entrepreneur archives - page 9 of 12 - 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

prospects like a little wooing

october 24, 2015

7 ways to set yourself apart from the competition.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

as the competition for clients heats up, it’s time to pull out all the stops and make your prospect feel like you’ve rolled out the red carpet.

more on small-firm growth strategies: do you want to do compliance your whole career? | 5 skills to grow your practice | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | 3 tips for following up with prospects | if you don’t develop your business, who will? | 11 ways to add value for clients | 5 things you know that clients don’t | 8 must-haves for a prospect kit | if you’re a ‘best-kept secret’ cut it out!

how can you do that? here are seven ways to wow your prospect and help them decide you’re the perfect vendor for them.

do you want to do compliance your whole career?

october 17, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

if the answer is no, take these 6 steps.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

as compliance services become more commoditized and automated, accountants are faced with how this affects their practice and their bottom line.

more on small-firm growth strategies: 5 skills to grow your practice | how a spreadsheet can help stop leaks | 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | design your business around your strengths | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | how to calculate your ‘opportunity number’ | 5 ways a deadline can help close a deal | draw new clients in like a magnet | 5 things you know that clients don’t | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast | whip out the wow factor for clients | take advantage of 4 key marketing strategies | four ways to stop leaving money on the table

they can:

serve a higher level client that requires greater complexity, making themselves fairly immune to these changes
serve a larger number of clients to offset a drop in revenue per client averages
add new services to their practice to boost revenue per client

those are pretty much the options available to keep profits from shrinking. but today i want to focus on the third point above, adding new services, and provide you with some ideas on how you may be able to serve your tax compliance clients in new ways.

even if you don’t do taxes, you will find some ideas for new related services you can think about offering to your clients. (remember, it’s easier to sell to existing clients than to acquire new ones.)

building reputation to build your business

october 15, 2015

by michelle long and sandi leyva

leverage your knowledge.

by michelle long and sandi leyva
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

marketing has changed in the last 30 years. one lead generation channel is reputation.

buyers really value industry expertise. as a matter of fact, studies show we underestimate the buyer when it comes to valuing industry expertise. that means as accountants we need to promote our expertise more than what we’re doing. building a reputation is part of that and you can do that a lot of different ways.

more small firm growth strategies: 3 killer lead generation channels | your existing clients are your best leads | need more business? focus on referrals

5 skills to grow your practice

october 10, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

listen for your clients’ pain points.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

we’ve worked super-hard on gaining our accounting, tax and auditing skills. those skills alone will keep us working as employees for someone else, but what if we want to go out on our own or grow our business beyond what we have now?

more on small-firm growth strategies: is it time to reboot your practice? | 5 ways to get more referrals | how a spreadsheet can help stop leaks | 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | two daily rituals: focus and measure | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | 7 ways to get new revenue from old clients | 5 things you know that clients don’t

here are five skills to consider adding to your toolbox so you can get ahead faster. how do you rate in each of these areas?
read more →

3 killer lead generation channels

october 8, 2015

by michelle long and sandi leyva

the real magic comes when you combine them.

by sandi leyva and michelle long

is it time to reboot your practice?

october 3, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

4 steps to turn things around.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

how does your current business look compared to the one you dreamed about before you started your entrepreneurial journey?

more on small-firm growth strategies: 5 ways to get more referrals | 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | 5 cures for the summertime blues | two daily rituals: focus and measure | how to calculate your ‘opportunity number’ | 9 ways accountants throw away profits | if you don’t develop your business, who will? | draw new clients in like a magnet | 9 ways to increase sales through ‘power networking’ | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast | whip out the wow factor for clients | how to work the same hours and make more money | take advantage of 4 key marketing strategies | four ways to stop leaving money on the table

do you now have

clients you love,
a dream team,
the financial rewards you are comfortable with and
plenty of free time?

if not, don’t give up. you can still get there, and a little business clarity may help you get there even faster.

here are four steps:

5 ways to get more referrals

september 19, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

the first step is knowing who you want. (hint: it’s not “everyone.”)

