2/HS04 – Amended Mar 2006

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© 2005 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. This helpsheet is copyright. All rights reserved. The copyright is waived when the helpsheet is used within a member firm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

MARKETING

Introduction All businesses need to market themselves to attract new business and deliver the prospect of growth, or at the very least, the opportunity to refresh or improve their client base. Accountancy practices are no different. However, while you are entitled to advertise your practice and publicise your services, achievements and products, you are required to ensure that your promotional material presents an image that reflects the dignity of the profession. Advertisements must comply with the law and with current codes of practice.

You are required to ensure that your promotional material presents an image that reflects the dignity of the profession

The basic rule to remember is that your advertising material should be legal, decent, honest, truthful and clear. In addition, there are some restrictions placed on you by the Guide to Professional Ethics. However, advertising and marketing are always evolving and new techniques are constantly emerging. You should consider such techniques in the light of the principles covered in this helpsheet and if in doubt seek advice. We offer a service for copy checking your marketing material and this is charged at competitive rates. For further details of the copy checking service or to access the free self help marketing checklist and other supporting material, go to the Ethics Advisory Services website www.icaew.co.uk/ethicsadvice.

Use our FAXTRAK service for a fast review of the suitability of your marketing material

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© 2005 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. This helpsheet is copyright. All rights reserved. The copyright is waived when the helpsheet is used within a member firm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

MARKETING

Cold calling You may make an unsolicited approach in writing, by fax, e-mail, telephone or personal visit to promote any of the services you provide. You should ensure, of course, that your approach is in accordance with the guidance and that you do not mislead, offend, insult or harass your target.

Ensure that your approach does not mislead, offend, insult or harass your target

Fees You can provide details of your fees in promotional material but you should take care to ensure that such references do not mislead as to the precise services covered and the basis of current and future fees. In response to comments made by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the most recent guidance (effective from 1 November 2001) removes the restriction on making fee comparisons. However, you should be extremely careful not to give a misleading impression. The information below provides some assistance but we would urge any member considering such promotional activities to contact the Ethics Advisory Services to discuss the nature of fee comparisons.

There is no longer a restriction on making fee comparisons

Comparative advertising must: •

objectively compare goods or services that meet the same needs or are intended for the same purpose;

•

compare material using relevant, verifiable and representative features of the goods and services (which may include price);

•

not mislead;

•

not create confusion in the marketplace between the advertiser and a competitor, or between the advertiser’s trademarks, trade names, other distinguishing marks, goods or services and those of a competitor;

•

not discredit or denigrate the trade marks, trade names, or other distinguishing marks, goods, services, activities or circumstances of a competitor;

•

not take unfair advantage of the reputation of a trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing marks of a competitor or of the designation or origin of competing products;

•

not present goods or services as imitations or replicas of goods or services bearing protected trade marks or names.

Disparaging statements You must not say anything in your promotional material that is disparaging of others. For example, it would not be acceptable to say "we provide a better service than XXXXXX firm in Manchester" even if such a statement is objectively and demonstrably true. It would, however, be acceptable to say "we pride ourselves on the service we provide".

You must not say anything in your promotional material that is disparaging of others

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© 2005 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. This helpsheet is copyright. All rights reserved. The copyright is waived when the helpsheet is used within a member firm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

MARKETING

Claims of size or superiority You should be careful not to make claims that you cannot substantiate. Make it clear on what basis the claim is being made and ensure that it is justified. For example, if you claim to be the leading or most widely-used accountancy practice in a given area, you should make it clear on the face of the promotional material the basis or information on which your claim is made. We advise utmost caution. If in doubt contact the Ethics Advisory Services helpline.

Be careful not to make claims that you cannot substantiate

Outsourcing your marketing You are entitled to outsource your marketing work to agencies and specialist professionals, or to use external sources to publicise your practice (for example internet link pages/directories, telesales agencies). However, irrespective of the quality or reputation of the companies you choose, you remain responsible for any marketing or publicity carried out on your behalf. You should, therefore, give careful consideration to the material and the company carrying out the work on your behalf. Work in the reserved areas (such as Insolvency or Financial Services) may carry restrictions that you will need to observe. If in doubt call the Ethics Advisory Services helpline.

You remain responsible for any marketing or publicity carried out on your behalf

You are entitled to pay for the introduction of a client, provided that the recipient of the payment is your employee, someone governed by standards comparable to your own (e.g. a member of another professional body) or someone who, despite not being governed by such standards, maintains standards comparable to the Institute's. You are also responsible for ensuring that the methods used to obtain such work are ethical and that, if payment is to be made to someone other than your employee, the client is aware of your arrangements with the referrer.

Harassment You should be careful not to harass. The term ’harassment’ has not been defined. One or two follow-up mailshots to a non-client over a reasonable period of time might not, by themselves, amount to harassment. However, repeated telephone calls or visits to a prospective client who is clearly not interested could result in a complaint. Although such a complaint would need to be supported by evidence that the recipient was subject to actual harassment, you should be sensitive to the fact that some people are more likely to feel harassed than others.

Repeated calls or visits to a target who is clearly not interested could result in a complaint

To be on the safe side it is advisable to offer recipients of mailshots the opportunity to request that no further promotional material is received. Remember, if someone asks you to stop contacting them – observe their wishes and take them off your contact list.

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© 2005 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. This helpsheet is copyright. All rights reserved. The copyright is waived when the helpsheet is used within a member firm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

MARKETING

E-mails, websites and SMS texts Apply the same standards to your e-mails and websites as you do any other Explicit consent is needed before marketing by e-mail or SMS text promotional message to non-clients. The subject line of an unsolicited e-mail material must make it clear (without the recipient needing to open the email) that it is a marketing communication. You should treat your e-mails and websites as you do other promotional material or stationery. Anything that should appear on your office letterhead should also appear on your e-mails and be shown somewhere on your website.

Websites can easily give a misleading impression of the size and scope if you are, for example, a sole practitioner, and have not clearly said so. Refer to our helpsheet Practice Names and Letterheads if in doubt. You should be careful not to infringe the trademarks, trade names or other distinguishing marks, goods, services, activities or circumstances of your competitors.

Do not allow your website to give a misleading impression of the size or scope of your firm

If you are offering to carry out work electronically – for example, the completion and submission of tax returns over the internet is becoming increasingly common place – do not neglect the usual professional and ethical obligations. Finally, your obligations regarding harassment remain the same for electronic marketing. Unsolicited e-mails are on the increase and can be counterproductive. We recommend that you provide an "opt out" link in all e-mails to enable recipients to deselect themselves from receiving such communications in the future.

Allow targets to deselect themselves from receiving further e-mails

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© 2005 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. This helpsheet is copyright. All rights reserved. The copyright is waived when the helpsheet is used within a member firm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.