Allan Boress, CPA: Truth Be Told About Business Development Blog

Penny Wise, Dollar Stupid

Times read: 1107

06/22/08

By Allan S. Boress, CPA - How does working for a CPA firm work against marketing success?

Got a call last week from a marketing professional that just lost her job. “They decided that the marketing function wasn’t producing enough results for the investment,” she said.

No surprise, there. She had no dedicated staff (the managing partner’s secretary was supposed to work part time for her…sure she was), a small budget, everything had to be approved, she was treated as less than a professional – all ingredients for failure.

Much of her time was wasted doing things no marketing director should ever be forced to do: putting together lists, and other tasks that could and should have been done by someone else. No wonder she was less effective than expected considering her successful history at other firms.

And it is this – having marketing professionals do things that could be leveraged elsewhere – that was brought to front of mine by an article sent to me by Cole Silver, a lawyer and certified career and marketing consultant. He heads up The Silver Group, a company specializing in career and business development for attorneys (www.findcareersuccess.com). The fifth item in his article on “Powerful Cures for An Allergic Reaction to Marketing” reads:

”Get someone to do the grunt work. Apply the 80/20 rule and spend the brunt of your time on the most important clients and matters. Your secretary or a virtual assistant can help write letters, call clients, send out articles and press releases, and help you build a client database. There is no way you can do this alone, nor should you depend on the firm's marketing manager”

I was fortunate to have a strong mentor when I embarked on my speaking and consulting career full-time in the early ‘80’s. He was an internationally known speaker and I paid a bundle for his advice. “First thing, Allan, is you must hire an assistant to do those things you cannot afford to invest your time in.” And so I did. I hired a 16 year-old girl part-time who was highly intelligent, and wanted to stop working at Wendy’s!

Many of you reading this blog, who have seen me speak, or brought me in for training, came in contact with my “better-half,” the amazing Stella. It was her work that propelled me past dozens, if not hundreds, of people like me who wanted to sell marketing and sales consulting and training to our profession. Stella worked for me for twenty years as a highly paid marketing professional.

Initially, Stella did the lists, sent out letters, kept the calendar, answered the phone and responded to messages. I hired a woman to work doing public relations, but the cost benefit ratio was so out of whack, that Stella suggested she just take that over, also.

My assistant called chambers, associations, newspapers and created relationships with editors of magazines. She solicited speaking engagements, articles, publicity, and found out what it took to get published in important publications.

So, almost from the very get-go, I had a strong public presence in the market I was pursuing. Within a couple of years I was speaking at dozens of state societies and the AICPA annually, you get the idea.

All because I was investing my time in what I was good at (writing, creative and doing the speaking and training) and she took off my hands everything I didn’t have to do.

I have harped on this concept for years (leveraging marketing through clerical people), mostly to deaf ears. But this is just another example of the business mindset of an entrepreneur versus the penny-wise, dollar stupid approach of the pro-typical CPA and often explains why “the marketing function wasn’t producing enough results for the investment.”

By Allan S. Boress, CPA, author of The “I-Hate-Selling Book”, available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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Marketing Lessons for CPAs from Hillary

Times read: 125

06/08/08

By Allan S. Boress, CPA - Want some outstanding marketing training?

Paying close attention to politics is like going to a marketing seminar every day. Campaigns spend millions with media and guru consultants trying to make the sale with you.

Now that Sen. Clinton has conceded (temporarily), let’s take a look from a marketing point of view at what worked, and mostly didn’t work, from a marketing standpoint for her campaign – and how it applies to your marketing as a CPA firm:

1. Never, ever take your customers for granted; we can stop right here. This was the fatal error they made from the very beginning.

Basically, their marketing philosophy was “Vote for me because you are supposed to.” Not a lot of power in that; sort of like going to a defensive strategy when you are ahead by 35 points in the first quarter.

She took her clients for granted, just like the vast majority of CPA firms do.

People HATE to be taken for granted and will often go out of their way to do business with someone else if they feel that way (see GM, Ford, et.al.). One thing Toyota NEVER does is take their customer for granted. They are always seeking to improve their product, anticipating wants and needs (Prius is a great example).

2. Watch out for the emotional pendulum! I have mentioned this concept often before in this blog: There is always an emotional pendulum swinging for or against you in the mid of the consumer.

As a body in motion tends to stay in motion, being very positive at the early of a sales cycle as Hillary was, can only lead to danger later on as the buyer swings negative. Similarly, her opponent went way positive in February, and barely made it to the finish line as her campaign started swinging positive again.

Lesson for CPA firms? You want to be presenting last in a multiple selection process. Often the firms that go early are overcome by the latecomer as the pendulum swings against them and in your favor. And, how the market feels about you is never stagnant. So, if you have some kind of a bad rep for something today, you have only one way to swing!

3. Forget Satchel Paige. He was the great Negro League pitcher who made it to the majors in his fifties after the color barrier was broken. One of his favorite quotes was, “Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.” He must’ve worked on the Clinton campaign!

You must ALWAYS be aware of what your competitors are doing. They can come out of nowhere and take market share. Of course, most CPA firms are too busy getting the work out and monitoring their grotesque profits to pay attention to trivialities like this. Many don’t even know the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors, let alone pay attention to what they are doing.

This explains why our CPA firm has been sucking away the best clients from other local firms for the last three years. They don’t know what has hit them until too late, as it happened with Hillary.

4. She didn’t find her niche until too late. The more specific you are with your targeted market, the easier it is to get noticed, be seen as offering value, and make the sale.

Her opponent immediately knew who its best targets were, while Hillary was pursuing a generic buyer (the whole potential voting population). When she started pursuing her best targets she made headway immediately, but it was too late.

5. Chemistry is 50-80% of the sale. Let’s face it, Hillary isn’t the friendly, open type. People don’t gravitate to her because of her great personality. This is her opponent’s strength. And although he has no new ideas, and the ideas he does have are proven failures, he does know his target market, what they want, and appears to have a Bill Clinton kind of magnetism about him.

Lesson for CPA firms? Make sure to send your best salespeople on important sales calls. People buy the person primarily in selling the intangible professional service. People hire people they LIKE and will make excuses and go out of their way to do so.

6. Her campaign missed the pop of multiplication marketing (e.g., a new book). Because they took her market for granted, her campaign did not do something many successful campaigns have done in the past: put a best-seller on the market during the campaign. JFK had Profiles in Courage, Obama had his book on hope.

Is it not obvious Gore would have won in a landslide if his movie had appeared in 2000?

