Getting new clients is one of the topmost challenges facing firms of all sizes. Research after research, surveys after surveys point to this fact. If you search the web for “practice growth”, you will be flooded with information, advice and advertisements on how to get new clients.
If you are not getting new clients as quickly as you want to, here are the top 7 reasons why.
Pransform works only with Accounting, Bookkeeping and Tax Preparation firms and professionals. We interact with Accountants day in day out and the topmost concern they express is the severe difficulty in getting new clients. A majority of them depend on referrals. A few of them are so overwhelmed with the information about new ways of marketing e.g. SEO, Social Media, Networking and so on, that they find it difficult to choose what do to.
We talked to over a thousand firms and professionals over the last two years and found out the top 7 reasons why accountants do not get new clients quickly. At the same time, we also found accountants who have overcome these 7 reasons to grow much faster than others.
You don’t put yourself out there enough You are the expert. You are the most qualified, trained and experienced person at your practice. People will trust you more as only you can answer their relevant questions with utmost confidence and authority. If you don’t put yourself out there enough, you can’t find more clients. Ironically, if you don’t put yourself out there enough, even clients can’t find you. Not just physically being in front of prospects, are you doing enough to be found where your prospects are likely to search for you, including web?
You don’t want to break free from your comfort zone You developed your practice by following certain ways. Those ways worked for you, till now, that is. How do you know it will continue to be the same in future? You are probably in a comfort zone that you don’t want to break free from. The earth moves and so does the business world. Try at least one new marketing and sales strategy this quarter.
You haven’t added competencies required by new clients Everyone is talking about millennials and how they are different. The expectations and the ways in which they go about their day-to-day chores are different. Technology is a part of their basic necessities. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans is now a micro-entrepreneur, temp or consultant. Their “business” needs are different. What do such new clients expect from accountants and how? If you are just guessing the answers, it is an alarming state to be in..
You haven’t maximized what you have Have you unknowingly created barriers that cause people NOT to do business with you, limiting your income and slowing down or even stagnating your growth? Most likely you haven’t done a great job of explaining the true value of what you deliver to clients. Clients may not fully recognize the intelligent insights accounting information can give them. What do you do the best? And is your best really valuable for your clients? If so, have you sold your best to more clients yet, to the maximum number of clients you can handle in your current resource capabilities?
You are the same as your competitor Why should your prospects buy from you and not from your competitors? If you offer (really) unique benefits that your competitors do not, then you are good. But if you are the same as your competitor, how will clients decide which firm to work with? Most likely, they will pick the cheaper one so you will be constantly facing fee pressures. Solution: Determine the most powerful benefit (not feature) of your service and amplify that in all your messages to prospects.
You are not really doing much to get new clients Take a look at what these CPA firms are doing and then decide if you are really doing much to get new clients.
A firm at California has a partner-in-charge of ONLY the “sales operations” – with a team of tele-callers to generate leads and close sales. This firm obviously has invested in different technology to manage the sales operations to optimize its sales efforts.
Another firm from Texas, which went from 18 to 75 employees and from $ 2.8 mn to over $ 10 mn. in annual revenue in just two years, has implemented “inbound marketing technologies” and a team that focuses only on new business development.
A CPA from California created an App to address a telltale service gap in the marketplace to make life easier for new economy micro-entrepreneurs.
You haven’t leveraged technology and other people According to US Census Bureau data,the average number of employees per CPA firm is about 8 persons. Other surveys indicate that $250,000 per employee could be the maximum annual revenue a CPA firm can achieve; and that nearly 95% firms do not grow beyond 19 employees. All figures suggest that accountants who do not leverage other people can’t realistically aim to clock a turnover of over $ 5 mn. And to break this performance barrier, leveraging other people (if growth brings in cashflow challenges, Click here to see benefits of accounting outsourcing for CPAs) and leveraging technology are a must.
The Bottom Line
All new accomplishments, anything worthwhile, all starts from within. Are you as fiercely motivated for growth as your competitors are?
At this very moment, while you are reading this post, your competitors are designing new ways to grow their practice, outwitting you in winning the common prospects, even taking away your existing clients. And, no; your competitors may not just be the firm across the street. It could be someone 300 miles away; may be 3000!
We’ll help a firm in your neighborhood grow profitably. Will it be YOURS?
If you are highly motivated to grow your practice, write to us and we’ll share (for free) a simple, proven way that can help you get new clients in your door. We will share this idea only with one firm in a 20 miles radius from a zip code (US only, for accounting or bookkeeping or tax preparation firms/practitioners only). DON’T lose out on this proven way to get new clients.Be the first from your zip code to contact us. Fill up the form below, NOW.
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