And stand apart from the competition. By Sandi Smith, CPA Accountant’s Accelerator As the competition for clients heats up, it’s time to pull out all the stops and make your prospect feel like you’ve rolled out the red carpet. More for soloists and small firms: • Rev Up Your Revenue with These Two Daily Rituals • 10 Tips for Creating More Energy this Tax Season • Take a Cue from Venture Capitalists: Your Firm Needs a Brain Trust Trinity • Accountants, Do You Know Your Opportunity Number? • Five Ideas to Overcome Client Price-Sensitivity • 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking New Clients • 3 Steps to Start Running on Millionaire Time • The Missing Ingredient in [...]
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Including six situations that demand you call the client immediately. by Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Occasionally accountants lose touch with their clients, especially during tax season. Part of this is because of the crush of work, which is compressed into a pretty short period. We sometimes lose sight that we are working on something the clients consider one of the most important things in their lives at that moment. Clients are not numbers on a list that needs to be reduced – they are all individuals and consider themselves very important people and want professionals that treat them accordingly. It is attitudinal, and accountants must adopt that mindset and transmit that through to their culture. Following are a [...]
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Including a sample engagement letter. Question: Some of my clients are getting older and are becoming unable to handle their own financial affairs and I have been asked if I could assist them. What is involved and how do I charge for it? Ed Mendlowitz, VPA, PFS, ABV, responds: Many large firms provide “family office” services. This is a complete one stop financial service that helps clients manage their money, pay their bills, collect their dividends and interest, and make sure insurance isn’t cancelled, mortgage, car lease or condo fee payments aren’t skipped, and tax payments paid on time. More from Ed: Seven Ways to Increase Fees in 2013 | 10 Best Practices for Tax Season | Nine Healthy Things To [...]
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The pragmatic six-step way to evaluate potential new clients. By Sandi Smith, CPA Accountant’s Accelerator Every week, do you get wonderful, exciting calls from new clients who want to use your services? You might want to talk with every one of them to get the sale. The problem is, if you do, you’re likely to go bankrupt. Let me explain. More for soloists and small firms from at CPA Trendlines: Five Ideas to Reduce Client Price-Sensitivity • Rise to the Top with a Fresh Elevator Speech • Four Ways to Practice Entrepreneurial Perseverance • 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking New Clients • The Success Secrets Women Already Know • His and Her Brains at Work in Tax and Accounting • The Power of Deadlines in [...]
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3 tips for a powerful pitch. By Sandi Smith, CPA Accountant’s Accelerator An elevator speech is that short and sweet 30-second answer to the question “What do you do?” In networking circles, it’s critical that your elevator speech is clear and interesting. If it’s not, people will be confused, and no one who is confused will know how to refer you to others. More for soloists and small firms from at CPA Trendlines: Four Ways to Practice Entrepreneurial Perseverance • 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking New Clients • The Success Secrets Women Already Know • His and Her Brains at Work in Tax and Accounting • The Power of Deadlines in Closing a Deal • On the Road to a Stress-Free Life: Identify [...]
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Waiting for the phone to ring? Three ways to master the art of follow-up. By Sandi Smith, CPA Accountant’s Accelerator It seems there are hundreds of questions swirling around how to follow up with prospects. The raw truth is that very few people follow up at all. On average, only 2 percent of people buy on the first contact with a vendor. So if you’re not following up, you’re walking away from 98 percent of your sales. More for CPA Trendlines PRO Members: The Missing Ingredient in Your Marketing That Will Make All the Difference • 3 Steps to Start Running on Millionaire Time • On the Road to a Stress-Free Life: Identify Your Character Strengths • The Power of Deadlines [...]
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Business development for sole practitioners and small firms…
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New revenue may be closer than you think. By Sandi Smith CPA Accountant’s Accelerator It’s far less expensive to keep your existing clients happy than it is to find new clients, especially since the trust factor between people is at an all-time low. So you might want to think about re-directing a portion of your marketing attention on your existing client base instead of networking for new clients. I’ve met a lot of business owners who have trouble getting their employees to sell while they’re on site, and I’ve also heard from some customers who’ve remarked that their vendors don’t stay in touch with them. So here are some tips to mine the pot of gold that lies right before [...]
