Bissett Bullet: Ask For the Business

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Some accounting firms like to do as much as they can to win a prospect’s business except actually asking for it. What else are you meeting with them for?”

By Martin Bissett

It never ceases to amaze me how much work an accounting firm will put into winning a client and yet not have the guts or fortitude to actually ask for the business when the time comes. What other reason was there for the two of you meeting all this time? There was only one commercial imperative. Shall we work together or not? The superior accounting firm does not struggle in asking for business.

Today’s To-Do:

Today, practice a phrase that you feel comfortable with using at the conclusion of a conversation with a prospective client. This could be, “So on that basis, can we now proceed?” Or it could be, “So can we schedule a date for the first meeting?” Or any other of your choosing, whatever is comfortable for you, but make sure you use it.

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Posted on January 11, 2024

Martin Bissett

About the Author

Never Mind the Bullets digital daily | Learn more.

Martin Bissett is the author of

Never Mind the Bullets, the 366-day year-long daily email subscription providing guidance and inspiration for practicing professionals. | Learn more
Winning Your First Client,
Passport to Partnership, and
Meet Your New Best Client

Shop the Martin Bissett Practice Growth Collection

He is the founder of The Upward Spiral Partnership Ltd., the UK-based consulting firm that specializes in the implementation of professional selling and leadership skills in the next generation of accounting professionals.

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Previously, Martin served ten years on the board of directors of the UK’s leading provider of high-quality new business appointments for accountancy firms. There, he held the responsibility for the nurture and organic growth of the organization’s new client base, including six of the UK’s top 30 firms of accountants.

Martin became fascinated by the apparent juxtaposition of partners not vocalizing what they were looking for in terms of an accomplished skill set from their potential future partners and their managers not asking to discover what that skill set included, despite wanting to reach that very position. In a profession with a supposed “Succession Crisis” on the horizon, this apparent stand-off struck him as curious.

This has led Upward Spiral Partnership to personally interview several hundred partners and managers in the US and UK to learn what partners are looking for and how the managers see their own future in the firm. There are, of course, firms that have addressed this issue already, and their initiatives have also been captured.

The results of the research, including both the consensus and the exceptions to the general opinion, is called “Passport to Partnership.” This study provides the highlights of each factor that the majority of partners interviewed use as their criteria when evaluating whether someone in their organization can make it to the top.

As a result of the combination of his experience, intellectual property, and this proprietary research, Martin now consults with accounting firms in the UK, Europe, and the USA to support them in their transition through to the next stage of their development and growth.

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