bissett bullet: relationship building

today’s bissett bullet: “if we’re on dragon’s den, we ‘pitch.’ if we’re an accountant meeting with new potential clients, we build a relationship.”

by martin bissett

never fall into the trap that we are pitching for new work or that we should have a “spiel” of any kind. this is not a junior sales opportunity. the relationship that a business owner has with their accounting professional is known as the “most trusted” and as a result of that it should be treated with due reverence in each meeting scenario. even when you are in a “beauty parade” situation, you are not pitching for the business, you are building relationships. make sure that your language reflects that.

today’s to-do:

review the last meeting you had with a prospective client. if you were on their side of the table, were they being pitched to or were they having a relationship built with them?

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what’s included in “never mind the bullets” digital?

with a “to do” for each day of the year, the topics covered by martin’s daily teachings are:

proof creating
proactivity mindset
pipeline building
pricing process
progress making
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purpose articulation

for 366 days, you will receive a daily email with an insight that comes with an in-depth explanation and an immediately implementable “to do” for every day of the year.

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what you will learn

you will learn how to quickly increase your credibility in the marketplace, get clarity on your message, build your pipeline, construct your marketing program, become confident in your pricing and learn from the mistakes and successes taken from martin’s 25-year career working with over 1800 accounting firms from around the world.

posted on october 5, 2023

martin bissett

about the author

never mind the bullets digital daily | learn more.

martin bissett is the author of

never mind the bullets, the 366-day year-long daily email subscription providing guidance and inspiration for practicing professionals. | learn more
winning your first client,
passport to partnership, and
meet your new best client

shop the martin bissett practice growth collection

he is the founder of the upward spiral partnership ltd., the uk-based consulting firm that specializes in the implementation of professional selling and leadership skills in the next generation of accounting professionals.

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previously, martin served ten years on the board of directors of the uk’s leading provider of high-quality new business appointments for accountancy firms. there, he held the responsibility for the nurture and organic growth of the organization’s new client base, including six of the uk’s top 30 firms of accountants.

martin became fascinated by the apparent juxtaposition of partners not vocalizing what they were looking for in terms of an accomplished skill set from their potential future partners and their managers not asking to discover what that skill set included, despite wanting to reach that very position. in a profession with a supposed “succession crisis” on the horizon, this apparent stand-off struck him as curious.

this has led upward spiral partnership to personally interview several hundred partners and managers in the us and uk to learn what partners are looking for and how the managers see their own future in the firm. there are, of course, firms that have addressed this issue already, and their initiatives have also been captured.

the results of the research, including both the consensus and the exceptions to the general opinion, is called “passport to partnership.” this study provides the highlights of each factor that the majority of partners interviewed use as their criteria when evaluating whether someone in their organization can make it to the top.

as a result of the combination of his experience, intellectual property, and this proprietary research, martin now consults with accounting firms in the uk, europe, and the usa to support them in their transition through to the next stage of their development and growth.

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