Can you imagine what would happen if you explained to a prospective client or advocate HOW you do what you do?
- We complete client’s tax returns using the latest software programme from ABC company;
- We use the tax research books published by [name of publishing house];
- Our staff have all been trained by [name of training company];
You wouldn’t do it would you? It’s not relevant information is it? Indeed it sounds somewhat self-centred and boring.
The analogy I offer here dates back to the first time I put my back out. What I wanted was a recommendation to someone who could fix my acute back pain. Frankly I didn’t care whether the practitioners, to whom I was recommended, were physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths or anything else. HOW they were going to sort my back was of far less interest to me than the RESULTS or OUTCOME I wanted them to achieve for me.
Too many accountants and tax advisers focus on HOW they or their firm operate and how they provide their services too early in the conversation.
You will reduce the prospect of appearing boring and you will find it much easier to create rapport if your initial focus is on your clients, their problem and needs and what you can do for them.
There is an apocryphal story about a group of newly recruited executives at Black & Decker in the days when they only sold one basic product. They were asked what it was that their customers wanted from them.
The standard answer was ‘drills’.
“No” they were told. “Our customers want HOLES.”
In a similar vein the great Harvard marketing professor Theodore Levitt used to tell his students, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”
How do you feel about this concept and the idea of focusing on the hole in the wall that your prospective clients want? Typically they have problems they want solved or sorted. They will rarely care much about your firm’s internal processes and systems.
The bottom line is that good answers to the question ‘What do you do?’ do not include any reference to HOW you do it.
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Great post, Mark! I’m not an accountant but many of my clients are so I’m going to pass this on to them.
What you’re describing is SO important! Although every accountant brings something special and unique to the marketplace, it can be hard for a prospective client to spot the difference between all of the accounting choices that are available to them. To those prospective clients, the market is crowded with accountant clones! Focusing on client-specific outcomes (especially when most accountants do not) will help to establish a position of magnetic authority in the marketplace.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing. Am an accountant and operates a home office. Information shared is greatly appreciated, as the clients specific outcome should be a professional’s primary focus. This info is relevant now, as i have decided to build the business this year.
If you need lots of holes, go to a wholesaler!
Richard
Great story. As a qualified ironmonger and agricultural engineer, before taking up accountancy, though not with B & Q, it seems that is one trade where sense is spoken. I believe that one member of ‘Dragon’s Den’ also learned how practical farmers and their associates are.
One instance was when a large cog stuck on an oil rig, causing production to cease. As all the managers and engineers gathered round discussing how to repair it, one former sgricultural engineer stepped forward with a 14lb hammer in his hands, calculated in his mind the best spot, and hit it there with all his might. Work resumed immediately.
“People don’t buy products, they buy solutions.” Meredith Hill.
I find what Paul Dunn has to say on this interesting. He suggests we that as well as selling solutions, you explain why you do what you do. That way you build connections with people who share similar values to you.