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Bissett Bullet: Rapport Is The Ultimate Tool

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “How easy or difficult it is for an accountant to write a powerful proposal document is often dependent on how well the initial meeting with the prospective client went.”

By Martin Bissett

If I had a penny for every time somebody had reported a new business meeting they had attended and said to me, “Martin, you don’t understand, there was just no client need. I’m not sure why I was there, I could see no opportunity.” All these three phrases are code for “I did not find the need,” “I did not create strong empathy and rapport,” “I did not put together a compelling commercial argument for that business to work with our accounting firm.”

If this is true of your client meeting, you will find a proposal very difficult to write because you will be competing on the fronts of price, geography and likeability rather than a return on investment, which is the front we should be fighting on.

Today’s To-Do:

When reviewing your next quote or proposal document read it from the client’s perspective before you present it to them and see if YOU would buy from you. If not, can you identify an opportunity you missed to build rapport? Bear it in mind for the future.

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MARKETING & SALES

Why You Might Struggle with Selling

Businessman with head in hands

Accountants need to reframe their thinking.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

Let’s take a look at the last 20-plus years of my experience and my research as to where new clients come from in an accounting practice. I don’t think there are going to be too many shocks here.

MORE by Martin Bissett
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What I’ve found is that 82 percent of all new clients in a given year who come into an accounting firm come in from a referral source. This may be a bank or a lawyer or some other source, perhaps an existing client, who has recommended that a particular business meet with your firm and come on board as a client.
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MARKETING & SALES

Follow the Laws of Client Attraction

Whose needs are you focused on?

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

Let’s start with two simple definitions to avoid any confusion:

  1. The purpose of marketing is to create the opportunity.
  2. The purpose of business development (sales) is to convert that opportunity into a paying client.

MORE by Martin Bissett
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

When we meet with prospective clients – and I say this as someone who has sat in on many hundreds of meetings of this nature – we rarely give potential clients a reason to buy from us that they care about.
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MARKETING & SALES

Reframe Your Thinking about Selling

Businessman with head in hands

Four reasons some accountants find it difficult.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

Let’s take a look at the last 20-plus years of my experience and my research as to where new clients come from in an accounting practice. I don’t think there are going to be too many shocks here.

MORE by Martin Bissett
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

What I’ve found is that 82 percent of all new clients in a given year who come into an accounting firm come in from a referral source. This may be a bank or a lawyer or some other source, perhaps an existing client, who has recommended that a particular business meet with your firm and come on board as a client.
READ MORE →

ABOUT US

Bissett Bullet: Find Common Ground

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “When it comes to meeting with a prospective client for the first time, there is only one way to approach the conversation. As a fellow business owner and human being.”

By Martin Bissett

Your prospect is a business owner, just like you. They have cash flow problems and sleepless nights and clients to service, just like you. This meeting with them is, after all, simply a human interaction between two people. So, be you. Be sincere, be genuine, be empathetic. If you are interested in them and aim to serve them, not to sell to them, then that will resonate and they will reciprocate by opening up and giving you the information you need to find the right solution for their business.

Today’s To-Do:

Prepare a more informal agenda for your next meeting. Have questions that you know you need to ask and the means to record the answers to those questions but remember that a more natural, relaxed interaction will build better rapport.

See more Bissett Bullets here

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