Just finished a two year engagement with a group of CPAs here in Indy. The goal was to teach them how to sell services at a higher fee than other CPAs in their market.
Here are some lessons I learned in my work with them:
1. Accountants are a lot of fun to work with. Each meeting–even the ones in which we role played–were full of energy and stories of ways they had tried to implement the strategies.
2. They need content that doesn’t turn them into sales people. As a trainer, the worst thing for me to do was to “convert” them to sellers. They’re fine the way they are. In fact, they’re better-than-fine. They are great problem solvers so they need to lead with that.
3. They are very coachable. I had peers who said not to take on work for CPA firms because they’re not teachable. I found the opposite. The truth is that if you teach someone to do something that works–and he gets the results he wants–everyone is trainable.
4. CPAs need to find other services to sell. If you’re in a large firm, you had better be abel to sell strategic planning, business planning, business analysis, etc., You can’t survive doing taxes and audits.
I can tell you this: they were so coachable that their business/revenue grew double digits for three years under our engagement. Now, granted, this wasn’t a one day motivational-fest. It was thoughtful, planned, strategic and practical.
And there were plenty of meetings with senior partners to make sure we were on track.
Strategic. Planned. Cerebral.
But for you CPA’s who want to lear how to sell, find a trainer who won’t turn you into a sales person. Find a trainer who has a strategic way to look at what it means to develop new business. Find a trainer who is there to coach you when you get into deep waters. All will be well.
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