Hillary’s previous books were published a long time ago, and she missed out on the additional positive publicity as well as a different way to hit her audience other than campaigning. A book on the importance of a strong America, or on patriotism, or on family, would have locked up her base earlier on and helped her overcome the Obama stampede.

7. Don’t be something you’re not. I almost gagged when I heard the sound bites of Hillary speaking at the NAACP last year. She was doing her best impression of a southern drawl, and it was embarrassing. Obama isn’t a homie, and never pretends to be. What you see is that you get; an Ivy-League educated, intelligent professional politician.

8. Persistence pays. Got to hand her that, Hillary is a determined, strong, persistent person. When others would have given up and become discouraged, she was still at it and almost pulled it off. So must you and your marketing efforts.

Thanks to Hillary and her campaign for spending 125 million dollars to teach us some very important lessons about effective marketing.

By Allan S. Boress, CPA, author of The “I-Hate-Selling Book”, available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.


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Marquee Clients: Are They Worth It?

Times read: 169

05/26/08

By Allan S. Boress, CPA - Does your firm have any “Marquee Clients?”

We just landed one of the most visible and prominent professional practices in our community and are ecstatic about it.

One of the best and fastest ways to build the quality practice - or industry niche - is by recruiting marquee clients.

However, many of the CPA firms I have consulted with over the years felt marquee clients weren’t worth it.

Who are your marquee clients? How do you parlay them into more successful marketing and better quality opportunities?

I used to work with an office of a Big 6 firm as their sales consultant and trainer. A new managing partner was brought in from HQ to shake things up and grow the practice profitably. He was a cool guy; a juvenile delinquent growing up in Chicago, he straightened his life out and became a rising star at the greatest CPA firm in the world.

Only MP I ever knew that rode a Harley to work!

The very first assignment he brought upon himself was getting back the city’s best known business as a client. This was an international leader in the greeting card industry and was an icon in the business community. Six years before he arrived, his office had lost the client to a rival firm due to crummy service and disinterest by the people on the account.

Fortunately for Tom, they were equally poorly served by the replacement firm. He pursued them as men used to pursue women they loved: with passion, determination, patience and attention.

They were hesitant at first to come back, after all their previous experience was a downer. But after a couple of years, they returned after he promised them he would be the partner in charge on the account and they had his word they would be treated royally.

Tom was marketing-savvy, unlike most CPAs. He knew that a marquee client does for you what no other client can:

1. Gives you lots of credibility
2. Potential for referrals to similar high profile businesses
3. Higher fees when closing new clients (you’re THEIR firm???)
4. Higher closing percentage
5. Tremendous marketing boost if done right

But, you must do the following to make the marquee client relationship pay off:

1. They must get a very high level of service
2. They much acknowledge this service regularly
3. You must let them know they are extremely important to you and would appreciate the use of their name if the situation would warrant it
4. You would like introductions to people they know who might also be looking for a superior firm

Another client, a guy in Detroit built a huge firm from scratch (starting with zilch) on this principal: cherry pick the best clients of other firms. He did it so well that he became my number one marketing tool up there. After they lost their best client(s), they brought me in to show them what they had done wrong.

Of course, many CPAs, being morons about marketing by definition, don’t understand how to parlay marquee clients into prosperity. They complain that they require too many resources, and convince themselves that the marquee client wants to pay less than other clients because of their status in the community or industry.

Nonsense.

Marquee clients may feel they should pay less than another client because they don’t understand that they are getting a different level of service, because nobody points out what the firm does differently and better than others.

YOU MUST TELL THE CLIENT WHAT YOU ARE DOING THAT IS BENEFITING THEM OR THEY WON’T KNOW!!!

Our new marquee client will probably pay more than most of our others, because they want us to be their business advisors and mentors. Do yours?

By Allan S. Boress, CPA, author of The “I-Hate-Selling Book”, available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.


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Jump Starting Marketing: First Responses

Times read: 210

05/10/08

Truth Be Told About Business Development Blog Allan Boress CPA

By Allan S. Boress, CPA - It seems others beyond my firm are deciding what to do to jump-start their post-season marketing efforts.

But many aren’t.

“I’ve given up trying to push personal marketing in our firm at the partner level,” emailed one marketing director. “There is too much pushback, and the partners seem to make my life harder, and my job more precarious, the more I try to get them to fulfill their marketing duties. Work with the up-an-comers, they say. Who are they? The ones who leave because they are worked to death to start their own firms, or escape to clients? Or the ones left behind because they probably couldn’t make it anywhere else? We concentrate, therefore, on the institutional side of marketing, leaving the people-side behind. Please don’t use my name.”

I’m not surprised at her firm, nor shocked this person stays there. It is more common than you might think.

Some have definite plans:

”We always start off our marketing blitz with a May Day Parade!” wrote another marketing professional. “Thought of it one year watching TV. Some foreign country like North Korea was marching their troops through their capital and showing off all their weapons. We do to! We have a May Day Parade that features awards and bonuses to our best performing marketers at all levels of the firm, including partner level. We give awards for most effort, biggest success, most improved. Then we have 3 break-out rooms to discuss what worked and didn’t the previous marketing season. We come back as one group and each section presents their findings. We discuss ideas of what we want to do this year (from the marketing department’s POV, and what the staff and partnership are interested in. Our first marketing seminar of the year is exactly one month later, and everyone will be expected to have busy pursuing their individual marketing efforts.”

Lots of good ideas there. Here’s one more:

”Marketing season starts off by my meeting with each partner and senior manager and the marketing partner to review their marketing goals for the remainder of the year. We have a pretty powerful partner in charge of marketing, and she leads the way with her actions and results. She and I review the partner or manager’s previous year’s goals and results and come to a conclusion in this first session. We meet again once every two months to keep them in focus.”

What is your firms doing? We received a dozen emails from the previous column, and these were the ones that stood out. Email me at allan@allanboress.com

By Allan S. Boress, CPA, author of The “I-Hate-Selling” , available at amaon.com and barnesandnoble.com.


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What Are You Doing to Jump Start Marketing Season?

Times read: 243

05/05/08

Truth Be Told About Business Development Blog Allan Boress CPA

By Allan S. Boress, CPA - Hopefully, by the time you read this, life and work have returned to "normal." Before too much time passes, you and the firm must get into the transition from "busy season" to "marketing season."

What are you and your firm doing to make that happen???

"Marketing season" is that time of year between April sixteenth and the next "busy season."

Your focus, in order to provide improved quality service to your clients and to fuel the growth of your firm to keep the best people, is to market as effectively as possible and pick up more than your share of new business.

