Business development

Fight the complacency trap.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development On a Budget

As you know, the traditional accounting firm model is firmly based on the reality of recurring fees that come in from clients every year. We can rely on these and forecast accurately how much revenue they bring in – which hopefully covers overheads and direct expenses of the business.

MORE ON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Banish the Idea that Selling is Difficult | How to Win Your First Client | 5 Ways to Make Selling Easier to Swallow | You’re Selling All the Time

This is a good thing, right? Well, maybe not as much as you think.
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BONUS CHECKLIST: 9 points to review before you meet with a potential client.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development On a Budget

Winning Your First Client is also known by various other names, including Closing the First Sale and Winning the First Deal. No matter what it’s called, it is one of the central principles you must follow as you begin the Business Development on a Budget process.

What does it mean?

MORE ON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: 5 Ways to Make Selling Easier to Swallow | You’re Selling All the Time

Basically, it represents a mindset you must develop before you ever speak to a prospective new client. I developed the principle of Winning Your First Client in response to a common concern often raised by partners of accounting firms – one that holds them back from going after new business. It’s the belief that they don’t really have anything to offer above and beyond what an organization is receiving from its current accountant.
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Selling happens all the time: the 3 things it represents.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

Selling is not something you now need to go and do; it’s not a suit you wear or a personality you adopt. You don’t need to suddenly be nicer or different somehow because you are out of your comfort zone.

MORE: You’re Selling All the Time

For you, going forward, selling means a constant quest to build a perception of yourself and your firm. Once you buy into that idea, you can relax and realize that selling is not the enemy, but the conduit through which you access new areas of business by demonstrating the value we bring to clients.
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BONUS CHECKLIST: 5 steps for breaking out of your comfort zone.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development On a Budget

Over the years, many partners have told me about their struggles to grow their firms proactively, the main one being that they feel they must sell, which goes against the grain for them. Have you ever felt that way?

Perhaps you’ve never had to sell before, and it is taking you way out of your comfort zone. You are entering into unfamiliar territory, that alien landscape called “selling.”

In reality, though, you’ve been selling the whole time. To have won the work you’ve won up to now, to recruit the talent you have, to build the relationships you have – you’ve had to sell yourself at each stage. You’ve had to sell the idea that working with you is in the best interests of the other person, so you are always selling in one way or another.

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