CPA - Accounting
Firm Marketing Newsletter:
Using admiration to have your prospect do the selling
Have you ever
thought appealing to the genius of business owners in selling
your services?
What if a healthy
dollop of admiration for their achievements and some acknowledgment
— all garnished with a good dose of INTERESTS for his views
— could make HIM SELL YOUR SERVICE TO HIMSELF?
Yeah, I know,
"can't be done, impossible..." but indulge me for a
while and let's play out this "fantasy" for fun, eh?
I'm sure you
agree that most owners of small-to-medium sized businesses aren't
very knowledgeable in matters of finance.
They know THEIR
trade, they may well know about marketing and selling... but
not Accounting and finance.
Your speciality
is a very special subject on which extremely few business owners
get any meaningful education.
With accounting
firms handling the books, business owners also get no experience
in these matters.
Suffice to
say, finance is a subject which business owners know little of.
This status
quo presents a huge problem in terms of MARKETING accounting
services.
If you go by
the "traditional bible of accountancy marketing" then
you will be forced to communicate about things in which the business
owner is poorly educated. You'll talk of a subject which makes
him feel inept and downright stupid.
Put like that,
it doesn't sound all that hot an idea, right?
You would want
to talk about something in which he feels competent, pick a subject
that he KNOWS and feels comfortable with... something in which
he EXCELS...
...NOT something
that makes HIM feel a moron and shoves YOUR superiority in his
face, right?
Now we see
the dilemma. And now you know at least partially why those best
made presentations didn't go down as successfully as you rightfully
expected.
All right.
The fact is this:
The business
owner is not likely to be interested in something of which knows
little or nothing of.
He isn't going
to feel good about a subject of conversation which constantly
brings him to face his most basic inadequacies and reminds him
of possible financial mistakes he may have made.
You don't make
friends by talking about something which you do well and the
other guy does poorly.
Notice that
I'm talking INTEREST here, not necessity or common sense.
Let me give
you piece of good advice: The time to talk turkey comes only
once the guy has SIGNED ONTO YOUR SERVICES.
Do it in your
presentation and you'll die out there.
In prospecting,
presentation and sales, you talk NICE, see?
The concept
of INTEREST implies a positive liking of the subject and some
confidence in one's own ability to comprehend its data and master
its tools.
In the very
limited area of "how to interest others about accounting"
we find that UNLESS we have some way to get prospective clients
EXCITED about how he could easily learn to control his finances
(and use his accounting service for THAT purpose), we can't achieve
any positive results.
I apologise
for saying this, but I'm going to be blunt:
No-one, absolutely
nobody is interested in "accounting" apart from mathematically
gifted people and accounting professionals.
It's just one
of those things. I'm sorry. But if you're selling "accounting"
then you'll find few takers... and those you do, will want it
at rock-bottom price.
"Accounting"
is the methodology with which finances can be monitored. Expertise
in accounting is what enables you to explain the progress of
the fiscal year to the client and help him understand financial
planning and solve problems.
But it's not
the item of sale. It's RESULTS are.
Just like nobody
goes to a dentist to buy so "drilling of teeth," a
business owner isn't interested in "accounting."
The difference
is that everyone knows that the end result (product) of drilling
of an aching tooth is... but utterly few business owners have
a clue about the benefits of accounting.
So you need
to help them understand that it HAS a use and that it can produce
benficial information which they can use for making things go
right.
You need to
be DIFFERENT from other accountants presenting their services.
And it starts
with what you talk about with the business owner.
Within this
limited area, we find that most business owners instinctively
act like children:
What is
fun and "cool" is also interesting.
And, whatever
is "sensible and necessary" isn't fun... well, you
get the idea.
From this,
we get a basic rule of marketing for Accounting services:
"Never
approach your prospective client with a message that makes him
face a scary reality."
No matter how
justified it would be to point out the obvious dangers of disregarding
financial planning or taxation issues, it won't work in MARKETING.
While there
are times when you cannot but talk "unpleasant realities"
with an EXISTING client, never do it with prospects.
For they will
simply ignore such messages.
It won't make
them more interested in the subject.
Quite the contrary
- they'll just look the other way. And come to think of it, you
can see why. Their CURRENT accountant is probably talking turkey...
so why change when YOU obviously are just the same?
This is the
subconscious thinking of prospective clients, not my view, of
course.
It's an instant,
instinctive reaction and, once you've caused it, you can kiss
that prospect goodbuy. The road back to his favour is long and
arduous... easier to start anew with another prospect, to tell
the truth.
Unpleasant,
frightening things are the hardest to look at... and,
in marketing, they hardly ever work for that reason alone.
With prospects,
you can be very right with your arguments and win the debate...
but you'll definitely lose all chances of singing on that prospect.
So you need
to decide what you want.
If you want
new clients, then a better way is to let HIM be right about what
he is doing, using an approach that celebrates HIS
achievements, allowing him to INVENT new ideas on how he could
do even better.
You need to
be able to find something about your prospect that you can honestly
ADMIRE. Admiration is a very powerful substance if used genuinely
and in moderation. Don't overdo it, don't kiss him up with insincere
flattery.
Find something
you can admire and then do so. And talk about what HE likes and
keep him talking. Let him tell you how good he is and listen
appreciatively.
