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CAN AN ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL SELL?

Guest post by: Harry Kafka

Article Overview: A touchy subject if ever there was one. Some accounting professionals claim to be great sales persons, others admit readily having no sales oriented people skills whatsoever. Others quite rightly point out it can be a conflict of interests (or an embarrassment at the very least) to SELL to someone you will then CONSULT later. With economic downturn weighing heavily upon our sales and marketing resources, it is more important than ever that accounting & CPA firms use their hard earned marketing dollars wisely.

CAN AN ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL SELL?

A NEW OUTLOOK ON SALES OF ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Let me ask you a funny question: When you found your dream home (within the limits of what you could afford), did it NEED to be SOLD to you... or DID YOU BUY IT?

If ever you LOVED a specific car and could afford it... was it that you absolutely HAD TO HAVE IT ...or did someone have to bend your arm?

Hmm?

Yes, it’s true that when we REALLY WANT something, we just go out to buy it... and if we can afford it then that’s it. Nothing but NOTHING will stop us from having it!

So, WHY do we want some things so much and others not at all?

And would it not be nice if you could have your accounting services practically ripped off your hands by eager clients lining up to sign onto your services?

Well... I cannot promise there’ll be a feeding frenzy for your services... but I can say that things are always on a gradient scale from “no interest” all the way up to “I absolutely MUST HAVE THIS!”


TELL ME WHAT A LOUSY BUSINESS MAN I AM!

Now, if you suffer from high blood pressure, the General Surgeon would probably warn you against continuing reading this article... for it might upset you.

The traditional way of selling advisory services involves telling someone how to run their own business. You can bend this and dress it up any way you wish, but that’s the bare bones of it: You have to tell prospects and clients what they should do about their business.

And that is not really a winning proposition, is it now? Or would YOU like a know-it-all consultant to bypass your authority and knowledge and tell you how to run your practice?

I think not... you would propel that nuisance out the door (or window) in a flash. And good for you, right you are!

The problem with selling accounting services involves the nature of taxation and record keeping. It is all mandatory stuff, none of which the owner of a small business enjoys doing... and even less paying for.

“So,” you may ask, “how can I sell and deliver my services if I cannot talk about those things?”

Well... just put the emphasis elsewhere.

Create interest by showing them how they can MONITOR any function of their business to know what’s happening and how easy it is to make correct decisions once you KNOW what happens.

Teach them to RUN their business and, in the course of that, they will WANT to know also the not-so-nice things.

Here’s a point of logic which most business owners agree with:

“Problems are born very small. They need to remain undetected for quite a long while (several months, often years) before they grow into life threatening monsters that we all so don’t want to find”

“If you can find problems within a month of their birth, they are very easy, quick, simple, inexpensive and even FUN to solve!”

If you can create a service that does that and a method of allowing your prospective clients TO REALIZE ON THEIR OWN what your service could do for you... well, then you will find more and more prospects signing on without being sold to in the traditional sense of the word.

Due to the consulting nature of accounting services, you can actually turn it into your advantage using the correct approach. Give your prospects a sample of how pleasant it is to be consulted by you, ask them questions whose answers are the claims you want them to see... and you’re on your way to becoming a master seller of YOUR services!

If this subject interests you, there’s a free article called “Efficient selling of Accounting services without the slightest embarrassment” at http://www.cpamarketingtips.com/Signingclients.html

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Placemat / Table Top Advertising - Was curious if any of you have done anything like this and how you pitched it. Some people say placemat advertising dont work and I laugh. To say such a thing would mean no advertising works. Advertising in the form, not even newspapers can compete. We have a CAPTIVE audience unlike any other form of advertising. Everyone waits for their food while dining out and obviously rather than stairing at there silverware, they are going to read a few if not all the ads searching for great deals in coupon form or just looking it over while waiting for their meal. Billboards, radio, t.v just can compete with a advertising medium which holds a reader captive, relaxed and in a great frame of mind. Everyone I have talked to says calling businesses up is a waste of time but i can accomplish more by hitting more business than i can going business to business, plus with gas prices these days..WOW. I have put together the following scrpit for calling and I would appreciate any feedback please (good or bad)... Hi, my name is Daniel with (my business name). I got your number from the (local chamber). We are calling on behalf of the pizzahut. (NAME), the manager has an exciting new promotion going designed by us to increase local area spending. We are looking for local sponsors to advertise their business on the table tops at the restaurant for the next 3-4 months. Becoming a sponsor is a great way to show your community support and promote your business. If your interested, I will be in the area (FRIDAY). I would like to stop by and show you an example. What time works for you? maybe that is just to long. Maybe i just want to sound like a real person, a friend over the phone rather than a CAR SALESMAN so how bout this... We are calling on behalf of the local pizza hut. Crystal, the manager has an exciting new promotion designed to increase local area spending. It seems to be a poplular place to eat so we're looking for local sponsors to advertise their business on the table tops at the restaurant for the next 3 months or so. Will be in the area friday showing examples all day long to those already interested. What time works for you? Hmm, i just dont know. I would like to hit the gound running with this. They say SELL THE SIZZLE, NOT THE STEAK. Do i want to say that we got their name as a referral from, hmm, i think it was the local chamber (chamber of commerce). That might help loosin them up or maybe not. Maybe i am thinking on this way to much. PLEASE HELP! Our local newspaper charges 45 bucks a day for a black/white 2x2 ad. Needless to say radio and tv along with billboards are much more. Problem with billboards, most use a pretty graphic which then gets all the attention, you never get to look at the number or business name during your drive by and a few minutes later, out of site, out of mind. These are 350-400 to create the vinyl ad, then 400-700 dollars a month depending on location. Is it really worth the expense unless you can afford putting an ad up on 10-20 billboards? We charge $210 for 3 months / $70 monthly / $16 weekly / $2 daily. I would say we have the most economical marketing product on the market today!" or another option is $250 for 3 months which includes any radio promotions which we would plug them as a sponsor. Another option would be rather than run them for 3 months at a time. Run our placemats for (1) month at a time for $210 monthly but combine the ads in 3 different restaurant locations (same franchise of coarse). All within 30 minutes of each other. Or just do the 1st one and upsell the others for options. Wanting some feedback and opinions on it. Thanks, Daniel


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