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Business is good, but CPAs say the workload never eases up. by Rick Telberg CPA across all areas of the profession this summer are confirming the best hopes and worst fears that the profession felt when the year was beginning. Yes, business is up across all sectors and should continue to improve, especially for public practice firms, but there are not enough people to handle the work. Our readings are showing that two-thirds of CPAs in all sectors of the accounting profession are enjoying better business than last year. Asked to look 12 months into the future, roughly the same number expect their business conditions to be even better, although members in public practice are slightly more optimistic than members [...]
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Small business survey serves up clues for accountants. “Passion to be an entrepreneur” is the top reason for wanting to start a business for nearly half (48.5 percent) of aspiring business owners.
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Hint: The secret weapon is communications skills. by Bruce Bailey Guild Accountants While the victor in war is he who wins the last battle, every battle and every outcome is significant (even the battles you lose – we often learn more from our losses than our wins!). About three years ago we looked at our war for clients by assessing: the nature of our troops, their skills and training, the battlefields on which we would operate and the armaments we would carry.
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No, you don’t OWN your clients. by Jason M. Blumer, CPA/CITP Founder, THRIVEal +CPA Network Chief Innovation Officer, Blumer & Associates CPAs I’m learning a lot these days. For instance, I’ve learned the value of where my real assets are found. An Australian colleague said he doesn’t call his clients “his” anymore. That is, he has realized something that many of us in the business are slow to accept – your clients are not your property and you do not own them. Ouch. Why Do I Believe This? Before we hit some practical aspects to this truth, let me discuss the deeper reasons for this new belief. With the Accountancy Revolution, I’m seeing that clients, or customers as I like [...]
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CPAs must provide wisdom. [This was submitted by a director-level professional at a mid-sized West Coast CPA firm.] In our experience, it’s all about niches and specialized expertise. The deeper and the broader our knowledge in the industry/services/critical issues that are RELEVANT to the client or potential client, the more attractive we are as an advisor. It’s not just about compliance services, or about knowledge of facts and rules and regulations. It’s about applying that relevant knowledge in ways that help to avoid pitfalls, and provide opportunities and value to the client as a result of the wisdom we can bring to the relationship. Some of this is about out messaging. If you have depth in real estate, for example, [...]
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by Jean Caragher and Rick Telberg SevenKeys CPA According to the AICPA’s latest CPA Firm Top Issues Survey, the most significant challenge facing CPA firms of all sizes across the nation today is gaining new clients. But too many firms overlook the low-hanging fruit of their existing client bases. It starts with asking the right questions. In fact, we’ve found over and over again that: Most firms do not know why they are hired or why clients fire them. The reason most firms do not know why they are hired or fired is that they do not ask. What they think they know is wrong, because they do not analyze it. Continued at AccountingWEB.com.
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They fail to understand differentiation and value. by Chris Zdunich Porte Brown LLC The New War for Clients is compounded by the fact that: 1) most markets have multiple accounting firms that are high quality, mature and have a difficult time differentiating. 2) Also, today’s buyer is slower to move, does a lot of their shopping online and is very price sensitive. Differentiation and value are key.
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How smart firms are turning to digital tools and metrics. by Alan Vitberg VitbergLLC I believe that marketing and business development at CPA firms is on the edge a transformation based upon the monumental changes to the way we receive, process, use and share information. It’s not about “pushing” information out to prospects, it’s about being found by prospects searching online for solutions to their needs, issues or pain; converting those eyeballs into leads and new business; and employing tools that deliver metrics for pinpointing the ROI from investments made in marketing and business development. Successful firms are taking a fresh approach to business development that combines traditional 1-to-1 marketing with new marketing strategies and tactics built upon inbound marketing, [...]
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