you need to practice the types of questions you will ask. you need to role-play with colleagues before you meet the client. you need to use words and sentences that are conducive to finding out what your clients\u2019 objectives are and you need to do a “needs analysis” with each client.<\/p>\n

i love educating prospects during a sales process. that means they have learned something about their situation during the sales process.<\/p>\n

when you offer a “taster” of advice during the sales process you are consulting to them while selling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

an example is that you could tell your client\/prospect what to do, but not how to do it. during the process of selling i like to use a strategy that i have perfected called “what if” selling. that means that you focus on “now” numbers (broken down by key performance indicators in the profit & loss and balance sheet) and based on you helping the client (you tell them how you can help them) there is a hypothetical “where” result in each of the kpis that the prospect nominates. once extrapolated, the difference in profit, cash, wealth is always massive. makes your fees look insignificant and a great return on investment.<\/p>\n

what you send to your clients\/prospects during the process (you may have multiple meetings) will have an impact on your success. you should be citing case studies and testimonials of other successful clients you have worked with. you should be sending followup cards, emails and other items of interest. your implementation plans (you would typically call these proposals or engagement letters) should be a confirmation device that summarizes your conversation. they should follow the “language of the sale” process and cover no more than four pages.<\/p>\n

there should not be an objection that you have not heard before. you should have a great answer for each objection. you should have a standard objection and answer list.<\/p>\n

once you get an objection (and you will get plenty of them) the best way to handle them is to use the “feel, felt, found” technique.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

here\u2019s an example: “i know how you feel<\/strong>, others that we have done this for felt<\/strong> exactly the same before we got started. what they found<\/strong> was that once we implemented this solution they \u2026 (benefit, benefit, benefit).”<\/p>\n

so you have had a great meeting \u2013 now what? most accountants in a sales role (and unsuccessful salespeople) say things like “come back to me when you are ready” or “let me know if you are interested.” arrgh \u2013 you just poured cold water on the sale. you\u2019ve had a good meeting so always remember the true objective of the meeting \u2013 to book the next steps.<\/p>\n

you should always bamfam. you should always book a meeting from a meeting<\/strong>. you need to progress the sale with the next step. the next step could be a followup meeting, an implementation plan sent or a start date. either way there is an event that happens after every sale. systematically book it every single time after every single meeting.<\/p>\n

if all else fails simply ask for the business. literally, “do you want to achieve what we have outlined and when do you want to achieve that?” they can only say no. if you have done the best job you can in the process, you have uncovered their objectives and you have followed up in a timely manner, then remember they are only saying no to themselves and their objectives \u2013 not you. as my sales manager (perry) says, “every no is closer to a yes.” it\u2019s not your problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

don’t be afraid to give them a “taster.”<\/strong>
\nby rob nixon<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1840,"featured_media":49750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1363,2254,3120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-growth","category-pro-member-exclusive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n