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
MARKETING & SALES
The Four Steps of the Personal Marketing Process
Remember we’re in a service business.
By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention
Most new business comes about because of personal marketing efforts. There is a process that your personal marketing efforts need to follow.
MORE by August J. Aquila
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In fact, the only way you will get different results is to change your current marketing process. Let’s look at the four steps in the personal marketing process. READ MORE →
It’s Not Selling, It’s Service
Have you thought about what you’re building?
By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget
Being a successful person according to your own measurement of that, and your own goals and your own standards is different for everyone.
MORE by Martin Bissett
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If you’re comfortable with yourself, it’s very likely that others will be too. If you understand the value that you offer (how you can improve a client’s situation to move them closer toward their personal and professional aspirations), you’re likely to be able to convey that value in front of a prospect.
Bissett Bullet: Expertise Is Too Valuable to be Given Away for Free
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “When we can listen to our prospective client’s issues without giving away all the answers in our replies, we’ve got a chance of winning work.”
By Martin Bissett
It’s one of the hardest things to do in a professional selling situation. We want to oust the current accountant, we want to explain why we are a better choice and we want to demonstrate that we can solve their problems, but loyalty is a demanding mistress.
In the same way that our proposal should include the “what” not the “how,” we must appreciate that when we tell our prospective clients how to go about fixing their issues before we have their signature on a payment plan, we’re simply encouraging them to go back to their existing accountants and save themselves the pain of change.
Today’s To-Do:
Practice advising the prospective client “what” can be done to help them but not “how.”
See more Bissett Bullets here
Eleven Marketing Strategies for Smaller Firms
Including the five stages of an inbound marketing funnel.
By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention
Small firm owners know they need to market, but they don’t always know which marketing activities they need to focus on. Here are 11 strategies for increasing your client base that are easy to implement.
MORE by August J. Aquila
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1. Get Known in the Marketplace
Before you start marketing, you need to answer these two questions:
- Who are you?
- What do you offer?
Green: Why Clients Quit You | Big 4 Transparency
The number one complaint isn’t pricing. It’s confusion.
This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines
For many business owners, finding the right accountant feels like an impossible task. You’re trusting someone with your finances, your future, and sometimes even your peace of mind. But in an industry dominated by word-of-mouth and vague Google listings, Sam’s List has emerged as a game-changing alternative: a review-based directory for CPAs, bookkeepers, fractional CFOs, and financial advisors, designed to make trust and transparency easier for everyone.
MORE Dominic Piscopo | MORE Private Equity | MORE Pay & Compensation
In this episode of Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo speaks with co-founder Kimi Green, who shares the wild story of how the viral idea from entrepreneur Sam Parr (of My First Million) turned into a thriving lead-generation platform – and how she found herself leading it with no prior experience in accounting. “I despised accounting,” Green laughs. “I didn’t even ask follow-up questions when someone told me they were a CPA.”
Get Your Personal House in Order
Eight questions to ask yourself.
By Martin Bissett
Winning Your First Client
You know the identity of your first client, and if you buy into you, then there’s a good chance of potential clients being prepared to do so, too.
MORE by Martin Bissett
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This is what we must remember about the purchasing of professional services such as accounting. If your prospective client is a Grade A or B style opportunity for your firm, then they are not buying the services you provide per se. The services are the vehicles of delivery; the means to the end.
The client is buying the relationship, and they are asking themselves:
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Bissett Bullet: Who Should I Say is Calling?
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Imagine you’re a business owner and you’ve just had a meeting with an accounting firm. The meeting went really well; in fact they made a very positive first impression and you are seriously considering leaving your current accountant to work with them. You did forget to ask something, so you make a quick call to their office … and nobody knows who you are.”
By Martin Bissett
You could be forgiven for feeling a little deflated. Now imagine you called and instead were greeted by a member of their support team who not only knew exactly who you are but had been instructed to put you straight through should you happen to call.
This is a very easy and effective way to make prospective clients feel valued, prioritized and ingrained in your firm’s culture but simple though it is, your competitors will not do it. Stand out by making sure that clients are handled in this way by your firm.
Today’s To-Do:
Diarize time after a meeting or set aside time each week to brief support staff on all prospective clients.
See more Bissett Bullets here
Believe in Yourself to Sell
Perception, even your own, is reality.
By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget
“No man has the ability to step outside of the shadow of his own character.” – Robespierre
As far as our potential clients are concerned, how they perceive us is how we really are to them, regardless of the truth of the matter.
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Because of this, it’s important to realize that when we are meeting a new potential client who has not been referred to us, it does not matter what the reality of our value proposition is; it matters how that potential client perceives our value proposition. Therefore, to be effective in winning work, we must understand how we can positively influence their perception of us at each stage of the relationship-building process.
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Five Keys to Successful Marketing
And three questions to answer.
By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention
Personal Accountability Moves You Forward
Eight questions to ask yourself.
By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget
Bissett Bullet: There’s No ‘I’ in Team
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “All it takes for an accounting practice to stagnate is capable, talented partners to take up a position of ‘my clients,’ ‘my fees.’”
By Martin Bissett
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Bissett Bullet: The Emotional Argument
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “When a prospective client already has an accountant, it is important to recognize that although they are demonstrating an interest …”
By Martin Bissett
See more Bissett Bullets here