After twenty-plus years of consulting to hundreds of CPA firms in the area of business development, please believe me when I say that less than 20% of all CPA firms, large and small, manage a productive marketing effort (up from 10% or less 15 years ago).

Therefore, you've got less competition than you think you do.

Yes, there are a handful of individuals spread out at various firms in your town who proactively market themselves, but very few practices have this process under control, no matter what bluster you may hear at various conferences you attend.

Most firms spin their wheels after the busy season rush is over, get a late start, or none at all.

So – what is your firm going to do to get everyone back into marketing mode? Email me at allan@allanboress.com and with your permission we will share them with others, anonymously if you like!

By Allan S. Boress, CPA, co-author of Mastering the Art of Marketing Professional Services, published by the AICPA and available on their website.

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Destroying a Brand: How Stupid Can You Get?

Times read: 311

04/28/08

Truth Be Told About Business Development Blog Allan Boress CPA

By Allan S. Boress, CPA - Veteran marketers know the value of a strong brand and how long, and how much time, effort, money and patience it can take to create.

Then why would a company purposely seek to destroy one of America’s best brands?

A good brand can predispose a prospect to check you out first, make a referral easier for a referral source, and ease the way for purchase at a higher cost or fee. A great brand creates a specific feeling in the buyer or referral source, removes fear of buying, makes people willing to pay more than they otherwise would, and creates an aura of trust. Great brands are promoted and earned over a very long period of time.

How much is the Lexus brand worth? Deloitte? KPMG?

Then why would anyone trash a 110 year-old brand with a national reputation for quality and care in an industry that lives on trust and opportunity?

I am often convinced that many good ideas in business get replaced by bad ones because of “NIH,” (Not Invented Here). A campaign is going great and the Director of Marketing or Vice President of Sales or CEO leaves for a better job. The moron replacement trashes what is working great because they didn’t come up with the idea.

How else would you explain one of the greatest branding and advertising campaigns in the history of business being thrown away and replaced by losers for over 30 years?

Here’s a test for people over 35; complete the following sentence: “You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to … “

If you dissect this message, you will see power in every phrase. And then that feeling of empowerment, relief and happiness is associated with a fast food joint, so that the fact you definitely deserve a break (every moment of every day) will lead you to McDonalds! Which is open all day! It’s no surprise that McDonalds was by far the ultimate franchise operator in the world in 1978 (when that fab campaign was trashed) and struggled for over 25 years until it finally successfully reinvented itself. How many hundreds of millions of dollars in pure profit and percentage points in market share did trashing that campaign and harming their brand cost them?

Even GM admits they made a huge mistake in destroying their 100 year old brand, Oldsmobile. Of course, by the time the accountants who run GM got done trashing it by making it completely generic and indecipherable to their other cars, it wasn’t worth jack anyway. I remember when an Olds meant power, cutting edge, 442, Hurst transmissions, sexy styling and quality of construction.

Which brings us to today’s tragedy: the annihilation of the brand, AG Edwards.

Maybe you aren’t familiar with AG Edwards. I wasn’t when I lived in Chicago or Fort Lauderdale. Those are big cities, and perhaps AG Edwards was overpowered by such outfits like Merrill, Shearson, et. al. who advertised in mass. Or, they simply concentrated on smaller demographics, like St. Louis and small town America. Here in Lake County, Florida, the investment market is dominated by AG Edwards and Edward Jones, both of which concentrate on personalized service, feature long-term employees and actually care about their clients. Here and around the US, people trust AG Edwards for their advice, guidance and hand-holding. There was a wonderful article applauding these very facts in Investors Business Daily about 6 months ago.

Many clients that we get from AG Edwards are from other towns that immediately change over to their local office as they are assured of the same quality service they received back in Dekalb or wherever. That’s brand loyalty!

AG Edwards had been around 110 years when Wachovia made a play for them. When they dangled enough money in the face of the major shareholders and the board, AGE gave up and sold out. New name of the firm? Wachovia. Mr. Edwards is rolling over in his grave.

This makes great business sense, when you think about it doesn’t it? Let’s trade a well-respected name for the most generic of all financial service related companies, one that has even had recent bad p.r. WHAT MORONS THOUGHT THIS UP? Congratulations, you have managed to destroy tens of millions of dollars of goodwill. You deserve what you will get.

Don’t let this happen to your firm when they admit some new partner who wants his or her name on the door, or is merged with a less valued firm. Stand by your brand.

By Allan S. Boress, CPA, co-author of Mastering the Art of Marketing Professional Services, published by the AICPA and available on their website.


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Being a CPA is FUN!!!!

Times read: 377

04/20/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - I haven’t stopped taking my medications.

Yes, I slept 23 hours on April 16th.

These past few months have been some of the most fun times I can remember in business. You see, I expect business to be fun and have pointed my career in that direction since dad explained to me why he worked so many hours and told me all those years ago that work was adult’s play.

One of the reasons we lose so many young people (and experienced old ones, too) is that public accounting never was fun, or their firm doesn’t make it so. We will examine how to keep valued employees, partners and staff in a future blog.
But for now, here is why I had the most fun in a long time this busy season:

1. Helping people is fun: Doesn’t it feel great to help someone do something they cannot do themselves? It’s almost like you have the cure for cancer they way people look at you when you tell them what you have done for them and why. Isn’t it great to help put more money in someone’s pocket, and less for a politician to waste?

2. Being important is fun: This time of year, CPAs are celebrities. If you go to an event, watch how you are introduced and esteemed. People ask you questions they can’t answer themselves, or get from their own CPA.

3. Solving problems is fun: We get paid to solve problems. And when we get the answer it is very pleasurable.

4. Challenging your mind is fun: It’s a joy to learn new things and expand your wealth of experience and knowledge.

5. Collaboration is fun: One thing that certainly separates us from our local competition is that we appear to be one of the few firms that actually care about its clients. And we go out of our way to help our clients, including brainstorming as a team on how to save our clients taxes. That’s a blast, and very few firms do it.

6. Getting paid is fun: It’s cool to get paid on a value billing basis, and having little fee challenges when value is so obviously expressed to our clients when we review their returns and what we did.

7. Having fun is fun: Unlike most CPA firms, we are committed to having fun, especially during this time of year. We rib each other, pull some practical jokes and kibbitz around with the clients.

8. Beating the competition is fun: This year we got so many new clients from other local CPAs that it is a validation that what we are doing is right for our community, marketing-wise and service-wise. Our practice grew by 40% and we had but a handful of non-returning clients.