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

there are many great things about getting referrals. first, referrals have a built-in trust that helps you move through the sales process faster. second, there’s almost no marketing cost involved. third, they tend to make a better long-term client.

unfortunately, many business owners take a reactive approach to referrals, waiting until they come to them, rather than a more profitable approach, which is to proactively maximize referrals. here are five proactive ways to boost referrals:

more on small-firm growth strategies: 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | how to calculate your ‘opportunity number’ | 3 tips for following up with prospects | 5 ways a deadline can help close a deal | draw new clients in like a magnet | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast | 8 must-haves for a prospect kit | if you’re a ‘best-kept secret’ cut it out! | four ways to stop leaving money on the table

1. know who you want.

the first step may seem obvious, but it’s important to know what type of client you’d like to do business with. many business owners say “everyone.” but if you say that, the reaction is that people don’t know of anyone. it’s counterintuitive, but it’s far better to provide a narrow description of an ideal referral than it is to ask for any old name. when your friends hear the detailed description, they can search their personal black book to see if anyone meets that criteria. you’re far more likely to get one or two great matches with detailed information than you will asking for anyone.

how a spreadsheet can help stop leaks

september 5, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

three ways to capture lost revenue.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

there are dozens (and maybe hundreds) of ways your practice can leak money.

more on small-firm growth strategies: 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | 5 cures for the summertime blues | design your business around your strengths | two daily rituals: focus and measure | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | how to calculate your ‘opportunity number’ | 9 ways accountants throw away profits | 5 ways a deadline can help close a deal | 7 ways to get new revenue from old clients | 11 ways to add value for clients | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast | how to work the same hours and make more money | if you’re a ‘best-kept secret’ cut it out! | four ways to stop leaving money on the table

here are three ideas that are fairly simple to implement and may be some great goals for you to consider.

need more business? focus on referrals

september 4, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

a quick spreadsheet can show you where your money comes from now – and the best next targets.

by sandi leyva and michelle long
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

for those who need more business, boosting referrals is the cheapest way. so when we start to look at our marketing from a strategic standpoint, referrals is the channel we want to maximize.

if you’re thinking, “okay, how do i lower mymarketing cost? is that even an option? we spend a lot of time lowering our other expenses so why not lower our marketing costs?

there is an order on how to use marketing based on what is the most effective for professional services, and referrals is one of the cheapest ways we can add additional new clients without spending a lot of money on marketing.

start with a spreadsheet

9 ways to boost your value (and your fees)

august 29, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

can you leave behind a toy? a cheat sheet?

by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

want to charge more for your services? one way is to offer clients more value. your fees and your value to the client should go hand in hand.

here are nine ideas to increase your value to your clients:

1. offer a guarantee.

you might feel like offering a guarantee is taking on a lot more risk than you’d like to, but this is a myth. when you offer a guarantee, you help to lower the perceived risk your client feels they might have when deciding to do business with you. this greatly increases the number of clients who will take that chance, even if they don’t know you very well yet. the surprising truth is that very few people will take the time to ask for a refund, making the increased sales far more valuable than the few returns you’ll need to process, if any.

more on small-firm growth strategies: 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | 5 cures for the summertime blues | design your business around your strengths | two daily rituals: focus and measure | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | 3 tips for following up with prospects | 5 ways a deadline can help close a deal | 7 ways to get new revenue from old clients | 9 ways to increase sales through ‘power networking’ | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast | whip out the wow factor for clients | if you’re a ‘best-kept secret’ cut it out! | take advantage of 4 key marketing strategies

set limits, qualifications and perhaps money on your guarantee, such as time frames, restocking fees and requiring products to be mailed back in good condition. that way, you reduce your risk of running into the few people who will take unfair advantage of the system.

2. offer affinity discounts. read more →

3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects

august 22, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

bonus checklists: checking first impressions, reducing risk, putting a face on your practice.

by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

change is hard on all of us, and there’s no exception when it comes to new customers taking a first step to do business with you.

the question is, how can you make it easier for clients to get through that change so that they will do business with you?

more on small-firm growth strategies: 5 cures for the summertime blues | design your business around your strengths | two daily rituals: focus and measure | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | how to calculate your ‘opportunity number’ | 5 things you know that clients don’t | 8 must-haves for a prospect kit | how to work the same hours and make more money | take advantage of 4 key marketing strategies | four ways to stop leaving money on the table

the key is to be as approachable as possible, and here are some tips to do that. read more →

5 cures for the summertime blues

august 15, 2015

by sandi smith leyva

shift some of the heavy lifting to your lighter months.

by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

for some of you, summer can be a slow time in your business. if you do taxes, all the action is during busy season and in september if you have a lot of extensions. if you’re a bookkeeper, your busiest month is january. and if you do software consulting or training, it slows down in july and august.

more on small-firm growth strategies: design your business around your strengths | two daily rituals: focus and measure | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | how to calculate your ‘opportunity number’ | 9 ways accountants throw away profits | 7 ways to get new revenue from old clients | 9 ways to increase sales through ‘power networking’ | 3 ways to test your revenue forecast | how to work the same hours and make more money | if you’re a ‘best-kept secret’ cut it out!

if you have a good relationship with your clients, you might be able to move some of your busy season work to off season. and if you have clients who are ready to take advantage of new technologies, there are lots of opportunities in the cloud. here are five quick ideas to stir up some revenue in the slower summer months. read more →