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Today’s Bissett Bullet: “As the old saying goes, we esteem too lightly that which we obtain too cheaply. That goes for low fees in the accounting profession too.”

By Martin Bissett

When you lowball a fee, do you instill confidence in the prospective client that you’ll be giving your full and very best attention and resources to their account? From real-life feedback, I can advise that Grade “A” prospects doubt that very much.

Today’s To-Do:

When you next lowball a fee, create a justification in your mind for doing so beyond “we need the business” and explain it to the team who will have to deliver the work under such tight margins. They will benefit from the understanding and morale might not take as big of an intangible hit as it usually does in these cases.

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Today’s Bissett Bullet: “I told your person on the phone I was happy with what my accountant does. Good. Tell me how they get involved with influencing your future.”

By Martin Bissett

We are very easily thrown off the scent when a concern is raised against us. We automatically interpret this as rejection and as such do not use common sense to deal with what is a fairly straightforward issue. When somebody tells you that whoever they booked the meeting with was informed that you were perfectly happy, this is them demonstrating to you that they are scared about the possibility of changing. Put them at their ease with a very simple follow-on question and make sure that they know that you are not so easily put off.

Today’s To-Do:

If available, ask a colleague to practice resolving concerns with you in a safe, comfortable environment so that you do not freeze in the real situation.

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Look at your firm through their eyes.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development On a Budget

There used to be an old exercise used in training sessions about customer relations or selling or leadership that went like this. The trainer would ask the group to think about the color green. A few seconds later he would ask them what type of green they were thinking of, and of course there would be many variations of green.

The point is that, as the saying goes, perception is reality. Whatever each person perceived as green, that would be the reality for them – but it would be different for each person in the room.
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Today’s Bissett Bullet: “If you are not seeing growth in your firm, there is only so long that you can stand back and wait before you must take control of your own destiny.”

By Martin Bissett

What are you doing to return to growth? Is your pipeline in place and are you having conversations with prospective new clients? Are you known for what you do and are you asking your clients for those stories about the outcomes you have created for them so that you can leverage them to bring you new business?

Today’s To-Do:

Adopt a return-to-growth attitude. Which of the above could you do better in order to create new opportunities for your business?

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You only get one chance at that first impression.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

There’s an overall sameness to the majority of accounting firm websites, and typically they make a lot of promises – promises like

• we’re big enough to cope and small enough to care, or
• we are proactive, or
• we’re not just bean counters, or
• we have your best interests at heart, or
• your business is our business.

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You’ve seen all those, haven’t you? Are these or similar promises on your website?
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