9. Bonusing employees is fun: Old friend and marketing guru Chris Frederiksen impressed upon me the importance of cash-in-hand, unexpectedly and with specific appreciation. One way to keep your best people is to make sure they feel appreciated and everyone loves cash. It’s fun seeing the look on their faces when you press a Franklin in their hands and say thanks.

10. Making people feel important is fun: Our clients love us because we make them feel a valued part of our practice. Our staff like us because they get their egos massaged on a regular basis. Building up people is fun.

Yes, I know busy season is a challenge on quality of life, family and health. Our goal for next year is to make the whole process run more smoothly and put in less time. We have already sat down with our team to see what worked and didn’t and have come up with dozens of to-dos for next year. One of which is to have more fun.

By Allan S. Boress, CPA. Author of The "I-Hate-Selling" Book" and sales consultant to the accounting profession.


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Watch the Pendulum Swing Against Obama

Times read: 578

03/21/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - Weeks ago I mentioned that the emotional pendulum was so heavily in favor of Senator Obama that it had one way to go – negative.

Who cares? What does this have to do with marketing?

The same thing happens to you in a selling or marketing situation. No matter how much the client wants to do business with you today, they have one way to swing - negative.

Conversely, a negative situation also has one way to swing, as proven by Mrs. Clinton’s recent comeback.

Big lesson to be learned here is you want to close as quickly as possible. You want to close the sale before the buyer swings negative and changes their mind.

And you want to follow up on seminar leads immediately afterwards, before people cool off.

Another great example we can look at is Target Stores. Just last year they were retail’s darlings. Today they are retail’s dogs, as shoppers have cheapened up and are marching back to Wal-Mart.

One thing CPAs don’t realize is that the emotional pendulum is very hard to keep in the positive position with clients and referral sources. Mr. Obama is learning that now.

You really have to work at keeping the client – or voter - in love with you. You really have to work at keeping the staff person’s attitude up. Emotions are not flat and don’t stay the same for long periods of time, except for CPAs of course.

That’s why this business is so easy: you compete mainly against people who pay no attention to the psychologies of marketing, selling, client relationship management and employee motivation. Unfortunately, some of these same kinds of people work in your own firm.

In Senator Obama’s case, there is an awful lot of time left before he makes the final sale. With the help of a compliant media, he will swing the pendulum back to positive big time by November.

By Allan Boress, CPA. Author of 12 published books on marketing and selling, including the AICPA's Mastering the Art of Marketing Professional Services.

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Learning Successful Branding from Communists

Times read: 418

03/17/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - I owe a great deal to W. Clement Stone, who started out as a 16 year-old boy selling insurance policies on the weekly payment plan (a “Debit Man”) at the turn of the 20th century. Mr. Stone died a billionaire and was founder of Combined Insurance Company. He realized that it was much more time effective to sell many people at once instead of one at a time, so he would wander the halls and offices of Chicago office buildings looking for new customers. Although it would be difficult to do this today, his idea led to something right out of Mastering the Art of Marketing Professional Services, published by the AICPA.

The authors took that idea and turned it into the suggestion to meet everyone you possibly can while working at a client to spread your network of contacts as it was very time effective and some would turn into referral sources and future clients inside the company or elsewhere.

Stone was the author of several books on success, including a best-seller called Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, co-authored with the legendary Napolean Hill. He helped me in my career by following his advice to “Recognize, Relate, Assimilate and Apply” everything going on around you to your business. Basically, to keep one’s eyes open for new marketing and sales ideas by seeing what others do and making it work for your situation.

As an example, our CPA firm foyer is not what you would normally find. We encourage client and referral source visits, so it is designed after a local bank, which overtook many established competitors partly by offering a welcoming atmosphere of hot, home-baked cookies, soda, bottled water and a special play are for children.

On March 11th, a brilliant article appeared in the Op-Ed section of the Wall Street Journal, “Brand Cuba.” In it the author, Michael Casey makes the case Castro made his island a fashionable alternative to the USA, and kept the fires of Communism going at home and elsewhere in the world, by branding Cuba. “Castro’s political success is a case study in managing the global information economy,” Casey says. “The Cuban Revolution has always been a brand.”

How?

“From the barbudo rebels of the Sierra Maestra - to Che Guevara’s piercing stare (still popular in selling t-shirts and posters all over the world – just ask Barack Obama’s campaign workers in Texas) - to its globe-trotting medics, the Cuban brand has succeeded in getting its message across and making communism look good.”

Listen to how Casey describes branding: “… A successful brand functions as a store of values. It encapsulates a pool of attractive ideas that satisfy customers’ desire for meaning. To encourage loyalty to a brand … the marketer must cultivate a sense of belonging and personal identification with the individual.” In this light, we can better understand Apple’s fabulous success. Old-timers will remember the lock Arthur Andersen held on public accounting in its glory days before greed took over circa 1995 and relate to what Casey says about branding to their success.

Casey goes on to explain how Cuba achieved branding perfection. “To this niche market (of left-leaning, well-educated people in and out of Cuba), Castro’s ‘revolution’ achieved precisely this. …Cuba evokes a set of magical buzz words … ‘resistance,’ ‘social justice,’ ‘struggle,’ it represents an idealized selfless counterpoint to ruthless, greedy capitalism. It is the alternative to brand U.S.A.”

Of course to those of us who actually know Cubans here in the US, this created view of Cuba has little to do with the true Cuba. “…Savvy brand managers are rarely hindered by a divergence with reality. Has the availability of perfectly safe tap water stopped marketers from touting the life-giving powers of bottled alternatives?”

Cuba has succeeded in maintaining the communist society by creating a series of powerful emotions connected to it. Isn’t that what every marketer desires to do?

By Allan Boress, CPA, CFE. Author of The "I-Hate-Selling" Book


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The Quality Service Two-Step

Times read: 429

03/08/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - What does it take for the client to perceive quality client service? Look to your own lives and pay attention to how people take care of you as the customer or buyer.

In my case, I think it’s harder to find a good hair stylist than a good doctor. Couple of months ago mine decided to move her business to “The Villages” here in Lake County, FL. Well, that’s 45 minutes away on a good day, so I regretfully started the search for someone new. Last time it took me two years. Now I am in my eighth month.

So I stumbled into one of those McDonald’s-type hair joints this morning. Was greeted with “Name?” 10 minutes later someone called “Allan” and I wandered over to a dour looking middle-aged woman with a scissors in her hand. No greeting, nothing. “Scissors or shaver?” she grunted.

15 silent minutes later I left without a thank-you but with a very good cut. Will I go back? She didn’t seem to care despite my generous gratuity. And maybe I will due to lack of available talent in her vocation.

Maybe this lady was related to CPAs. One reason it’s so easy to take clients away from other CPAs is many of them practice this lady’s level of customer service: adequate or good technically, devoid personally.

In our studies going back to 1993, clients and customers perceive high quality service based on two distinct factors: good work and very good chemistry with the service provider. Because we sell air, the client often has few other ways to determine whether or not they are getting served.

At the beginning of my career I made a decision that has led to a prosperous livelihood as a speaker, consultant, CPA and employer: treat people as you would want to be treated.

As a customer I noticed most people were indifferent as to whether I bought from them or not. When they went out of their way to thank me, or show some sort of personal care, they won me over. That’s not how I wanted to be treated, so I adopted the mentality by dad taught me many years ago: “It can take 25 years for someone to come into your store, but you can lose them in 15 seconds.” Every client is a precious jewel, even the most annoying.

Similarly, as an employer I treated my employees as I had never been managed: praise often and early. Offer frequent cash bonuses, personal notes, asking about the family, remembering birthdays, celebrating births, attending funerals. Honestly - is this how you have been treated by the firm you work for? This kind relational of stuff seems to come much more naturally to women until they are ruined by our profession where males are the typical role models.

Maybe this approach to being a CPA led a new client told me yesterday while doing his taxed that he will be my customer for life. Are we the best accounting firm in our area? No, but we are apparently the only one that actually visibly cares for their clients as well as doing a bang-up job.

Public accounting and consulting are so easy to succeed wildly in, by simply remembering the Quality Service Two-Step: talented work, great chemistry.

By Allan S. Boress, CPA. Author of 12 published books, including “The I-Hate-Selling Book”.

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Selling Against the Competition, A Memo to CPAs by Sen. Barack Obama

Times read: 474

03/02/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - As I proceed to the nomination for the Office of President of the United States, I would like to share with you how I have overcome the odds, and $120 million raised by Senator Clinton’s campaign, to win this hallowed position.

My win at this juncture is not that much different than the dilemma faced by CPA firms in the first round of a multiple selection process.

Many times, in the selection of a CPA firm, a large or valued client will interview more than one firm and pit them against each other in a two round affair. What we have just witnessed this primary season would be akin to Round One of the process, the narrowing down of candidates to the final competition (Round Two).

I believe the analogy of my campaign to Mrs. Clinton’s, and against all other comers in Round One is true, and there is much to be learned.

As in your business, and in mine, what the candidates say in Round One is going to be pretty much the same, a variation of we’re really good at what we do, we care about our constituents (clients), we have the brightest and the best working for us, and we will make our country better than it is (the “change” thing I’ve been talking about).

The first Round is really based on chemistry with the buyer, as the real differences won’t come out until the final round (the general election). My race against Hillary has been based on winning the voters over with personal chemistry, which is 50 – 80% of making any sale. You would have to admit that in this department I win hands down. It’s the chemistry component that explains my success to proceed to the nomination and Round Two, as it does most often with CPA firms.

However, the final round is more serious. Here, specific ideas and solutions must come into play as the decision the buyer must make is very important indeed. This is where you have to draw the distinction between yourself and the competitor, so the buyer (voter) can make an easier choice. Again, if the buyer can’t tell the difference, the buyer will vote on chemistry – or in your case – lowest fees.

That’s my challenge coming into the fall election, and thankfully I have many months to figure that part of it out. We will plan and strategize how to best appeal to the buyer and make the voting decision as easy as possible (for us). The same thing has to occur in Round Two of a major selection process for a CPA firm: you must listen to the buyer extremely well, and package your ideas in such a way that they can see themselves implementing them and succeeding doing so.

This is not an easy task, and the most successful selling firms are not necessarily the most capable, a possible problem I will have to overcome to win in November.

See you at the polls in November! Vote for me,

Your friend,

Barack H. Obama

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CPAs = Greed, Inc.

Times read: 877

02/24/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - CPAs = Greed, Inc.

Quite a bit of publicity recently about how unhappy attorneys are at practicing law. But how many CPAs in public accounting would really like to do something else, too?

Over the years our profession has lost many fine people because their firm wouldn’t let them work flex-time, let them talk to clients, give them different projects that would grow them, simple lack of appreciation and lack of meaningful work. I know; I interviewed over 200 former CPAs for my course, “64 Ways to Motivate and Keep Your Best People.”

One thing that attorneys do right – that we don’t – that allows firms to keep more of its people is something called “pro bono” work. That’s Latin meaning “for the good of”. Many law firms give dozens, if not hundreds of hours a year to local and national organizations – and I’m not talking about the local bar association, but charities.

Pro bono is also accounting-ese for “are you out of your mind?”

How many hours does your firm give to those in need? Right – I thought so.

CPAs are some of the greediest people I know. Not that attorneys and doctors and other professionals aren’t. Except they tend to donate time and money to help people.

Recently got a call from a CPA across the state who saw that I was featured on a website as a CPA provider and wondered how it was working. He wouldn’t be a competitor; he’s hundreds of miles away. So I told him: although I had picked up some good clients, a lot of inquiries were from people in trouble with the IRS. These kinds of clients tend to require a lot of time, and are often strapped for cash.

“Doesn’t sound like it’s for us,” he said. Of course not.

CPAs make more money today on average than anyone would have dreamed of when I became one in 1976. The average CPA today lives very, very comfortably. Many send their kids to private expensive schools, have second homes and are flush. This prosperity, I believe, has made them even greedier (case in point, the late Arthur Andersen).

It is greed – pure and simple – that lies at the heart of many of our professions problems: lack of funds to do marketing right, refusal to pay staff what they are worth, less than desirable working environments, no pro bono work, and pressure to bill, bill, bill – for full realization or pay the piper on your evaluation.

It’s greed, pure and simple, that is the cancer in our business.

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Watch the Pendulum Swing by Sir Tax-A Lot

Times read: 607

02/11/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - Four years ago I wrote an article on the 16 reasons Hillary couldn’t lose the presidency. Although I may still be proven correct, not even the highest paid political consultants predicted she would be taken down by an unknown senator from her home state.

What’s this got to do with CPA firm marketing? It helps you understand the highly powerful concept of the emotional pendulum that I first wrote about in The “I-Hate-Selling Book”.

