{"id":39278,"date":"2015-04-12t05:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-12t09:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=39278"},"modified":"2018-04-23t11:06:39","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23t15:06:39","slug":"selling-vs-attracting-build-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2015\/04\/12\/selling-vs-attracting-build-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"selling vs. attracting to build relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"
break down unspoken barriers. are you just about compliance? by martin bissett<\/i> it\u2019s about time to realize that value is not about time.<\/p>\n more bissett:<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>selling vs. attracting to build relationships<\/a> | when selling, don\u2019t chase new fees, attract them<\/a> | selling accounting services doesn\u2019t have to be hard!<\/a> | \u2018selling\u2019 isn\u2019t a dirty word<\/a> | 8 factors in practice development success<\/a> | in sales, perception is reality<\/a> | success begins with accountability<\/a> | do you realize you\u2019re failing?<\/a> | winning your first client<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n when i look back on the research that has been conducted by various groups as to the biggest obstacles accounting firms cite to growing their practice,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n let\u2019s not sell, let\u2019s attract.<\/p>\n selling \u2013 that stigmatized thing, that thing we\u2019re unfamiliar with, that thing that we haven\u2019t been trained to do, that thing that we feel uncomfortable with and perhaps relate to negative experiences \u2013 means pushing something on someone. we have something to sell and we say, \u201cdo you want this?\u201d that\u2019s selling. \u201chere\u2019s all the reasons why you should want this, we\u2019ll do you a deal today if you take this, have this, buy the stuff.\u201d that\u2019s selling in an exceptionally basic form.<\/p>\n attracting is demonstrating your expertise gently and professionally. it\u2019s the ability to build a relationship, and understand the needs of the business owner you\u2019re talking to because you\u2019ve created rapport so that they feel comfortable in explaining their outlook to you.<\/p>\n it\u2019s demonstrating without being pushy in any way that your value meets those needs and wants, and then simply allowing them the opportunity to come on board with you if that\u2019s something they want to do.<\/em><\/p>\n if joining your firm as its newest client is not something that they want to do, no problem. we appreciate their time and we\u2019d ask to keep in touch with them, and when the opportunity comes to talk again we\u2019d love to be able to do so. in the interim, their choosing not to join us is not a concern for us, because we are so confident and assured having \u201cwon the first client\u201d that morning that we understand our value, that our value is attractive to everybody we see. we\u2019re not going to have a problem getting clients on board here \u2013 we aren\u2019t desperately in need of your business, mr. or mrs. potential client.<\/p>\n we know there\u2019s nothing worse than a professional appearing to be desperate to win some work, and we\u2019re not that person today. we are a self-assured, confident, very engaging individual who has the solution to the needs that the prospect is outlining \u2013 and if they would like to take that opportunity we\u2019re offering to them, great, and if they don\u2019t, there\u2019s no problem whatsoever.<\/p>\n \u201cselling\u201d is the prescriptive delivery of something and a choice to be made. attracting is a demonstration of how our value meets their needs and giving them the option of taking it or not.<\/p>\n the skill in professional selling and understanding selling in practice is to move from this hesitancy that we have in appearing to be \u201cpushy\u201d through to being able to be genuinely interested in a business regardless of the outcome of that meeting.<\/p>\n as contrast and context to this point, please bear in mind that still to this day over 90 percent of accounting firms are delivering the compliance work required by law for their clients to an acceptable standard, but not going beyond that.<\/em><\/p>\n if the marketing revolution in accounting has demonstrated anything, it has proven that a large percentage of many firms\u2019 clients want something more than compliance, but have two beliefs:<\/p>\n we need to break down the unspoken barriers in our clients\u2019 minds, to be able to create deeper relationships that are ultimately more altruistic and yet profitable for us. that gives us the opportunity then to really develop the practice in terms of the engagements that we throw into our work in progress mix.<\/p>\n we need to buy into ourselves, we need to be able to say \u201ci get this, i get why a business should engage our firm.\u201d \u201ci get what the competition are doing and i get why we\u2019re superior in terms of what the client needs.\u201d<\/p>\n that\u2019s the first client won.<\/p>\n if we can close that sale we can close any sale, because we don\u2019t need to try to \u201csell.\u201d we need to be ourselves, self-assured professionals with huge value to offer, invested in building relationships.<\/p>\n
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\nwinning your first client<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n
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