This is the time of year that people are often starting to plan and make changes to their bookkeeping businesses. Very often, Linda and I get asked a lot of questions from our members and other freelance bookkeepers about how to go about presenting their services to prospective clients.  Most of us are accountants by trade, not sales people.  But when we are trying to sell our services and get our prospective clients to buy from us, we have to think like salespeople.  Listening to these prospective clients and really hearing what it is that they need is the key step to bringing in new clients.

Step 1:  You need to prepare for your meeting:

1. 1. In the initial phone call start building rapport and building value by listening to what they need.
   2. Think about the questions you will be initially asking that pertain to their particular business.
   3. Make sure you will be meeting with the key decision makers.

Step 2:  Meeting the prospect:

1. 1. Develop a trust between you and the prospect. It will set the stage for getting the right answers to your questions.
   2. Get the conversation going by smiling and being friendly.
   3. Always remember that a prospect cannot evaluate your skill set – they can only evaluate you as a person.  Act accordingly.

Step 3:  What is your Company Story:

1. 1. Explain who you are and what it is you do to build creditability.
   2. Explain what your objectives are with the potential client.
   3. Talk about how you are different from other firms and why they should go with your firm instead of the alternatives.

Step 4:  Ask the tough questions:

1. 1. Find out what they know, what they don’t know and how they are doing things.  Find out what they need.  Be the detective.
   2. Remember – There is a reason they made the appointment with you.  If they didn’t need some kind of help, you wouldn’t be there.
   3. Do not focus on the sale but listen for the areas of pain in the business.
   4. Never assume anything.

Step 5:  Qualify the Client:

1. 1. Determine whether or not they can afford your services.
   2. Confirm that they really need your help.
   3. Decide if this is a client you even want to have.

Step 6:  Closing the sale:

1. 1. Re-iterate your discoveries.  You have found the areas that are important to the prospect.  You have explained how your services can help service their needs and you have differentiated your services from the competition.
   2. Ask them if they have any questions?
   3. Price the package or service you are offering.
   4. Have you asked 3 times if they have any questions?
   5. Answer their objections.

With these six steps you are on your way to becoming a pro at sales.  Just be sure to practice, practice, practice.  As long as you stick to these guidelines and put in the time fine tuning your personal sales technique, you should have no problems closing sales and growing your business to where you want it to be.

In the past couple of weeks, I have talked to several of you who have been in a little distress because you needed to put together a presentation for a BNI meeting.  I do not know about you, but when it comes to public speaking – my anxiety level goes through the roof and it is enough to put me into a tail spin.

At first you are in a panic because you realize that you need to speak in front of a group of 15 or more people.  Then you become horrified because you realize exactly what it entails, that you’ll need to stand in front of these people and talk for at least 15 minutes.  Your last thought is, what am I going to talk about for 15 whole minutes?

You need to stop, take a deep breath and take five steps back.  Remember, presentations and 60 second promos about your business are the best way to educate people on what it is you do.  Keep this in mind.  By doing this you are building relationships with the people that you meet and promoting your business.

Whenever I do a presentation for the BNI network, here is my approach:

1. We, as bookkeepers/consultants, should focus on the value of our service, not the price. Ie.  Our clients love us because we take the worry away from them and allow them to focus on their business.  They have comfort knowing that their bills are being paid on time and the work is accurate.
2. Define what makes you different from your competitor or companies in your area.
3. I define who is a good contact for you to meet with.  For example, I am looking to connect with Lawyers, landscapers or non-profit organizations.
4. Some presentation topics that relate to my business that I have talked about are
   1. Updates on what’s new with QuickBooks or Peachtree – Talk about the latest versions of software you work with and what changes they have made within the programs that could benefit different businesses.
   2. How to streamline your Clients Book- I have done a PowerPoint presentation before that showed areas that most people do not use QuickBooks and how to use them in order to implement better bookkeeping procedures.  Find an area most people are weak in and show them a way to improve.
   3. I have educated the members in my group on what the difference between a bookkeeper, a full charge bookkeeper and a controller is and discussed the different roles and expectations associated with each.  By discussing the different aspects of bookkeeping, you have the opportunity to educate others on what it is you offer.  Most people are pretty uneducated in this area, many business owners’ don’t realize there is a difference in these services.

Don’t let the fear of public speaking keep you from sharing what you love best about what you do and who you are.   As much as public speaking takes me out of my comfort zone, I do find that it ends up being worth the tiny discomfort that I have to endure.  I have gotten a ton of referral business from it, so it pays to put yourself out there.

By Linda A. Hunt

Last night I was talking to a friend who commented that I had become quite a marketer. I really don’t think of myself as a marketing person, just someone who knows a lot about finance/accounting and a little bit about marketing. Today I thought it would be fun to share with you my history as it relates to marketing. Read on for a good laugh!

Phase I – Minimal Effort
When I first started my business, I was naïve enough to think I did not have to do any marketing or what I refer to as my minimal marketing phase. I made a few contacts, had a few clients and thought I was golden. When I found myself sitting around twiddling my thumbs, I then entered the stop/start phase.

Phase II – Start Again/Stop Again
This is when I would start marketing doing a variety of activities, get new business, stop marketing because I was busy, wait for the “busyness” to slow down and then start the cycle all over again. After I had repeated this a couple of times, I entered the “let’s run around like a chicken without a head” phase.

Phase III – Running Around Like a Chicken without a Head
In this phase, you probably met me because I attended every possible networking event that existed – no kidding! I was exhausted from all of this running around and completely discouraged because I was seeing very little return for all of my marketing efforts. Let’s not forget to mention all of the money I spent attending these events.

Phase IV – Peace and Consistency
Somehow sanity returned and I entered the peace and consistency phase! Ok, a mentor of mine sat me down and said “What are you doing? Take a look at what has worked in the past, what you like and don’t like about it and come up with a new plan.” That is exactly what I did.

When you are the owner of a small business, marketing is the lifeblood of your business. Without it, there are no clients - without clients there is no cash – without cash there is no business. Here are a few tips that helped me regain my marketing sanity, are effective and helped me to even out the flow of new business my company receives each year.

• Target Your Marketing Efforts – you cannot be everything to everyone, when you try, your marketing message is confusing and not effective. Take the time to truly define who you are targeting. The more you can niche your business the clearer your marketing message is. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you won’t work with anyone outside of your niche. The clearer your marketing message, the more prospective clients are attracted to you.

• Focus on Benefits, Not Features – your prospective clients aren’t interested if your services utilize the latest technology. They want to know the benefits – what will solve their problems – this is what will make them take action. Always highlight how your services will save them time and money.

• Tell Your Prospective Clients What Action To Take and How – To you it may seem obvious, but it’s not always to a prospective client. Walk them through all of the actions they must take to accomplish what you want them to – call you and hire you for your services!

• Track and Measure Your Marketing Results – you must track and measure your marketing results so you can repeat what works and stop doing what doesn’t.

• Market Consistently – you can’t market one month, then wait three months and market again. Your marketing efforts need to be consistent over time.

• One Thing At A Time – implement one new marketing strategy at a time. Make a plan for that strategy, assign a time frame and then breathe. By focusing your efforts on just one new strategy at a time, your attention is focused and you will be able to tell sooner rather than later if this is something that is working for you.

I would love to hear from you and find out about your experience with marketing! If they are anything like mine, we’ll have a lot to talk about. Email me at info@bkpr-network.com.