Every marketer knows that people are driven primarily by their emotions. Selling into the emotions is Madison Avenue 101. What many DON’T get is that these emotions are never stagnant, never stable; they always fluctuate. You can never take the buyer for granted. Look at how the public has felt about Brittany Spears over the years…

Here’s your Pepsi Challenge: monitor how you are feeling all day long. Are you feeling happy? Sad? Frustrated? Mad? (Maybe I could be a rapper…call me Sir Tax-A-Lot.)

So, you’re driving down the road, groovin’ to some classic tunes. I’m talkin’ REAL rock n’ roll, The Kinks:

I'm not content to be with you in the daytime
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
The only time I feel alright is by your side
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night…

You are feeling SO good. Who needs drugs to get high??? And then some dork in a Mercedes convertible with vanity license plates from New York cuts you off and you are off-roading in your Toyota Corolla.

Your emotions have flipped from happy to murder in less than 3 seconds.

The emotional swings affect all of our marketing. How people feel about your firm and your work today may not at all be the same tomorrow. If you have a positive market presence, you got one way to swing, baby.

Sixteen years ago – exactly – Mrs. Clinton’s other half was in the process of being written off by the media. All sorts of bad things were coming out about Slick Willie: he smoked marijuana, he was a serial womanizer, he dodged the draft, bimbo eruptions were happening all over the place and people flat out predicted he would withdraw. Pendulum position: negative, very.

Understanding the power of the emotional pendulum, I predicted that he would win handily in November, 9 months later. Why? He had one way to swing: negative to positive.

Same thing applies to you and your marketing: firm got problems? People have short memories. Help the pendulum along and prod it positive. You got one way to go.

Conversely, Hillary entered the presidential race two years ago with 80% of registered democrats behind her. Pendulum position? Positive – way too positive – way too early. She had one way to swing, and we have all watched her go negative.

Meanwhile Obama is enjoying the mid to top level of his popularity and momentum. Which way does he have to go? IT’S ONLY FEBRUARY.

Also, look at Senator McCain. Taken for dead in August (negative position) he wins the nomination and it ain’t even close.

So, we can watch the political pendulum swing and apply the lessons to our own marketing and firm.

The lesson in our CPA firm is we have worked hard to get market impression, positions of high visibility in our target market, and lots and lots of positive word-of-mouth. We have to work really, really hard to keep that feeling going – to keep the pendulum positive. Because left by itself our marketing and popularity will swing negative, just as it has for Mrs. Clinton.

Election prediction? Clinton wins. Where is your firm on the emotional pendulum? What do you need to do to get it positive – and keep it there? Or will the partners continue to ignore the importance of public relations and positive marketing messages, leaving them and the firm wide open to Barack Obama, CPA?


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The Saga of Rudy Giuliani, CPA

Times read: 647

02/03/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - So, what happened to our boy Rudy? One minute he looks like a juggernaut, the next he’s on a slow train back to the Apple.

AND – what’s the lesson for CPA firms – and all professionals?

Back in the late 1960’s, there was something called Rock & Roll music. Not that counterfeit crap they’ve played on the radio for the last 18 years or so, but real music – performed by real musicians (think Beatles, Stones, Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills and Nash – you get the idea. And there was Neil Diamond. He was probably the number one male solo artist in the world; hit after hit. Even his junk, like “Cracklin’ Rose” was an automatic winner.

Circa 1971, Neil decides he is too busy, has enough going on, and takes off for a couple of years to Paris to finish his degree in Economics (he and I have a lot in common besides uncommon good looks). Joni Mitchell had an affair with him and wrote a song about Neil: “I Was a Free Man in Paris.”

Couple years later, Neil returns and resumes his pop career at the top, or so he planned. Only one little problem – he had taken himself out of the marketplace and the consumer had found someone else to throw their money at (James Taylor, Elton John, Cat Stevens, et. al.). Neil’s career never recovered (although he has remained popular, he never again was #1).

WHAT THE HECK HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH MARKETING AND RUDY GIULIANI???

Easy – Rudy, and most CPA firms, take themselves out of the marketplace when they get too busy or think they have the market sown up. They lose their MARKETING MOMENTUM, and someone sneaks in behind them. Rudi took himself out of the marketplace, and the customer forgot all about him and moved onto someone WHO WAS MORE PERSISTENT.

Who’s sneaking up on your firm, now that the partners have gone into hibernation for the busy season? Or have cut back on the marketing budget because they don’t need it anymore?

Or what firms are you passing by, because for some strange reason the partners understand that marketing is an investment, and not a cost? That a constant marketing presence and effort has always to be in place, or you lose ground, space in your referral sources’ minds and eventually quality work and recruits?

Maybe your firm could use Rudy as an intern, now that he has nothing else to do.

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HALT Your Marketing or Pay the Consequences!

Times read: 677

01/27/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - Many moons ago I learned an acronym that has improved my life and my business: HALT. It seems Bill Clinton didn’t. The unusually poor PR he has received lately is because he has not been his cool self. And HALT especially affects every CPA this time of year. Ignored, it damages relationships and kills marketing efforts.

I love acronyms and mnemonics: memorizing simple phrases or words helped me pass the CPA exam. HALT forces me to remember that I need to be EXTREMELY careful in all of my communications and marketing:

H= Hungry
A= Angry
L=Lonely
T=Tired

Whenever one is experiencing any of these symptoms, let HALT remind them that they cannot think clearly, and what pops out of their mouth – or how they act or react – will likely not be 100%, and can destroy years of effort.

I think Bill is angry and very tired. No wonder, campaigning is 7 day a week work, non-stop. Add in travel, and you have a recipe for disaster, thus Bill’s recent comments and actions. Plus he is ticked off at the ruckus Obama is causing them in their cakewalk back to the White House. Please understand I am not a Bill Clinton fan, but an admirer of the communication skills he displayed when he was the boss.

WHO CARES? YOU SHOULD. How many relationships have been damaged, great employees lost, office morale discouraged, marketing ruined because you or others at the firm were suffering from HALT but were so tired you didn’t realize it?

Marketing lesson to be learned: limit your communications this time of year to when you are feeling top of your game and BE VERY CAUTIOUS at all other times. If Slick Willie can suffer from HALT, so can you. And it will hurt your ongoing campaign to show value in client and referral source relationships and kill marketing efforts.

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Mitt Romney's Fatal Marketing Error

Times read: 685

01/21/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - I don't know Mr. Romney well enough to say I like him or will vote for him in next week's primary. And isn't that a fatal marketing error?

