Selling to Your Existing Clients.

AuthorBoress, Allan S.

One of the biggest problems most CPA firms have in selling is that they wait for their clients to approach them about additional service needs, rather than seek out client needs proactively. This is unfortunate because there are so many more ways you can help your clients than ever before. The reasons this approach to being more profitable does not work are:

* Your clients do not walk around thinking about their CPAs. So, when a problem arises, you are not foremost in their mind as the one to solve it, and they look elsewhere.

* Often your clients do not know what other services you could provide because you have not told them or they forgot, so they buy services somewhere else--from a competitor or outside consultant.

* Your clients do not take the time to sit down and evaluate how they can be more profitable or effective.

So, you miss the proverbial boat when it comes to selling additional, nonattest, highly profitable, value-billed, or commission services to your existing clients.

Unlike 90 percent of their peers, the top business producers in the accounting profession generate approximately 25 percent to 40 percent of their new, incremental business from the sales of additional services to their existing clients.

The proper perspective

The biggest producers in our profession know that there is "gold in their files." Instead of investing the majority of their marketing monies and efforts into doing business with strangers who are least likely to buy, they actively sell additional nonattest services to their existing clients.

That means they keep their eyes open and constantly explore new ways of helping their clients be more successful, happier, and protected.

Malcolm Hayes, a CPA in Plant City, Florida, has the right perspective. His 25 years' experience as a CPA have proven that his most successful clients are those who use his services the most, not only as an accountant, but as their trusted business adviser. "I do many different things for some of my clients, far beyond the normal expectations clients have of the typical CPA. What I do for my clients is very valuable. And those who use my years of experience in business have made and saved a ton of money by engaging me as their financial and business adviser, to help them with many areas of their lives and business."

The 90 percent sale

The major difference between selling services to new clients and selling to existing satisfied clients is that selling to satisfied clients is much...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT