The Anatomy of A Perfect Accounting Consultation
Let’s discuss the elephant in the room.
How many sales calls have you done in the last 7 days?
Let me take a guess…. 0, 1, maybe 2?
If you said anything less than 5, you are actually burning the money you need to grow your firm and to build your team.
Most accountants hate to sell. It’s uncomfortable, difficult and at times, find yourself with awkward silences that causes your prospect to want to hang up as soon as possible.
Every sales call you get on does not have to be this way. Instead, you can structure your call to defining your prospect’s problem, and offer a solution.
It’s just that simple.
“When your offering solves THE problem, price will no longer be THE issue.” – Grant Cardone
The most important thing to determine when you get on your next sales call is to:
1. Figure out the current situation of your prospect and define it*
2. Make sure you figure out exactly what the problem is
3. Define the cost of not fixing the problem
Once you determine what their actual problem is, you can attach your solution.
Without figuring out the problem, you’re just another accountant out there selling monthly journal entries or standard tax returns.
To help guide you through your next sales call, here is an ideal script to win your next high dollar client.
Remember, during the pitch, to sell at a higher price, you have to go deeper.
I spoke to a coaching client of mine, Steven, who was currently struggling with the idea of fumbling the sales pitch to an ideal prospect. In the middle of the sales call, Steven realized that his prospect wasn’t taking a tax credit that has already cost them a few thousand bucks last year – and if they didn’t work with him, they’d be losing $13,000 this year.
That’s a big problem!
Once you get your prospect to realize they are LOSING money by not working with you, it’s so easy to get them to buy. And at higher prices.
Because if you can save them $13,000 and their current CPA can’t, then spending $2,000 on a tax return suddenly becomes a no-brainer!
Price is only ever an issue for people that blabber on about the latest Quickbooks Online feature and new Gusto Payroll release.
The prospect is literally falling asleep and has just enough energy left at the end to ask “what’s the price”.
As you can see by this script, all calls with prospective customers, should be 100% focused on DIAGNOSIS.
It’s your job as an advisor and expert to kindly ask questions and at times, confront your prospects and customers for their own good!
Get out there, help some people, and close some freaking deals this week!
OPENING BANTER
Spend the first minute or so discussing how you were able to get connected and thank them for taking the call with you.
SET THE AGENDA AND TAKE THE LEAD
OK [NAME],
How this call will work is I will ask you some questions and then tell you what we have going on here. You can ask any questions along the way.
Then I’ll tell you about some of the things we’ve got going on and if we could potentially help you. Then at the end you can make a decision whether you want to get started or not.
THEN SHUT UP.
BECOME THE ULTIMATE QUESTION MASTER (DIAGNOSIS)
Here are a few to get you started:
• So, why did you set aside the time to have this meeting today?
• Why now? What is your timeline for making a change?
• What are the current revenues of the business / profits?
• Do they have a current accountant?
• What systems are they currently using?
• What key info do they need that they don’t have (you should already know if you know your niche well)
• If we did the discount, is that the only thing that is holding you up?
• If we we’re having this discussion 1 year from now, and you were looking back where would you want to be in monthly sales?
• Why Now?
• How much are you currently spending on your accounting staff?
• Who did you taxes last year and what did you pay?
• Do you know your detailed P&L every month?
• Do you know A/R every month?
• Do you know you ongoing tax liability and have you set it aside?
• On and on and on………
DEFINE THE GAP
If we were having this discussion 1 year from today, and you were looking back over that year, what has to have happened for you to feel happy with your progress?
Example:
• Current Situation: Bad reports, 3 staff, outdated tech spending $150K/year
• Desired Situation: Incredible Staff, $24-70k / year
PITCH PART
[NAME], thanks for sharing. Look we can fix this. I think you’re a good fit for what we do, would you like me to tell you about it?
SHUT UP.
<INSERT YOUR SERVICE OFFERING TO THEM 2-3 MINUTES MAX>
Does that sound like something that you’re interested in?
SHUT UP.
Q&A and Common Objections
• Can I talk to my partner?
• I really don’t have the money right now?
• Should we sign an agreement?
• Can I have a reference?