We have previously addressed the importance of repositioning your firm in the digital age, shifting from solely being a provider of accounting services to becoming a financial consulting firm for your clients. While we have delved into strategies for making this transition within your own organisation, it is equally crucial to alter your clients’ perception of your firm.
Use your meetings to change your relationship with your clients
In the past, your interactions with clients may have been simple, with them providing receipts and receiving compliance work in return. Your firm was seen as little more than a calculator. However, for your transition to consultancy to be successful, it is important for clients to view you as an essentialIn the past, your interactions with clients may have been limited to collecting their receipts and delivering compliance work. Your role was seen as that of an advanced calculator, providing necessary financial services. However, for your firm’s transition to consultancy to be successful, it is important to become an integral part of your client’s business.
One effective way to achieve this is by taking control of meetings and using them as an opportunity to redefine your relationship with clients.
Here are some tips that can help guide meetings in the direction you desire:
1. Get your clients to set concrete goals
Encourage your clients to set personal and business goals for themselves. Whether it’s retiring at a specific age or reaching a new revenue threshold by the end of the year, these goals show that you are invested in their success. By discussing and introducing these goals in meetings, you become an essential part of their team and their journey towards achieving their dreams. If your clients are unsure of what their goals should be, take this opportunity to shine by asking them to brainstorm four or five general areas they’d like to see improvement in their business. Make sure to write down their ideas and help guide them towards concrete objectives.
Let’s dive deeper into each of these areas. If one of the focuses is on increasing referrals, encourage them to brainstorm four or five strategies to achieve this goal. Discuss with them which actions they believe are the most crucial to prioritise and highlight those. These will serve as monthly milestones for their progress.
By guiding your clients through this process, you establish a strong connection in their minds between their game-plan and your coaching expertise. You become the catalyst for taking decisive action. After laying out the milestones and goals during the brainstorming session, ask your clients if they feel confident in achieving these milestones on their own or if they may require assistance from a reliable accounting firm.
2. Find out what kinds of ideas excite them
When meeting with your client, it can be valuable to inquire about any recent encounters with mentors, seminars, or courses that may have presented new business improvement strategies. By asking which idea enthused them the most, you are essentially bringing the conversation back to their original aspirations and dreams. The concepts that spark excitement in them will likely uncover their ultimate goals for their business or personal life. Armed with this information, you can then assist them in determining the best course of action moving forward.
3. Establish your client’s timeline
The dreams and aspirations of your clients lie at the end of their future timeline. However, it is essential to reflect on their initial hopes and expectations when they first started their business. For instance, if they are already five years into the business, where did they anticipate or desire to be at this point?
Avoid vague responses from them. Instead, inquire about the specific amount of additional monthly income they anticipated by now. By doing so, you establish a clear goal to strive for. Assessing other financial indicators will enable you to identify the most efficient means of helping them achieve their desired outcomes.
4. When offering additional services, make it about them
As your firm evolves, you have expanded the range of services you offer to clients. Instead of simply promoting a new service with a blunt approach like, “We now have Service X. Buy it please,” your team takes a more strategic and empathetic approach. They open up conversations with clients to understand their pain points and challenges in their business operations.
For instance, if a client mentions that they’re overwhelmed because they can’t afford to hire additional staff, your team can seize this opportunity to provide valuable analysis. By identifying areas that could be optimised for efficiency and suggesting solutions, you empower the client to make improvements and ultimately expand their workforce.
In these meetings, the goal is not just to push sales but rather to act as problem solvers who can come to the rescue when needed.
5. If you’re wooing a client, don’t make the meeting about prices
Lower prices may not be as attractive as you might imagine. When trying to win over a client from a competitor, it’s important to focus on the value and benefits of your services rather than simply offering a cheaper price. In fact, a lower price could actually make you appear less competent. If you were truly skilled at your job, you would have the ability to charge higher rates.
In meetings like these, it’s crucial to prioritise the goals of your clients. It’s likely that their current accounting firm never took the time to frame their relationship in terms of helping the client achieve their objectives. Instead, they viewed themselves solely as number crunchers rather than a team dedicated to assisting clients in reaching their goals.
6. Use visuals
A well-crafted chart can have a significant impact compared to a written paragraph. Visuals showcasing your firm’s past successes are even more effective. When a potential client expresses their desire to increase monthly revenue by a specific amount, nothing will impress them more than presenting a graph that demonstrates how you helped another client achieve that exact goal. Clients find it easy to relate their own situation to that of others, and when you position yourself as part of the team rather than just a service provider, the new client will begin to see you in the same light.
7. Put it on the agenda
One effective strategy for guiding the direction of a meeting is to create a detailed agenda. Document the various actions discussed above as specific steps that will be addressed during the discussion. By assuming control of the meeting, you are also shaping how the client perceives your organisation.
