here’s what you’re looking for: martin bissett

marketing & sales

eight questions for personal preparation

before you can succeed in business, get your house in order.

by martin bissett
winning your first client

you know the identity of your first client, and if you buy into you, then there’s a good chance of potential clients being prepared to do so, too.

more: perception, even your own, is reality | eight questions that target personal accountability | are you projecting confidence? | does client perception match your firm’s reality? | firm not thriving? five fixes | five questions for grading prospects | health, wealth, stealth: challenges on the path to partnership | don’t let recurring fees kill your practice | rate your personal purpose | five ways to make selling easier
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

this is what we must remember about the purchasing of professional services such as accounting. if your prospective client is a grade a or b style opportunity for your firm, then they are not buying the services you provide per se. the services are the vehicles of delivery; the means to the end.

the client is buying the relationship, and they are asking themselves:
read more →

2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: a.c.c.o.u.n.t.s.

today’s bissett bullet: “a pipeline is essentially a list of people we would like to bring value to, but how can we use it to forecast new business?”

by martin bissett

how can you tell which of your potential clients are really looking to work with you and which are wasting your time?

introducing the a.c.c.o.u.n.t.s system. grading your prospects using a binary scoring choice – 0 for no, 10 for yes – to each of the following criteria will help you to determine who will want to work with you and who may just be comparing prices.

answer – can we solve their problems?
10 = yes, 0 = no

cash – can they afford us?
10 = yes, 0 = no

convince – do we need to convince anyone else in the business?
10 = yes, 0 = no

objections – are there any major objections unresolved?
10 = yes, 0 = no

undertake – is this work we actually want?
10 = yes, 0 = no

necessity – do they feel the need/urgency for change?
10 = yes, 0 = no

timing – is the next meeting date in the diary?
10 = yes, 0 = no

signatory – does your proposal need someone else to sign it off?
10 = yes, 0 = no

the higher your score, the more likely you will win the work. got 6 yeses? there’s a 60 percent chance you will win the work. now, what do you need to do to change the 0s to 10s?

today’s to-do:

start to grade your pipeline against the a.c.c.o.u.n.t.s. system to help you prioritize your efforts and forecast new business in any given week or month.

see more bissett bullets here

read more →

marketing & sales

perception, even your own, is reality

young businesswoman looking in mirror

you have to believe in yourself.

by martin bissett
 business development on a budget

“no man has the ability to step outside of the shadow of his own character.” – robespierre

as far as our potential clients are concerned, how they perceive us is how we really are to them, regardless of the truth of the matter.

more: eight questions that target personal accountability | how to prepare for partnership | five questions to help forecast your firm growth | do you deliver on your website’s promises? | five questions about facing challenges | be clear about your roi proposition | it’s time to prepare the next generation | who are you more committed to, your firm or your clients? | nine checkpoints before every prospect meeting | three questions about conversion | six keys to turning prospects into clients | don’t overlook internal communication | four reasons people struggle with communication | why firm culture matters for partners
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

because of this, it’s important to realize that when we are meeting a new potential client who has not been referred to us, it does not matter what the reality of our value proposition is; it matters how that potential client perceives our value proposition. therefore, to be effective in winning work, we must understand how we can positively influence their perception of us at each stage of the relationship-building process.
read more →

2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: keeping up appearances

today’s bissett bullet: “so many judgments are made of us as accountants by prospective clients, sometimes even before we open our mouths.”

by martin bissett

conclusions made about you by a potential client may be drawn from nothing more than the car you arrive in, for example, and that can be tricky. if the car is deemed too basic, the assumption will be that you’re not as successful as you say. too flashy a car, however, and the inference will be that you’re splashing your client’s cash – “no wonder she charges us so much, we’re funding her lifestyle!” it’s a hard one to get right but as a rule, the aim is to project prosperity, not opulence.

it is important to present as professional an image as possible. in addition to clean, well pressed clothes and fresh breath, taking out an up-to-date laptop, using the latest phone and taking notes with a good quality pen are all external indicators of who and what you are and what it would be like to work with you.

today’s to-do:

make sure that everything about your appearance is as professional as it could possibly be in order to create the right first impression with any potential clients.

see more bissett bullets here

read more →

marketing & sales

eight questions that target personal accountability

young man facing image of himself

what are you selling on?

by martin bissett
business development on a budget

the secret to overcoming failure to correctly implement a successful business development strategy is by “winning your first client” and this starts by being accountable to someone for your performance.

more: how to prepare for partnership | stop waiting for business to come to you | four key questions about leadership | showing leadership through customer service | the real math behind the sales pipeline | keep business development going during busy season | walk the commitment walk | two steps toward mastering selling | thirteen ways to show commitment | clients can’t grow without you | seven mistakes in winning new fees | how to develop your communication abilities | five questions for measuring partner potential

 

now that “someone” may be your fellow partners in the firm. if you are a senior manager, that may be the partner to whom you report.
read more →

marketing & sales

bissett bullet: how healthy is your pipeline?

today’s bissett bullet: “it is no coincidence that the accounting firms that have superior profitability are those taking growth seriously and forecasting their new business income.”

by martin bissett

not recurring business, new business. your pipeline should be able to tell you, at any time, where the new business is coming from, how likely it is to convert, how soon you are likely to win it, how much the deal is worth and so on. if you are serious about growth, and you should be, your pipeline should be up to date and active at all times.

today’s to-do:

review your pipeline and score yourself honestly between 1 and 10. 10 being an active, up-to-date pipeline and 1 being no pipeline at all. what do you need to do in order to be in a position to accurately forecast new business?

see more bissett bullets here

read more →

2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: setting the agenda

today’s bissett bullet: “take control of the first meeting with a potential client by gently setting the agenda at the beginning.”

by martin bissett

having no agenda means that a meeting can flow in the wrong direction and it may be difficult to steer the conversation back to where you need it to be. there is a real danger that you will leave without getting what you came for. setting out the agenda in too formal a tone, however, will do you no favors either. a prospective client who is meeting you for the first time may feel on the back foot and the meeting will be closed down before it’s even started.

the word “gently” is key here. setting out three things you’d like to cover during the meeting and asking your prospective client if that agenda suits them rarely meets any kind of resistance.

today’s to-do:

practice setting out the meeting agenda with a colleague so it feels natural when you gently steer your next prospect toward staying on track.

see more bissett bullets here

read more →

2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: schedule + strategy = pipeline

today’s bissett bullet: “the very best marketing and business development strategies are derailed by a lack of consistency, coupled with a loss of momentum.”

by martin bissett

in order to successfully build a new client pipeline, you must commit enough time to implement your strategy. that means scheduling in regular and uninterrupted time on an ongoing basis. consider both the best time for you and your team to work together and when your target audience is most likely to be available. if there is a crossover, that is where you would be best advised to block out your time.

today’s to-do:

look at your diary for the next month and schedule in time each week to spend creating and following up on new opportunities.

see more bissett bullets here

read more →