plus seven things not to do.
by martin bissett
business development on a budget
what makes a written proposal become accepted by the potential client – every time?
more: six keys to turning prospects into clients | seven mistakes in winning new fees | how to develop your communication abilities | five questions for measuring partner potential | five ways to rally your firm to its culture | when would-be partners aren’t candidates | make your expertise a new-client magnet | don’t think of it as selling | experts: what it takes to become partner
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proposal writing is a micro-science in its own right but here are the proven principles that it takes to get proposals accepted.
- the proposal must clearly demonstrate that we understand what our prospect’s business is going through and that the document is offering outcomes that solve the problem/realize the ambition of the prospect.
- the proposal must appeal to the emotional as well as the logical arguments for change to induce the prospect to be inclined to be comfortable in doing exactly that.
- the proposal must validate the firm so that the prospect believes that we can assist them specifically with their challenges, (third-party evidence, relevant awards etc.) rather than making generic and empty website promises.
- the proposal must contain a price or level of investment that the prospect believes is commensurate with the value being offered (neither over- nor underpriced, hence the micro-science).
- the outcomes – not services – being offered must contain enough impact for the price to be worth affording for the client, regardless of fees they might currently pay.
- the toughest one of all – the proposal must deliver the kind of value that makes the prospect want to become a client – now!
this skill can take years to refine into an art to where the proposal can represent us sufficiently in our absence and offering compliance services alone will not be enough with our grade a or b prospects, hence point number 1.
why is it so difficult to sell?
- selling is stigmatized.
- the profession has never been trained to sell.
- there is a huge difference between selling and allowing people to buy.
- we rarely give them a reason to buy from us that they care about.
seven things that trusted advisors don’t need to do
the key factor about accountants is that they occupy – should they wish to – a unique position in the minds of their clients. we know it as “most trusted advisor.” these are assured and successful people and as such they avoid the following traits:
- the needless discounting and lowballing of quotes as if you wouldn’t get the engagement if it were priced correctly, and so prefer to create a false and detrimental impression of your worth right from the outset.
- discounting when a new piece of work is required by an existing client. if we’re asked to do extra work, the client presumably rates us for the work already done. reflect that value in the fee.
- discounting when a client disputes the bill. did you set realistic expectations at the start? good, charge full value. what are they going to do, leave? you’ve sprung the bill on them, so no wonder they’re annoyed, in which case many advisors discount and feel lucky to have kept them. don’t make that mistake again.
- saying accountants are boring in an ironic self-acknowledgement of the commonly held myth surrounding the profession. you’re not boring and by trying to curry favor by employing self-deprecating humor we’re just perpetuating the myth. don’t perpetuate it, disprove it.
- taking six weeks to get back to a potential new client after the initial meeting. the excuse “we’re so busy” doesn’t tell the client that our firm is in demand; it tells them that they are likely to receive service as crappy as what they are getting when they are supposed to be in this “courting” phase with us.
- saying you convert 95 percent of opportunities once your foot is in the door. you’re talking about referrals and we all convert 95 percent of those. marketing brings about non-referred opportunities, ones that we have to sweat to get but would’ve been unlikely to have gotten any other way. twenty-five percent of those converted is good going initially.
- claiming low client attrition rates as a barometer of great service. no one moves accountants unless they need to and very few know why they need to because they are not educated very well by competing firms. our clients are perpetually at risk. minimize the liability with actual good service, as in, what the client values about us rather than what we think is good about us.