If your approach
is created so that it lets the prospective client explore his
own potential abilities and possibilities through activating
his creativity, it will be immensely successful.
The prospect
will feel more able and be extremely interested, provided the
step-by-step gradient of your approach is gradual enough.
This is the
approach we use exclusively in the Modern Accountancy Marketing System and it is extremely
successful in acquiring results.
It is also
the most confortable system for client-acquisition for an accounting
professional as it allows you to remain in your role as an consulting
accounting expert without any need to become a salesperson.
CPA marketing:
Let the prospect reach the correct conclusions
I'll let you
in on a big secret about selling: As long as the prospective
buyer THINKS someone is trying to push information on him, he
will resist the sale and disbelieve the data given.
It works with
you and me, with everyone. It matters not how convincingly someone
else explains it to us, as long as WE don't think it.
So the answer
is to plan for ways to help your prospective clients THINK IT.
In traditional
Accounting service marketing & presentation techniques, we
DIRECTLY GIVE the prospective client the reasons why he should
change over to our services.
WE tell the
prospective client...
-what he needs
-what he should realise
-what he should think
-what he should understand
-what he should do about it.
We do so with
varying degree of skill and polished expression.
But no matter
HOW expert the communication, the fact remains that the DIRECTION
OF INFORMATION FLOW is from the accounting professional to the
prospective client.
And that's
the problem.
The direction
of the flow cause him to suspect every word of "self-praise"
that we spew out.
No matter how
discreetly, politely and skilfully it is done, the negative effects
at the receiving end are there.
Being told
what to think is very unpleasant. I know we often claim to WANT
it "straight" ... but in reality, no-one wants to hear
undesirable news.
We'd LIKE to
be that brave and you may well BE like that. But 99 percent of
the population aren't.
Instinctively,
we PULL AWAY from whatever is experienced as negative. People
don't like to be reminded about their mistakes or shortages.
People dislike
being told what they should do or understand.
And that violates
the purpose of marketing.
Now, let's
look at our definition of INTEREST again and compare it with
the above:
"The
concept of INTEREST implies a positive liking of the subject
and some confidence in one's own ability to comprehend its data
and master its tools."
We see that
INTEREST, by definition, implies a PRO-active pursuing of information
by the prospective client. And for that purpose the approach
needs to be VOID of any negative "harsh realities"
from our side.
CPA sales: Let
your prospect do the work
Obviously,
interest is hardest to create by doing nothing at all for marketing.
But one can work very hard at it, investing thousands in advertising
and yet get almost no results to show for it.
The most natural
circumstances for the creation of interest within prospective
clients are where THEY must CREATE the realisations which the
salesperson has traditionally TOLD THEM.
Don't tell
him that he needs better financial planning (or ANY financial
planning).
Instead, use
questions which explore the vast potential possibilities of using
financial planning to get more out of his work... and let HIM
reach the conclusion and tell you how it's done.
Don't tell
him how good your firm is (compared to his current accountant).
Instead, ask questions on what the business owner really WANTS
from accounting services, what's missing, what accountants do
wrong and stuff like that.
Do that and,
as a result, let him realise that YOU deliver just that type
of service. It stands to reason he would surmise that —
why the heck ELSE would you ask those questions, eh?
Feeding him
a series of well-prepared POSITIVE questions in a correct sequence
keeps him THINKING about his finances and forming new ideas.
And, as HE
has invented these ideas and facts, he instinctively believes
them to be true.
They're HIS
conclusions, not yours.
The trustworthiness
comes from the fact that HE has NO ulterior motive for finding
your services better than what his current accountant delivers.
But if these findings came directly from YOU...
You want him
to want you more than you want him. You want to position your
approach so that HE "reinvents the wheel" by realising
his own unique potentials and the superior qualities of your
services.
The time to
show YOUR knowledge and experience comes only once he has signed
on as a new client.
Until then
- during marketing, presentation and sales of the service - your
wisest approach is to let HIM invent the facts, do the work,
and show his excellence in the process.
Let him climb
up the tree of knowledge and realisation. Done right, it will
cause many prospective clients to sell your services to themselves!
Now wouldn't
that be a nice change?
Interested to
find out how other accountants succeeded using this marketing
strategy?
There's no
big secret behind success in marketing accounting services. All
you need is a set of tested and proven tools which can be used
without prior knowledge or training... and used without cost
and within your comfort zone.
If you want
to know how hundreds of your colleagues have achieved just that,
click
here to read the presentation of your Modern Accountancy Marketing
Course.
It could well
be the start of somethig magical... and you'll know exactly how
accountants in public practice have made their dreams a reality.
Turn your presentation
into a positive exploration for the prospect on his own abilities,
potential capabilities and ways with which he can invent new
ideas to get more out of his good work.
Most of them
will make the connection and realise that they'll be better off
using YOUR services.
This way, you'll
get new clients who are certain to appreciate your work and knowhow.
Those that cannot appreciate it won't become interested... but
then again, you're probably better off without them.
Keep positive
and thank you for all your help!
Best wishes,
Harry Kafka
HDK Consultants
Ltd
32 Manning Close
Richmond Square
East Grinstead RH19 2DR
West Sussex, United Kingdom
Tel. 01342-328 116
From U.S: 011-44-1342-328-116
CONTACT
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