you don’t have to solve the problem, just make the introduction.
by ty hendrickson
cross-selling at accounting and advisory firms. it’s something a lot of firms often talk about but frequently seem to struggle with. but as the profession continues its shift toward advisory services, it’s never been more critical.
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there’s so much opportunity to do more for existing clients (and drive revenue higher). yet, many accounting professionals tend to overcomplicate the cross-selling process, which simply begins – and sometimes ends – with having a conversation.
embrace your inner advisor and be proactive
there’s a perception clients know their industries better than their accountants, but it turns out most of them don’t. they are so deeply buried in what they’re doing for their own customers or clients it can be hard to see the big picture. this is why clients seek accounting professionals who know their industry and operations inside and out, someone who thinks ahead of them and goes beyond simply completing their taxes or financial statement audits.
that’s where accountants can add value. it starts with knowing a client’s industry, the opportunities and threats, and where the industry is headed. half of the services clients buy today are compliance-driven, and while that will not change, accountants must go beyond the day-to-day to retain and grow their clients and the firm’s revenue. advisory services are some of the fastest-growing areas for accounting firms and often the most profitable.
your reaction might be, “but our clients are fee-sensitive, and they already don’t want to pay what we’re asking for their compliance work. i’m not going to ask them to spend more money with us.” the reality is, that’s the type of work clients want and are often less fee-sensitive to. that’s where the value is, and they’re happy to pay you – their trusted advisor – for that value.
sales enablement
sales enablement is ensuring professionals have enough understanding of a service to know how to identify a need when a client says, “gosh, i wish i could get a proper valuation of my business,” and how to have a deeper conversation.
the disconnect happens when firm leadership assumes their team knows the firm offers a service, has a professional who can offer the service, or even how to identify the need. when you can arm them with the basic knowledge and resources to start the conversation, they’ll be more comfortable discussing the service and passing the client off to the proper expert in the firm.
fundamental steps for effective cross-selling
one recommendation is to encourage professionals in charge of specialty service niches to conduct monthly lunch-and-learns. have them present a high-level overview of the service they perform and show how that service can benefit clients. then, provide the team with three or four questions or pressing, trending topics in that area.
figuring out the process is simple. identify who will get the lead and how to move that lead through the firm. there’s nothing worse than losing a prospective engagement because nobody knows about it, and it gets lost in the process.
when the team knows what to ask – and what to listen for – they will have more confidence to identify a client’s pain point, build interest among the client, and pass them to the appropriate service professional to close the deal. when they know just enough to identify pain points and confidently say they have a team member who can help them, they’ll become more confident in having these types of conversations. this removes the pressure of selling the engagement because they know who to introduce the client to – and that they don’t have to solve the problem right there in that conversation.
a sample conversation may go something like this: “you’re looking to get a valuation of your business? our firm conducts many of these in your (industry), and (firm professional), who is a certified valuation analyst, can most likely help you. i’d love to bring them into the conversation. can we set up a time for the three of us to talk and determine the best way to get you an accurate valuation?”
other ways to set up a handoff include:
- “would you like to explore it or discuss it further?”
- “there are some ways my colleagues can help you with that.”
- “does your other provider go beyond your returns to discuss (service) with you? if not, we can help you because we see where you can benefit from (service).”
key takeaway
there are many inherent challenges to overcoming something that might seem simple in concept to do, but one of those things is having confidence.
professionals often don’t have the conversation because they feel they have to do the work to sell it. that couldn’t be further from the truth, and it costs firms a lot of “low-hanging” revenue. creating that confidence to help your team uncover those new opportunities and a system that lets them pass the lead to take the burden of “selling” off of them will lead to easy revenue and reinforcement as your client’s trusted advisor.
remember, you don’t have to perform the service to sell it, but you do need to be able to introduce it to a client.
the biggest impact will be showing clients the firm has a deep bench – professionals and services – that goes beyond the work you currently provide.