First, you must learn your comfort zone. To further delve into this topic, Tom discussed “Designing Sales Success” with Stacey Hall on his podcast. Stacey stated your comfort zone is made up of your core values, your talents, your skills, and the experiences you are proud of. Knowing your comfort zone allows you to stay in it.
It’s vital to focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Most CPAs don’t want to sell but are ok with helping people buy. Helping your clients understand who you are, your services, and your brand is imperative. As a CPA, you have a moral obligation to help your clients.
You have an obligation to provide them with what you believe is valuable. Through this, you are facilitating buying.
To determine what clients you want to attract, consider the qualities of your perfect client. As an accountant, you know the types of clients you love to work with and the ones you don’t.
For Tom, his perfect client must be engaged. They have to be an active partner, understand the value of his advice, and pay their bill. You always want clients and business owners who are involved and engaged in the process and who want to learn how to build their business and reduce taxes. These clients must possess a thirst for learning and for expanding their knowledge.
Selling comes with emotions, not facts, and typically CPAs are characterized as not being emotional people. Stacey pointed out the need to be empathic. It’s important for you to discover and discuss your prospect’s pain points and empathize. You want to ask questions about their previous experiences and any penalties they may have incurred without being judgmental or condescending.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that asking questions is immensely important in the sales process.
In order for you to sell, the people you sell to must be engaged. When clients seek information, you give suggestions, which are essentially helping them buy. In general, people love to buy and hate to be sold. It’s important to spend most of your time listening. I have found that you don’t want to be talking more than 1/3 of the time.
Once you realize that it’s not about you, but it’s about the client, you are no longer afraid to lose the sale.
I typically ask my clients questions phrased as, “would it be ok if I ask you about X?” By asking questions this way, you get permission, which gains your client’s respect and trust. And the more respect and trust you gain, the more engaged your client will be.
I firmly believe that the more education you give, the more people want to buy.
Understanding your strengths and your comfort zone will help you with your sales. You must realize that you need to always be selling and providing value to all of your clients, including your current clients, as there’s always someone else who wants them.
If you want to bring more value to your clients, learn from the most innovative CPAs in the country, and have a steady stream of new and high-caliber clients, consider joining TFW Advisors® and schedule a call today!