{"id":80603,"date":"2020-11-29t12:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-11-29t17:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=80603"},"modified":"2022-01-10t13:51:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10t18:51:19","slug":"the-services-that-cas-clients-want","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2020\/11\/29\/the-services-that-cas-clients-want\/","title":{"rendered":"the services that cas clients want"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>plus six more general human wants to consider. by hitendra patil<\/i> what some clients feel is an absolute need, others may feel is not so.<\/p>\n people may need to book an uber or lyft ride, but some of them may want a premium ride.<\/p>\n more:<\/b> the services that cas clients need<\/a> | the 8-step method for launching client accounting services<\/a> | six reasons cas is king<\/a> | who\u2019s afraid of client accounting services?<\/a> | what cas is \u2026 and is not<\/a> | how to develop the cas mindset<\/a> | the right mindset for client accounting services<\/a> | client accounting services: the definitive guide<\/a> some of your cas will be the premium ride some your clients will want<\/strong>. and \u2013 don\u2019t be surprised \u2013 for some clients, your premium services will be the need<\/strong> (you want<\/strong> such clients). doesn\u2019t that sound familiar?<\/p>\n i would bet that all accountants have heard this, multiple times, from their prospects. and invariably, it would have dampened their spirits.<\/p>\n when they say \u201ci can\u2019t afford your services,\u201d what they are saying is, \u201ci don’t understand your value to me.\u201d they are subtly telling you that \u201cyou didn’t do a good job of communicating your value to me\u201d (provided, of course, that you did your homework to figure out if it\u2019s a reasonably good fit for their needs and wants).<\/p>\n from an accountant’s perspective, such (prospects) people do not really understand the value of professional accounting itself, not necessarily that of accountants (they have pre-defined how much they will pay for it to define what is affordable). and someone needs to make them understand it. that someone better be you, not your competitor.<\/p>\n so, it is not a negative when your prospect says he\/she can\u2019t afford your services. it is a positive.<\/p>\n it is positive because they have wants. they just do not know what the real value of fulfilling those wants<\/strong> is. it is not about what they will\/can pay for it. it is about what they will get as an outcome when they pay for fulfilling those wants. classically, they are thinking, \u201cwhat\u2019s in it for me?\u201d \u2013 and they aren\u2019t able to figure that out themselves.<\/p>\n that is a big opportunity for you.<\/p>\n show them the life they will have when their wants are met<\/strong><\/p>\n have you read an old story about david ogilvy, the man credited with establishing the dominance of the advertising field in the 1950s and \u201960s? if not, here is the gist. if yes, let me refresh it for you.<\/p>\n in late april in new york, the air was beginning to become warm, and there was a serene period before the city would face the sapping heat of the summer. one morning, while walking to his workplace, ogilvy saw a beggar with a sign around his neck:<\/p>\n i am blind<\/p>\n the poor man frequently held the cup up to his ear and rattled it because he was unable to tell how much money was in it by looking at the cup. the beggar didn\u2019t hear much noise most of the day. ogilvy decided to help the beggar and dropped a contribution into the cup. the beggar thanked him. ogilvy explained to him what work he did and asked for permission to modify the sign around the man\u2019s neck. the beggar consented, and ogilvy added a few words to the sign.<\/p>\n in the evening on his way home, ogilvy was pleased to see the beggar\u2019s cup overflowing. the beggar was astounded by his success and was very curious to know what ogilvy did to the sign. he asked what words ogilvy added.<\/p>\n it is spring and<\/p>\n i am blind<\/p>\n by using a principle in advertising \u2013 the \u201ccontrast principle\u201d \u2013 ogilvy was able to create empathy in the passersby who would have otherwise simply ignored the blind man. with the new words, people passing by felt the contrast \u2013 that they could enjoy the spring colors, but the poor blind man could not.<\/p>\n when a prospect tells you he\/she cannot afford your services, you have an opportunity to use the contrast principle to your advantage.<\/p>\n it is a real opportunity because the want exists. you do not need any educating\/marketing\/selling effort to convince them about it. you just need to show them the picture. they already know the \u201cbefore\u201d \u2013 you show them the \u201cafter,\u201d i.e., what can happen after your cas offering fulfills their wants. create a contrast. they will themselves recognize the value of having their wants fulfilled.<\/p>\n and you know the impact of your services that fulfill your clients’ wants. it is a measurable impact. it should not be difficult for you to create that contrast in the minds of your prospects\/clients.<\/p>\n so, what are the wants of your clients\/prospects?<\/strong><\/p>\n do you have clients to whom you provide advisory\/consulting services? or provide some insights when you deliver periodic financial statements? most likely, these are your \u201ca\u201d clients, and they pay you more than the average revenue you generate from each of your other \u201cb\u201d and \u201cc\u201d clients (hopefully, you don\u2019t have any \u201cd\u201d clients).<\/p>\n if yes, think of why<\/strong> these \u201ca\u201d clients pay you higher fees for higher-value services. it is not about the time, effort and level of expertise that goes into producing such services. it is about which of the wants of clients such services fulfill. such clients recognize the impact of having their wants met \u2013 and are willing to pay for it, happily.