People do things for emotional reasons. They vote for people (or hire them) 50 - 80% of the time because of "personal chemistry." Is this guy's campaign getting personal chemistry across or is he just not personable (Al Gore comes to mind)?

I remember (unfortunately) when Bob Dole ran against Prez Clinton (the first one). What a stiff! Until he was interviewed on 60 Minutes, his real personality and warmth never came through (he is actually quite humorous and warm). The real Bob Dole certainly wasn't exposed in his marketing, which may explain why he got trounced, instead of merely losing.

Romney has the same problem. Unless they can cure it, it will be fatal.

Mr. Obama does not have this issue. He exudes warmth and confidence. and his marketing puts him in those positions to show it off. Mrs. Clinton has always had this problem, but the media always built her up so much that it was minimized. And, let's face it, those that will vote for her are also voting for her "co-president."

- Huckabee's got it (explains his success)
- McCain has some of it (when he gets fired up), explains his improvement.
- Guiliani has it but his advertising has failed to bring out what we saw after 9/11, explains his poor ratings.

We can all learn from this current campaign if we apply the success lessons of the candidates and avoid their failures.

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Barack Obama, CPA

Times read: 927

01/13/08

By Allan Boress, CPA - Barack Obama, CPA

What can we learn about marketing and selling from the Obama campaign?

I am not a Barack Obama fan. I remember the politics of the 1960's and 70's and don't want to go back to losing wars, stagflation, unemployment and malaise.

That said, we can definitely learn from his success at markeitng and selling:

1. Identify your niche: I thought Hillary was a juggernaut and couldn't be beat (may still be proven correct). My fear was there were tons of new voters who had not learned from the corruption and embarassment of the Slick Willie years and wanted to go back. I did not foresee a young, charismatic, well-to-do candidate who would appeal to that crowd and see Mrs. Clinton as an old, critical parent they wanted to get away from. They don't remember the good things about the Clinton years: the economy mostly, because they were busy going through puberty and getting stoned in college. Enter the Obama campaign. One moron interviewed by the Wall Street Journal said he was going to vote for Obama becuase he was a "rock star." Hillary is definitely not one of those. They think his 1960's ideas are new because they weren't born yet. Obama's campaign correctly identified the young and affluent and went for them, while Hillary rode Bill's coattails and presumed she was heir apparent.

2. Chemistry trumps experience and expertise: In The "I-Hate-Selling" Book we discuss the fact that "Chemistry" is 50-80% of making the sale. Obama has it with the media. The press is amazingly picking on Hillary because she was merely the first lady elected to high office. Contrary to them (who are pushing for Obama hard - see Bill's "fairy tale" comment on youtube.com), she DOES have more experience and expertise than Obama. She was his wife and took an active part of in his administration and planned on being president herself, so she paid attention to what was going on. This is one sharp, smart woman (I am not a Hillary fan) who knows a heck of a lot more about successful governance and our role in the world than the junior senator from Illinois. WHO CARES? Chemistry almost always triumphs over expertise, just ask Algore, who had tons more experience and expertise than "W."

3. Have a consistent message to create your brand: From day one, Obama's campaign has been about "standing for change" whatever that means. Better than his opponent Hillary whose only theme was that she was Hillary, so you should vote for her. That is proving to be not enough, as she has jumped on the change bandwagon way too late and sounds too much like "me-too."

These are 3 valuable lessons to learn for CPA firms. Apply them to your marketing and selling and expect the same great results as our next president.

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Your New Year’s Marketing Resolutions

Times read: 649

12/30/07

By Allan Boress, CPA - With 2008 here, now is the perfect time for you to set your goals for how you will change and improve in the New Year. What kind of objectives do you have in mind for yourself – and your practice?

• To lose weight?
• To spend more time with your family?
• To build your practice with more quality clients?
• What are you planning to do about customer and client service? Let's face it -- you're primarily in business to do one thing: to serve your clients and referral sources.

The most important asset you have is the quality of your personal relationships with these people.

Sure, sure … you work on your client and referral source relationships on a daily basis, so it doesn’t really have to be a separate goal for you. I doubt it – most people in our profession are so busy that they have fallen into the “take-it-for-granted” trap. So much business happened by accident that many of our peers have fooled themselves into believing they are great business developers. Not.

A lot of CPAs have made a lot of money these past few years merely TAKING ORDERS from their clients and referral sources. In reality, there are very few good rainmakers out there, but many order takers. Which are you?

The future holds …

Do you really think this economy is going to last forever? Therefore, you need to make enhancing the condition of your client and referral source relationships a top priority in 2008.

Some sample resolutions for you

Here are some ideas to follow through on this priority:

• Resolve to fire some clients:

My good friend and master business consultant, Gene Cohen, once pointed out to me that there are three types of clients: “A’s,” “B’s,” or “C’s.”

“A” Clients are the family jewels. Oftentimes, they provide a vast majority of our business (the old Pareto Rule: 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients). Because they are so important to your business, they often require a great deal of attention. Makes sense, right?

“C” Clients are large in number and tend to be small in relative dollars. They are not “B” clients because they are not big enough or because they don’t feed you referrals. Here’s the problem: sometimes these “C” clients require “A” level service or are simply a hassle to deal with and destroy morale in the office, in the plant, etc.

Here’s the real problem: Because “A” Clients require a lot of attention, and some “C” Clients require an inordinate amount of time and mindfulness, who tends to get squeezed? You have it: The “B” Clients are the ones that tend to get taken for granted and get pinched for attention and care. They then become the ones most likely at risk to your hungrier competitors.

Cohen says the way to build a profitable business is to FIRE “C” Clients who simply aren’t worth it. Then take that additional time, effort and energy and devote it to your “B” Clients and look to make them into “A’s!”

I’ve done it, as have many of my clients and it works. An added benefit: improved morale in the office and with your workers. When you take the guts to fire those jerky customers and clients and stand up for your people, they’ll love you for it.

• Resolve to fire some referral sources:

As long as we’re in a firing mood, why don’t we fire some of those people called “referral sources” who haven’t been doing their job.

The branch manager of a neighborhood bank and her big-shot regional manager decided to drop in one day last week. You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them that we weren’t going to be referring any more of our clients to them (we have referred dozens).

“Why?” she asked (because we had referred dozens of our clients to them with zip back). “Well, you know that it’s not often a banker can refer a client to a CPA firm,” she tried.

