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CPAA Insight: Eight ways to generate new business

16th Sep 2013
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BD Consultancy’s Matt Varley teams up with CPAA and PracticeWeb, the leading website designer for Accountants, to share top tips on the fine art of generating new business.

HERE ARE EIGHT WAYS of making sure your accountancy firm is on the right track to generate new business and keep it.

1. Store contacts electronically in a way you can segment them
Whether they’re stored on a dedicated Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) or a spreadsheet, it’s essential that you store potential leads in one central place, electronically. All relevant people within your firm should have access information  around the status of each lead. Storing information electronically will help you easily segment on location, sector, interest, demographic.

2. Create a clear personal Business Development activity plan
Think about what sort of new business and new clients you want. Who are they? Where are they? What are the problems you can help them solve? Create a formulated plan of attack that includes marketing and sales activity.

3. Attend networking events
Attend and be part of your firm’s events. From a breakfast briefing through to a charity football match, all provide great opportunities to get out and meet people. It’s not just your own events – your referral network will be ripe with events and opportunities to meet new contacts and nurture existing relationships.

4. Be timely
Follow up all inbound enquiries 24 - 48 hours after they come in. Not only is the enquirer more likely to still be ‘warm’, it also demonstrates that you’re likely to be prompt in the delivery of your service. Stick to your word. If you say you’re going to call at an agreed time, make sure you do!

5. Be able to clearly articulate ‘Why my firm?’ for a variety of audiences
Sales experts talk about the concept of an ‘elevator pitch’. This is the idea that you’d be able to articulate the benefits of your firm to another individual if you had a short ride in car with them. It’s good practice to consider how you describe your firm to casual acquaintances. 

6. Host and attend your firm’s monthly Business Development  meeting
Every firm should have a place where colleagues come together and review where new business is coming from. A monthly forum to discuss relationship activity and progress provides a sense of discipline around making sure you don’t let leads disappear.

7. Proactively develop Business Development skills
Think about how you sell and promote services, then get better at it. Read more, attend seminars, practise your pitch!  Put the same emphasis on developing business development skills that you do on maintaining your accountancy skills. You’ll soon see a return on investment.

8. Work as a team
Two heads are better than one. If you can work with a colleague in their relationship-building activity, you’ll have someone to bounce ideas off. Attending meetings with colleagues also helps demonstratesa collaborative approach.

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