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

2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: one in, one out

today’s bissett bullet: “you can have as large a pipeline as you like but if you lose your existing clients as quickly as you gain new ones, then no progress is actually made. better to ask, ‘why do clients leave and how can you prevent it?’”

by martin bissett

one reason client loss occurs is that the relationship with the client is not close and a firm doesn’t make it their business to find out what that client really needs before offering services to suit. as the business grows, their needs grow. if you’re close to them, you’ll know what additional support to offer. if you’re not, you give the competitors a chance to move in.

today’s to-do:

look at your grade a clients. where were they in their development when they engaged you and how have their needs changed since? if there is support that you should be giving and are not, it’s time to book a meeting to address that.

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marketing & sales

five questions to help forecast your firm growth

financial graph on blackboard

where is your next money coming from?

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

if i could give you one tip that would assure that you could predict your consistent practice growth, it would be to look at your calendar.

more: four key questions about leadership | 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 | six keys to getting a proposal accepted | tell the world your worth | four surprising keys to communication | culture can’t be ignored | three questions about your competence | 10 can’t-skip steps for business development
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

you need to look at what is on your calendar and to look at today’s date and ask, “where is the money coming from this month?” look at what recurring fees you have, look at the value of those fees and what they bring in. then consider what would happen if any of those fees did not recur. look at what would happen if those fees dropped out of the equation and think about how you would replace that income.
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marketing & sales

bissett bullet: complacency breeds failure

today’s bissett bullet: low client attrition rates are not necessarily a barometer of great service.

by martin bissett

never allow your retention rate to lull you into a false sense of security. in truth, no one changes their accountants unless they need to, and very few feel that need because they are not often educated very well by competing firms as to the compelling reasons for change.

however, your clients are perpetually at risk from the advances of your proactive competitors, so minimize the liability with exceptional service. deliver more of whatever it is that they value the most about you rather than what you think your firm does well.

today’s to-do

ask the next 3 clients you speak to what it is they value the most about the service you offer. find out what exceptional service means to them. it may not be what you expect.

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marketing & sales

four key questions about leadership

businessman bursting through flames and fireworks

think of it as an upward spiral.

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

unhappy and difficult clients help our firms to improve our client management skills and present opportunities to refine our leadership skills.

more: four key questions about leadership | 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 | six keys to getting a proposal accepted | tell the world your worth
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

it is tough for us to build a successful firm without difficult clients or internal personnel issues in order to provide learning experiences for us to build a robust and commercially successful infrastructure.
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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: what’s your story?

today’s bissett bullet: “you need to be able to tell your story in a way that relates to potential future clients, either directly or via your marketing collateral.”

by martin bissett

but what do they want to know? what will convince them that they should work with you and, if the opportunity arose, could you demonstrate that when under pressure?

why is your firm successful? why have your clients chosen you and what major outcomes do you achieve for them?

today’s to-do:

consider the above and write it into just one paragraph. stick to the facts; don’t include cliches such as “big enough to cope, small enough to care.” read this back to yourself until you’ve memorized it and then practice telling your story out loud until it feels natural.

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marketing & sales

does client perception match your firm’s reality?

black cat statue and white cat statue, nose to nose

don’t know? time to see through their eyes.

by martin bissett
business development on a budget

there used to be an old exercise used in training sessions about customer relations or selling or leadership that went like this. the trainer would ask the group to think about the color green. a few seconds later he would ask them what type of green they were thinking of, and of course there would be many variations of green.

the point is that, as the saying goes, perception is reality. whatever each person perceived as green, that would be the reality for them – but it would be different for each person in the room.
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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: be intentional

today’s bissett bullet: “when you reach retirement and look back on your career, how would you like to be remembered?
as a trusted advisor who helped their clients in times of need perhaps?
as a leader who invested in and developed their people?”

by martin bissett

if you can’t define that, your career will be subject to external factors. you will get that promotion only if it is offered. you’ll get that pay raise only if it is offered.

start with the end in mind. your career goals may evolve over time but know this: whatever you decide, they are unlikely to happen unless you are intentional.

today’s to-do:

decide today what you want your career to be remembered for.

