MARKETING & SALES

Bissett Bullet: What Are You Known For?

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Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Of all of the components of an effective marketing strategy, your message is arguably the most important.”

By Martin Bissett

If you are known for being accountants, if that is what you tell people you do, then you will find yourself lumped in with all of the other accountants in the marketplace. But what if you reframed the message and were known for something that made you stand out from the competition?

If you help time-poor business owners who are too bogged down with admin for their own business to add value to their own customers and give them a platform to go out and create new sales, then that is your message. You put business owners in control of their finances. Would you not rather be known for that than for being “just another accountant”?

Today’s To-Do:

Think about three outcomes your deliverables have for your clients. How could you use them to describe what you do?

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Use the Consultative Partnership Approach to Selling Services

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Two men shaking hands as woman stands with one

Three simple principles.

By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention

No matter how good your marketing tools are, there is one tool that needs to be especially sharp, and that is your salesmanship. All the other marketing tools we have mentioned will be of little value if you don’t know how to “ask for the business.”

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You need to understand the selling and buying cycles. They are critical for your success.
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What It Takes to Make It to Partner

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senior businessman with five colleagues

Four responses from our expert council.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The skill in producing financial reports is limited by the quality of the information presented to the CPA by the client. The motivation of the client to influence that financial information comes in many forms, some intentional and some unintentional. Competence comes first in being able to resist pressure and present a true and accurate position of the client’s organization.

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Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But there’s a twist.

Competence doesn’t actually rank highly among the requirements for partners in our study at all.
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Bissett Bullet: Put It In Writing

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Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Confirming the details of your meeting with a prospective client after a meeting is set up is not a formality. It is a cancellation prevention exercise.”

By Martin Bissett

This is a small gesture but is still the standout way to ensure that you are in their schedule, in their calendar, in their diary for this meeting. It shows maturity, it shows seriousness, it shows that you are “on the ball.” Always confirm in writing after setting up a meeting because that is the most proven cancellation prevention exercise yet. Make it official.

Today’s To-Do:

Develop a very simple confirmation letter template that you can send out easily or that someone can send out on your behalf when each new prospective meeting is confirmed in your diary.

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