working business development into your day

and five ways to counter possible objections.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

the accountants’ use of their time is critically important to running a successful, profitable accounting firm.

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time management is critically important to business development:

• it helps you determine how much time to spend on business development. spending 100 hours a year on business development should yield better results than spending 10.
• it helps you determine when you spend your time.

let’s drill down on the when.

how do you make business development appointments? if you walk into your office in the morning with the goal of taking a prospect to lunch that day, most likely you will eat alone. the people who represent business opportunities for you are successful people. that means they are busy people with a full calendar. savvy business developers understand that they have to schedule meetings well in advance to avoid eating alone.

there is no good time to reach a busy person. but the best time is usually first thing in the morning – say, between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. before your prospect’s day gets clogged up. even if you have nine hours of exhilarating, technically demanding, profitable billable hours of work on your desk, start your day by making phone calls, text messaging or emailing prospects to arrange future meetings.

dealing with rejection 

see if you can guess who the following refers to (answers at the bottom of the page):

1. it was rejected 40 times before a publisher took a gamble.
2. he was told he was balding, couldn’t act or sing, and for sure couldn’t dance.
3. he was told he had no creativity and fired by his newspaper editor.
4. as a child, she contracted polio at age 5 and wore a leg brace until age 12.

no!

that’s a tough word for anyone to hear. not just cpas, but children, people running for office, athletes trying to make the team, and countless other scenarios. no one likes being rejected. for many people, the fear of rejection is worse than the rejection itself.

here’s why cpas fear rejection so much:

• “i told you i’m not suited for sales. i didn’t become an accountant to sell.”
• they need approval. cpas follow a time-honored industry standard for completing their work, whether it’s an audit, a tax return or other complicated projects – and they almost always get a good “grade” on it. but selling is uncharted, stylistic, and subject to the whims of customers. their acceptance or rejection is outside their control, and they don’t like that. getting rejected despite our best efforts at landing a prospect is tremendously discouraging. it hurts our feelings.
• when we get rejected, it makes us feel we wasted our time.
• being rejected feels as if we failed. and as cpas, we are used to a lifetime, dating back to our school days, of succeeding, not failing.
• being rejected lowers our self-esteem and self-confidence. this may affect our personal lives.

dealing with potential objections

here are some possible rejections and what your response can be.

i don’t have time to meet: i imagine you’re very busy. that’s why i ask for only 30 minutes or so. in that short time, i can get a sense of your needs and share with you ways we can help you meet those needs. i’m willing to work around your schedule. if an early breakfast or evening is better for you, that’s fine. what works best for you?

we already have a cpa: i certainly understand you have an existing relationship with another firm. my goal is to discuss how we can support, enhance or complement their efforts and to share with you how we’re helping clients like you. i’d be delighted to set up a time at your convenience.

you’re too expensive: as compared to … (remain silent for a moment)? while we may not have the lowest fees among cpa firms, our clients find this is offset by our efficiency and effectiveness. our clients receive great value for our fees. we would be happy to provide you with references from clients who will attest that the value of our work is greater than the fees we charge.

one of your clients is our competitor: yes, we specialize in serving clients in your industry. by working with several businesses in your field, we develop specific knowledge and expertise that can help your company. our other clients in this field find us to be extremely confidential yet savvy when it comes to industry trends and solutions. and we’re happy to sign a confidentiality agreement if you like.

i’m happy with our current cpa: i’m glad you’re satisfied. having a good cpa firm is extremely important. as your business is constantly changing, there may be new ideas we can bring to the table. tell me, what is it that you like about your current cpa? if you could change one thing about your relationship with your current cpa, what would it be?

individual business development plan

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when is the best time to do business development?

if you want to be an effective business-getter (not necessarily a rainmaker), must you do most of your business development after 5:00 p.m. during the week and on weekends, instead of during business hours?

this is one of the best examples of contrasting old school versus new school practices in the cpa profession. if the question had been asked 20 or 30 years ago, i’m quite sure a large percentage of the responders would say yes. but in recent decades, especially in the last 10 years or so, there have been significant lifestyle changes. cpas value time with their family a lot more than their baby boomer predecessors.

old schoolers feel that “younger people” are less effective at bringing in business than the older generations. (i wonder what the generation before baby boomers – the silent generation – said about boomers!) the reason boomer partners often cite for this belief is that people’s reluctance to market after hours demonstrates a lack of ambition and commitment to the firm.

new schoolers are reluctant to do the bulk of their business development after hours.

1. family values trump the firm, for the most part, after normal business hours.
2. despite what the old-schoolers think and practice, you can be effective at bringing in business while confining business development to normal business hours.

several years ago, we surveyed cpas on this issue. we contacted

• managing partners of substantial midsized firms.
• two highly respected sales training organizations for cpas.
• several of the nation’s leading cpa firm consultants.

of the 44 people who responded, half were on the side of business development during business hours only:

• 22 people felt that you can definitely be a proficient marketer between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. during the week.
• 13 felt that to be a proficient marketer, one must market both between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and after hours, though the majority can be done during normal business hours.
• 9 people felt that the only way to be effective is to do most of your marketing after hours.

to me, these responses support the notion that you can be effective at business development while limiting it to business hours.

“at our firm, if partners go on a sales pitch alone, they get shot.” 

a managing partner of a sizeable cpa firm told me this, and dozens of managing partners over the years have made similar statements.

we stress the importance of mentoring in business development. it is incredibly helpful for those beginning their business development efforts to learn from the pros, to soak up their styles like sponges. this cannot be overemphasized.

answers

who are the famous people rejected above?

1. j.k. rowling’s “harry potter” was rejected 40 times.
2. fred astaire was told he couldn’t dance.
3. walt disney was told he had no creativity.
4. olympic champion wilma rudolph contracted polio at 5 and wore a leg brace until 12.

posted on august 9, 2020