marketing & sales

and the role it plays in client retention.

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.

how do a firm and its people become part of professional services marketing 3.0?

more: professional services marketing requires flexibility | what your marketing program can and can’t do | have you planned how to service your new revenue? | how to set marketing objectives | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0 | accountants don’t sell soap. | why competition matters most
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

part of the answer resides in building a marketing culture within a firm, which means that everyone in the firm understands that he or she has an active role in marketing and practice development and understands what that role entails.

it means that professionals have an attitude that grants enthusiastic hospitality to marketing.
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soon they’ll become second nature.

by martin bissett
winning your first client

you may be thinking right now, “well, very good, martin, but we have finite time. we’re very, very busy people and we need to get business in the door, and therefore creation of opportunity becomes the issue.”

more: make your expertise a new-client magnet | attract clients, don’t chase them | success in business comes second | business won’t come to you | win your first client: yourself | perception is reality, client version | 10 questions for reconsidering your prices | would you make yourself a partner? | what the next generation of practice leaders faces
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

regardless of whether we’ve got 20 opportunities on our plate today or none, when the next one comes along we can’t afford to be anything other than confident, comfortable, assured relationship builders who have tremendous value to offer. because people will see that body language, those voice tones and hear those words and it will be attractive. they will want to get to know more – they’ll want to be able to look at options. they’ll want to know what you’ll charge, and they’ll want to know what they’ll get for what you charge.
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we understand our value.

by martin bissett
winning your first client

it’s about time to realize that value is not about time.

more: attract clients, don’t chase them | four reasons it’s hard to sell | eight questions to hold yourself accountable | win your first client: yourself | perception is reality, client version | 10 questions for reconsidering your prices
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when i look back on the research that has been conducted by various groups as to the biggest obstacles accounting firms cite to growing their practice,

• 50 percent said creating opportunities,
• 25 percent said knowing how to close deals
• and the remainder said having self-confidence in presenting and then being able to positively differentiate from their competition.

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focus on their needs, not yours.

by martin bissett
winning your first client

let’s start with two simple definitions to avoid any confusion:

1. the purpose of marketing is to create the opportunity.
2. the purpose of business development (sales) is to convert that opportunity into a paying client.

more: don’t think of it as selling | success in business comes second | business won’t come to you | forged in fire: the pains of leadership | a lesson in customer service and reputation | prioritize your prospects | good enough is not enough
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when we meet with prospective clients – and i say this as someone who has sat in on many hundreds of meetings of this nature – we rarely give potential clients a reason to buy from us that they care about.
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what to focus on instead.

by martin bissett
winning your first client

let’s take a look at the last 16 years of my experience and my research as to where new clients come from in an accounting practice. i don’t think there are going to be too many shocks here.

more: don’t think of it as selling | success in business comes second | business won’t come to you | forged in fire: the pains of leadership | a lesson in customer service and reputation | prioritize your prospects
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

what i’ve found is that 82 percent of all new clients in a given year who come into an accounting firm come in from a referral source. this may be a bank or a lawyer or some other source, perhaps an existing client, who has recommended that a particular business meet with your firm and come on board as a client.
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