“Excuse me for being direct,” I replied. “I’ve been a CPA for 30 years, and have authored 12 books on selling and marketing professional services, published in 6 languages. I know THAT BANKERS CAN MAKE REFERRALS AT WILL WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS to a CPA, just like we do with our clients – and formerly for you – with bankers. Please don’t blow smoke at me. The gent up at Regions takes me out to lunch regularly and has tossed 6 great clients our way in the last six months. We can’t invest referrals with banks and get nothing back.”

Now, we’re their featured business of the week in the first week of January. Their people will be wearing our tee-shirts and we will have a full display in their lobby.

One of the exercises I require my CPA firm clients to do at the end of the year, or the beginning of the New Year, is to schedule out incoming and outgoing referrals for the prior year. Do some people really owe you? Have you spoken to them in the past and they still haven’t come through? Do you continue to feed them referrals? Are you nuts (see above)?

Resolve to find newer and better referral sources in 2008. Develop more and better relationships with people who can help you and vice versa. All that will happen is you will have more business, be happier doing what you are doing, and insure your continuing success in any coming economic downturn.

We will be firing 3 of our financial planner referral sources as they are great takers and poor givers. Boy, are they going to be surprised when they see their “referral machine (as one of them referred to us)” break down and go away.

• Resolve to take a look at your organizations

I admire people who are involved. It’s so easy to go home at night or not venture out of your comfort zone, rather than be active in organizations that may help the community, your profession or the public in general. I am always amazed at how many people get by without these “extra-curricular” activities.

Sometimes these pastimes are for God or for your kids. I just love it when people tell me they are involved in their PTA as their outside organizational work. I don’t think so. That’s something you need to do for your family. I’m talking about building your business.

Everyone has to be active and visible in at least one or two organizations where people can “bump into you,” and you them. You need to be in places to meet “strangers,” people you are not yet in relationship with. But you have to be in those places that pay off!

Resolve these next couple of months to take a closer look at those groups you belong to. Are they worth it? Are there better places where you can do better business? Don’t just be involved with a group simply because you always have. Does it continue to pay off? Maybe it’s time to replace them.

Where to go? Ask your clients and referral sources for ideas. You will discover powerful organizations that they can hand-carry you into you may not be aware of (and your competition isn’t either).

• Resolve to invest in yourself and your people: sales training, time management

What are you doing to continually get better at these skills? Do you know that Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest professional golfer of all time, still takes lessons? Are you so arrogant to think you can’t or shouldn’t get better?

Resolve to make 2008 your best year ever.


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Who’s Your Oprah???

Times read: 676

12/16/07

By Allan Boress, CPA - I am no fan of Oprah Winfrey or Senator Obama. But you gotta admire their marketing savvy this election season.

Most people don’t reason that politics is simply marketing. Instead of getting you to hire them to represent you in a personal injury suit, or to buy their insurance, these folks are selling you to get their votes.

Election season allows every CPA and marketing professional an opportunity to see what these pros are doing right and not, and how to apply the lessons to their firm. Check out my election 2004 marketing analysis at www.ihateselling.com

Situation dangerous: here we have a very inexperienced but charismatic junior senator from Illinois. He’s trailing the Hillary machine in the polls and he needs a boost. Voila! Let’s get one of America’s most influential people to endorse him!

Net result? Obama now leads Mrs. Clinton in the polls in Iowa. No small feat since the Hillary has been running for president since 2000.

How does this apply to you and your firm?

A couple of years ago I stopped traveling full-time as a marketing and sales consultant to our profession and went back to being a practicing CPA. Although I still do speaking gigs and training, 95% of my time is spent building and working our suburban Orlando practice.

Strategy #1 was to get known in my target marketplace locally. We might discuss that in a future blog, but Strategy #2 was to find my own Oprahs.

In our first year we obtained the president of the Chamber of Commerce and the executive director as our clients. Add additional board members and we have all sorts of Oprahs in the community spreading the word of how fantastic we are. Here’s what the chamber prez said when he introduced me to 130 local businesspeople at an event I keynoted: “Allan is the best CPA in Lake County, and he is my CPA. Saved me more taxes than my previous one did in 17 years combined.”

Needless to say, our practice has exploded with quality work. People and businesses come to us proactively, where we get to pick and choose.

That’s why every firm needs an Oprah. She gives your firm:

• Instant credibility
• Association value: people buy things and do business with people because they want to be associated with them. This is the purpose of all celebrity advertising. Snoop Dogg drives a Chrysler, so should you.
• Higher fees: Oprahs lead to more opportunities. More opportunities lead to being able to pick and choose. This leads to higher fees if you are smart about it (our fees have skyrocketed these last two years)

Will Ms Winfrey lead to an Obama surprise? I personally hope so. The Clinton machine has their own Oprah, Mr. Big himself. Only problem is that Oprah has more pizzazz and more power within the Obama target market. And the more Bill is around, the more tired people get of his shenanigans.

Find your own Oprahs. Makes marketing mucho bueno.

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Would You Like Fries With That?

Times read: 1044

12/02/07

By Allan Boress, CPA - Picked up 2 CPA more clients on Friday and they both will be great additions to our firm and wonderful referral sources.

One of them was a Realtor (“Hazel”), who unlike the overwhelming vast majority of her competitors was having another fab year.

We have a substantial base of Realtor clients. They are independent contractors, usually make a lot of money (until 2007), are poor bookkeepers, and understand they know nothing about taxes.

Most have had tales of woe this year and we have helped many of them just stay in the game by coaching them on sales, marketing and good business practices.

So it was a shocker to have one walk into our office worrying about paying too much in tax this year. As usual, her current CPA ignored her (despite the fact that Hazel knows everyone in town of any importance). Doesn’t return calls, never any advice, tardy on promises, yada yada… (This is the easiest business in the world…).

“Why are you having this bang-up year?” my partner asked Hazel.

“I was a waitress for many years,” she proudly responded.

“How has that affected your success?” I asked.

“If you’re going to make it as a waitress – and some make very good money – you have to learn how to take care of the customer and give them what they want and need. You have to make them feel good about doing business with you,” she smiled.

Having been a waiter after I became a junior at a CPA firm to support my family and make some extra dough, I knew exactly of what she spoke. That's why Chemistry is 50-80% of making the sale and keeping the client, as we discuss in The "I-Hate-Selling" Book.

Maybe there should be a mandatory 3 month internship at Denny’s for every aspiring CPA. They could learn some vital business lessons, earn some extra cash, and we could boost the quality of client service for the profession.

We’re going to be serving home-made chocolate chip cookies this year during busy season, with a small oven right up front in the foyer. What is your firm going to do to make your client guests feel welcome and comfortable?

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