leveraging the relationships you already have. step 1: make a list.
by anthony glomski and russ alan prince
your $5 million high-net-worth practice
the covid-19 crisis has put a lot of financial pressure on many businesses, including many accounting firms. at the same time, a percentage of professionals, such as accountants, lawyers, and wealth managers, are strategically taking action to deal with the economic pressures.
see also: the three new business models delivering significant profits for accounting firms | the 5 meetings of the (true) wealth management process | collaborative wealth management: defining the framework | protect your clients’ assets | even entrepreneurs must diversify | when clients cash out: four smart financial moves |
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the result is that they are doing well as the crisis progresses and are smartly positioned to do exceptionally well as the crisis abates.
how are these professionals making their practices more successful at this time? they are taking steps to enhance — and in some cases optimize — selected business relationships that are a corner-stone to their current and future success. to be very clear, there are no magic or unique skills involved. therefore, you can readily take the same approach and also get great results.
when you strategically enhance your relationships with selected important clients, high-value prospects, and other professionals, you are building demand for you, your expertise, and your firm’s capabilities. we all know that what people should or should not do is rarely the issue. put another way: people are only going to take action when it is in their self-interest to do so. therefore, it is critical that when they choose to act, you are the professional they turn to for the services you offer. you are the professional they believe in and — very importantly — who they are going to rely on.
over the last few months, professionals using the everyone wins process have been generating significant new business now and it is very clear that they will have a great deal of new business sometime in the future. what is even more meaningful is that the approach seriously helps the people they are working with better deal with the stress, anxieties, and some of the problems brought on by the covid-19 crisis.
you have very likely contacted some — maybe even all — of your clients to check in with them. at the same time, you might be very busy as many accountants are wrapped up with helping their clients address matters like ppp loans and tax filings.
what we tend to see — and this is characteristic of all the professions — is that relatively few accountants are systematically reaching out and efficaciously connecting with some of their most important clients and setting the groundwork for garnering more business. nor are most professionals bothering to reach out to high-quality prospects or other professionals to see how they are managing at this time. what is needed to build demand for you and your expertise is to raise the level of rapport you have with these people that can enable you to make your practice do well now and sky-rocket as the crisis lessens.
this is an exceptional time to strengthen key client relationships. this will ensure your best clients stay your clients, and they will rely on you for more of your expertise and will refer high-quality prospects to you. the same is true of high-quality prospects and professionals that have the types of clients you want to work with. to get these kinds of results requires being thoughtful and methodical.
the everyone wins process is one powerful way to build this level of rapport, which translates into substantially more business now and later. the following are steps you can take based on the everyone wins process:
• step 1: put together a list of important clients, high-value prospects, and other professionals who can potentially make you more successful: because it takes time and effort to get great results, you need to concentrate on the people who can help you excel. in order to get the greatest return on your time and effort, you probably need a list.
• step 2: arrange to connect with each person on your list: whether by email, text or having someone set up a call, get a day and time to talk. for most of these conversations, an hour will suffice. even if you schedule an hour for the call, do not schedule a call right afterward. if you are getting traction, as often happens, you want to keep going. it is not wise to close down the call because you have another one.
• step 3: during the call, make it all about the other person: without question, when you are talking to them you are not selling anything and you are not discussing what you can do for them until they ask for help. as you have these conversations, most of them will ask for advice. this is critical…you want to develop a deep understanding of each of these individuals. that will only happen if they are doing most of the talking.
• step 4: as they share, listen impactfully: you want to know where they are psychologically, financially, and socially today. by focusing on what they’re saying and absolutely not thinking about yourself and your practice, you will learn a great deal about them.
• step 5: determine what matters to them: as you are impactfully listening, you are finding what is most important to them and what is lower down on their priority list. keep in mind that these people only want to deal with the issues they find most pressing.
• step 6: connect the dots: when you know what is most important to them, you can identify ways you and the partners at your firm can be most helpful. sometimes being helpful means introducing them to someone else. however, there is a good possibility that you or your firm’s expertise will fit the bill.
• step 7: show them how you can help them achieve their self-interests: when you find a way you or your firm can be helpful, it is often most effective to connect their self-interests with your ability to help them get these results. instead of talking about what you can do, you will more likely get the engagement by asking them if they want you to help them achieve the outcomes they want.
experience shows that using the everyone wins process during this covid-19 crisis produces significant new business opportunities. for instance, when you become adept with the process it is very possible that other professionals such as lawyers and bankers will identify some of their best clients that could be good referrals for you in your very first meeting.
whether you use the everyone wins process or some similar methodology, what matters most is that you are able to develop a deep understanding of other people. using these insights, you will know how you can add value to their lives. keep in mind that many times adding value will involve providing them your services.