The old cliche ‘people buy from people they know, like and trust‘ is especially pertinent when you are an accountant keen to generate additional clients.
To a large extent it matters not whether you are part of a bigger company/firm or you run your own practice – although the effect is even more pronounced in the smallest of firms.
Regardless of almost anything else, any prospective clients need to first buy into you as a person. Whether they trust, respect and like you will affect their buying decision. The same is true of the advocates you hope to secure when you are networking.
So what can you do to influence that? There are two key attributes you will want to demonstrate:
Be Passionate – Passion is contagious as long as you don’t let it evolve into obsession. Can you express your passion for how you help clients? If you’re not passionate about this it will take you longer to build sufficient rapport to generate leads and clients. If your passion doesn’t show then you may come across as bored, indifferent and uncommitted. Who would want an accountant like that?
Be Authentic – This is not just about being honest; it is more than that. It is about being you, warts and all. It’s about being comfortable implying: This is me; What you see is what you get and what you get is me.
Even if you are not a sole-trader and there are others in your practice, your personality is what will drive and define the extent to which you are able to generate leads and work.
Like ‘Passion’, Authenticity is attractive. Authenticity is what will attract your ideal clients to you. Authenticity is what will determine who your clients are and who they are not.
As I have indicated many times on this blog, it takes much longer to build a practice if you come across as being open to doing everything for everyone.
Be clear about who you are what your purpose in practice is and what values you live by. Be clear about who you want to and will work with and who you won’t. If you want to be clear outwardly, you need to be clear inwardly first.
There are many posts on this blog about effective networking skills. One of these is to listen more than you speak. So ensure that when you reveal your passion you do so in a measured way. That means ensuring that the other other person remains part of the conversation.
What’s your passion in practice?
PS: I have written a 10,000+ word book specifically for accountants who want to Network more effectively. Click here for full details>>>
If you would like to book me to speak on the subject at your in-house conference or training session, do get in touch. There’s an outline of my talk on ‘How to ensure your networking activity is successful’ here>>>
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