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marketing & sales

do you deliver on your website’s promises?

man viewing desktop computer screen

hint: undercharging might be to blame.

by martin bissett
business development on a budget

there’s an overall sameness to the majority of accounting firm websites, and typically they make a lot of promises – promises like

  • we’re big enough to cope and small enough to care, or
  • we are proactive, or
  • we’re not just bean counters, or
  • we have your best interests at heart, or
  • your business is our business.

more: showing leadership through customer service | 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 | six keys to getting a proposal accepted | tell the world your worth | four surprising keys to communication | culture can’t be ignored
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

you’ve seen all those, haven’t you? are these or similar promises on your website?
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marketing & sales

bissett bullet: what is your forecast?

today’s bissett bullet: “what if i told you that if you boil it all down, marketing is nothing more than forecasting?”

by martin bissett

imagine you have a vertical and horizontal axis labeled probability and consistency.

if you decide to engage in a marketing activity that has a high probability of success, but your efforts are inconsistent, you’ll see a rollercoaster effect.

if you engage in more general activity with a lower probability of success with inconsistent effort, you’ve guessed it, you’ll see little to no results.

that same general form of marketing activity, executed consistently and frequently, by the sheer law of averages will generate a trickle of inquiries.

high consistency and high-probability marketing will bring an influx of new inquiries that can become fee-paying clients for your firm.

today’s to-do:

plot your current marketing activity. what is the highest probability method for your firm that you can commit to carrying out the most consistently?

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marketing & sales

bissett bullet: do your homework

today’s bissett bullet: “how often do you sense-check your proposals against previous projects? you have a wealth of information at your disposal. before you present your solutions to a prospective client, do your research.”

by martin bissett

does a precedent exist? how much did you charge clients in the past for the same work and more importantly, did you achieve an acceptable level of profitability as a result? did you allow for everything you delivered or was there a degree of scope creep and in hindsight, did you price that work correctly?

remember to take into account changes in your own circumstance as well as inflation, the benefit of the experience you have gained and any professional development you have subsequently undertaken.

today’s to-do:

check a recent proposal against something similar in the past. how do the fees compare? would you quote differently bearing in mind the above?

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leadership

showing leadership through customer service

manager standing in front of wall of tvs

who needs to see you lead?

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

in order to become a commercially aware practice leader, we need to understand the dna of leadership.

any woman or man leading an accounting firm, who chooses to overcome each operational or client challenge as it if their future depended on it, will not only succeed in practice but will become capable of delivering advisory value to their clients unmatched by their competitors, thus achieving true differentiation.

more: firm not thriving? five fixes | 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
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

there has been enough behavioral evidence in practice management now observed, collated and reported upon to be able to draw a conclusion that a great leader needs to be at peace internally in order to become a great leader externally. her or his personnel/staff need to see a consistency between that leader’s values and his/her most commonly perceived behaviors.
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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: first impressions start here

today’s bissett bullet: “get back to prospective clients in a timely manner following the initial meeting. leaving them waiting for your proposal for six weeks will do you no favors.”

by martin bissett

the excuse, “we’ve been so busy” won’t impress a potential client or serve to persuade them that if you’re so in demand they should sign you on the spot. rather, it will ring alarm bells. if your service is unsatisfactory or slow when you are supposed to be in the “courting phase,” what will they imagine it to be once they’re on board? first impressions last; make yours favorable.

today’s to-do:

for every first meeting in your diary, diarize sufficient time to write their proposal immediately after the meeting, ready to present in that all-important second meeting before too much time has passed.

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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: your greatest successes

today’s bissett bullet: “the most powerful marketing weapon you have in the fight against the competition is the stories of clients you’ve helped in the past.”

by martin bissett

client success stories are one of the best ways to interest potential future clients. are yours clearly documented as a part of your marketing literature? if not, why not?

today’s to-do:

reflect on some of the best outcomes you’ve achieved for your clients. what service did you deliver? what was the outcome and what savings were created for the client? write this into a case study to share with potential future clients.

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