Many accountants who seek my input or advice want to know how to get more clients. Implicit in their question is the idea of identifying, attracting and securing the right type of strangers as clients. By which I mean people who did not know of them previously. Often these accountants want quick
Back in the days when I was a professional speaker (BC -Before COVID-19) I often asked audiences of accountants to look around the room. And then to indicate whether they felt that they were in any way special and different from most of the other accountants in the room. Typically only a
What's more important to you? To spend time on promotional activities that don't seem to cost anything or to get cost-effective results from promoting your services to people who you know are looking for someone like you? Many accountants, bookkeepers and tax advisers spend time on various social media platforms, on Linkedin
Did you attend networking events before the lockdown? I know loads of accountants don't like the concept. Others do it reluctantly and some actually enjoy it. The same is true for those online networking events that have replaced face to face events during the lockdown. In my experience you probably have one
I was asked this question by an accountant who runs their own practice: "Is it ok to try to win new clients at this time?" They had seen other people being criticised online for pitching for work. We've probably all seen the messages containing overt sales pitches. And others that include 'special
Classic. Talking with a partner in a top 50 firm of accountants, I asked how they get most of their new clients. It was no surprise he answered 'referrals'. Many accountants and lawyers, claim that they secure most of their new work through word of mouth referrals. This suggests that clients are
Thinking of expanding your service offerings? It doesn't matter whether you want to start providing 'advisory' services, tax advice or any other services. The same rules apply. And if you fail to take these into account you will struggle to make a success of your new 'offering'. If you are going to
In recent years a number of commentators have suggested that we need to adopt a new mindset. Instead of distinguishing our marketing and sales activities dependent on whether our focus is 'B to B', or 'B to C', they want us to recognise that, today, everything is 'H to H'. The idea
If you’re like most established accountants you probably believe that most of your new clients come from word of mouth and client referrals. Whether or not that’s really the case for you I doubt you have thought about how you could make it easier for your contacts to make good referrals to
You have probably heard the old networking idea that it's important to help people get to know, like and trust you. Only then will they buy from you. Only then will they even consider becoming your client. This idea originated in the book ‘Endless Referrals', written by Bob Burg, who said: “All things
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Increased knowledge can be worrying and a lot of knowledge is empowering. This is something it took me years to learn when I was in practice. Think about your own knowledge of how a specific tax rule works. One you don't have cause to think
Most of the accountants I meet claim that most of their best new clients come through referrals. When I dig deeper I find this is typically for one of the following reasons: They remember that their most recent new clients were initially generated by referrals; They don't get many new clients and also
Whilst I pose this question about competitive forces in the context of accountants, you might also find the concept helpful when talking with clients. Michael Porter first published his five forces model in a 1979 article published in the Harvard Business Review. In the context of an accountancy firm looking to the future,
When I suggest to accountants that they call clients and ex-clients to 'keep in touch', my advice is often received with a shiver. If you are comfortable picking up the phone and calling clients and ex-clients for a chat, you won't get anything from this blog post. On the other hand, if
Do you consider yourself to be a confident person generally? What about in terms of your ability to attract and win over prospective clients? And to keep clients happy and willing to pay you the fees you deserve for the work you do? Whilst many accountants I work with have a fair degree of
When I ask accountants this question, they often struggle to give an answer. And many of those who quote a higher than average figure do not seem to have worked out what services they will need to provide to earn such a fee. If you are happy simply taking on more of
The following observation on Facebook reflects a common perception. 'It's a shame that nowadays it isn't enough to just be good at what you do. You need to be good at all this other stuff (marketing etc.) otherwise you don't get anywhere.' My response was as follows: — It has NEVER been
There is no doubt in my mind. The more focused you can be as regards your ideal clients the more chance there is that they will recognise you as an accountant they should approach. And, if you have a clear focus, the easier it will be for other people you know to recognise
I have never ‘swiped’ someone’s profile picture as online dating didn’t exist when I met my wife. The whole concept of swiping left or right is quite alien to me. I was curious though so asked a friend to show me how this ‘swipe left’ and ‘swipe right’ business works. It quickly became
One of the accountants I spoke with recently has been struggling for over three years to build their own practice. Although they had won a fair few clients in year one, some have since moved on. The accountant feels their service is good enough and that their fees were not excessive. They
A journalist asked me this question last month. “What will accountants be doing differently in 2019?” Before replying I gathered my thoughts which I now share below. For reasons which will become obvious I didn’t say all this when I spoke with the journalist! As usual there’s an implicit assumption in the
When I ask accountants what they would like to be different in their practice, one theme is more common than any others. They frequently express the desire to have better quality clients, to increase their average fees and to be doing more interesting work. One sole practitioner accountant expressed this quite succinctly.
The ten mistakes I share below are based on the lessons I have learned from personal experience during which I was wearing one or other of the following four hats: 1 - A partner (in the past) in two large firms of accountants where I was responsible for writing pitches and fronting
Think about ten top accountancy brands. Or at least the ones you can remember. How many of those do you think your typical client would be able to name - or would even recognise? Once you move outside of the accountancy and finance professions, brand awareness drops off very fast. Even the
What are you selling as an accountant? This is a simple enough question, and knowing the right answer could make a profound difference to the success of your practice. Let’s start with what you’re NOT selling. As I explained in a recent blog post, You’re not selling your time. And you’re not
