marketing & sales

why accountants should be nice to journalists

by

woman interviewing man in front of full-wall city window

or else you’ll turn into a pumpkin – or something.

by bruce marcus
professional services marketing 3.0

editor’s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 was privileged to have a long relationship with bruce w. marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. we are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

your mother raised you to be nice to everyone, and you’ve always been taught to be nice to journalists. answer their questions. tell them everything. stop what you’re doing and cooperate. be polite.

that’s the conventional wisdom. you’ve even read that in the marcus letter. but are there ever times to tell the press to bug off, and leave you alone? maybe.

more: when there’s a leak in your firm | creating the perfect ad | how hard do you work to keep your clients? | when clients think they know marketing | how to put target marketing into context | everyone in your firm is marketing | accountants vs. lawyers: who wins the marketing battle? | professional services marketing requires flexibility | how to set marketing objectives | how marketing in accounting has evolved | accountants don’t sell soap.
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

on the face of it, the media seems to have all the power. they speak to a lot more people than you do, and they do it with what the general public accepts, usually unquestioningly and with little reason, as objectivity.
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five questions for grading prospects

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pipeline in shape of a dollar sign

remember, a list is not a pipeline.

by martin bissett
business development on a budget

so you’ve done all the work to get yourself composed and prepared to go out and generate new opportunities, find new business and new clients. now what? how will you know who to contact for the first step?

answer: your pipeline.

more: be clear about your roi proposition | keep business development going during busy season | walk the commitment walk | two steps toward mastering selling | thirteen ways to show commitment | clients can’t grow without you | seven mistakes in winning new fees | how to develop your communication abilities | five questions for measuring partner potential | five ways to rally your firm to its culture | when would-be partners aren’t candidates | make your expertise a new-client magnet | don’t think of it as selling
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

many partners think they have a pipeline, but they don’t. what they actually have is just a list of prospects they’ve

  • met with,
  • would like to meet with or
  • have worked with in the past.

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‘sales’ is not a four-letter word

by

woman listens as two clients speak

the five steps of the sales cycle and what you need to know.

by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services

for a long time, the word “sales” was not an accepted word in accounting firms. unfortunately, too many accountants associated sales work with some type of unprofessional and even unethical activity. fortunately, those days are long gone.

more: three pillars support a successful accounting firm | four questions for choosing your marketing audit strategies | four steps to a successful email marketing campaign | five reasons to implement change orders | make your practice better | eleven marketing strategies for smaller firms | five questions for developing your marketing plan | you only have four strategies
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the word “sales” is not a four-letter word; it is a professional activity. people who sell make a promise of some future deliverable: “i will do this and this for you.” in turbulent times, selling is a skill that accountants must learn to be successful. here is my definition of selling: “selling is problem solving.” nothing more and nothing less. it’s what you do every time you help a client with a problem. if you have been a successful new business developer, then you have been a successful salesperson.
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