<\/p>\n can you identify the wants of such clients?<\/strong><\/p>\n here are some examples. depending upon your location, your clients and services mix, your practice niche\/s, your technology stack, etc., you might find your clients have different\/additional wants than what i describe here. but this is to get you started on the journey of finding your clients\u2019 wants (not just needs). caution: the examples below only scratch the surface. there are a lot of things that you can do to unlock the value and monetize it for your practice.<\/p>\n going beyond and underneath the abovementioned \u201cwork\u201d that is more visible and tactile, your clients\u2019 wants at the human, personal, individual level are your strategic drivers to define your cas offering.<\/p>\n what do they want at the human level?<\/p>\n certainty:<\/strong> people generally like to be in control of their financial assets. they want the power to decide yes or no. surprises take away their ability and desire to consent or decline. therefore, if you can provide your clients with perceivable certainty, i.e., assurance that you can help them either avoid pain or gain pleasure, or both, you can expect more success.<\/p>\n as an accountant, you can provide certainty by providing compliance to avoid pain (e.g., being compliant to avoid irs queries\/penalties). or you can deliver gain pleasure (savings in taxes, helping them with consulting advice for better returns on their capital\/investments, etc.).<\/p>\n uncertainty\/variety:<\/strong> strangely, as core as the want for certainty is, many times, humans crave uncertainty. uncertainty is the want of the unknown, change and new stimuli. in research, neuroscientists found that the \u201chuman brain finds unexpected pleasures more rewarding than expected ones,\u201d thereby suggesting that surprises, if any, should result in pleasant experiences. just like certainty, if your clients experience a surprise of avoiding a loss or experience a surprising gain using your services, they will feel rewarded. example: sometimes, car rental companies \u201csurprise\u201d you by upgrading you at no additional cost to the next higher level of the car.<\/p>\n as an accountant, you can deliver unexpected pleasure to your clients by giving a \u201cpaid analytical report\u201d (which offers significant business intelligence that the client can act on instantly) that the client has not subscribed to. (this can also demonstrate your additional competencies to the client and make the client aware that he\/she can buy those services from you.)<\/p>\n significance:<\/strong> the desire for significance \u2013 a belief that one\u2019s life has meaning and importance, and hence feeling unique, relevant and exclusive or needed \u2013 is a natural want for people.<\/p>\n as an accountant, you can make your clients feel important and needed by:<\/p>\n the key is to do this regularly to make the client feel it\u2019s not a one-time courtesy.<\/p>\n connection\/love:<\/strong> a strong feeling of closeness or union with someone or something is one of the six core needs of human beings, so says celebrity life coach tony robbins. people crave it. they want it.<\/p>\n as an accountant, you cannot afford to be not there on your client\u2019s radar always. out of sight is out of mind. you can make your processes force you to \u201ctouch base\u201d with your clients at least once a month. e.g.:<\/p>\n there can be several ways to increase your closeness with clients. cloud-based software can bring you many relevant alerts about each person you connect with, automatically and instantly.<\/p>\n growth:<\/strong> quest for growth drives human beings, i.e., an expansion of capacity, capability or understanding. we simply appreciate and feel highly obliged when someone helps us achieve growth (and the principle of reciprocity gets triggered).<\/p>\n as an accountant, you can help your clients grow in ways that hardly any other professional services provider can. you have the most intimate knowledge of their financial lives. you also know a lot about financial benchmarks in their industries. you can easily share such knowledge, periodically, to help their growth, e.g., a thriving restaurant\u2019s prime costs are never more than 65 percent, informing \u201cyour financing costs are higher than those of your peers,\u201d by giving qualified referrals, etc. one important thing, though: make such sharing actionable. many times people may not know what to do with a piece of new information.<\/p>\n contribution:<\/strong> contribution is the sense of service and focuses on helping, giving to and supporting others. human beings want fulfillment, and that can manifest through friendship, community, society, business networks, social groups, etc. each of these requires contribution.<\/p>\n as an accountant, you can satisfy this need of your clients by enabling them to contribute more toward what makes them feel fulfilled. it could be:<\/p>\n
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\nit is in your interest to make more of your clients need your premium services. turn their want into a need. in other words, when you provide services that help your clients make better business decisions, manage their business operations better because of better professional accounting, you are contributing to their enhanced success and growth. with more success and growth, they can see your impact and also become capable of paying you more for your premium services.<\/p>\n\u201ci can\u2019t afford your services.\u201d<\/h3>\n
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your clients\u2019 wants at the human level<\/h3>\n
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