April 2002 Free Tips Page April 2002a- Each month this page will be updated with new tips and ideas and the previous content archived. As time goes by our archives will grow. These will always be accessible, and always without charge. Enjoy. Welcome to the free tips page for April 2002 Important Update The full set of our range of e-books is now available for immediate download. Including: For more details, see our products page Our First International Award. First up this month, I want to take a minute to say thank you to the Electronic Accountant Web Site, for makling us as the Editor's pick of the week, on 15th March 2002, as their Web Star Award winner.

For those of you not familiar with their site, here is their address:
www.electronicaccountant.com.

This award saw a deluge of new subscribers join up for our free marketing newsletter, LEDGER, so to all of those who discovered us this way, welcome.

Welcome too to AVN members.
I also want to mention subscribers, Roy Goldsbrough for mentioning LEDGER to the AVN newsletter and the publicity this generated, and Peter Johnson for answering my questions about the AVN.

It turns out that this is the 6th largest Accounting Group in the UK with 700+ partners and fees of £200m. The group is headed by former "Accountancy Age Entrepreneur of the Year", Steve Pipe, FCA, who I know from my days in the UK, and we are now in touch. It really is a small world! So, welcome too, to the new subscribers who found us this way.

For Accounting firms in the UK who want to find out more about the Added Value Network, and their Masterclass, visit: http://www.avnmembers.co.uk/avninfo.htm.

For a listing for their members to see if there is a member near you, visit: http://www.avnmembers.co.uk/members/index.htm.

Competition Draw Winner.
Next, I want to announce the winner of our free web site competition. Congratulations to Joe Truscott, CA, of Hamilton, who wins an all expenses paid web site, custom built for his firm.

FREE REPORT: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GET A WEBSITE FOR YOUR FIRM.

As promised, you can NOW download the full version of this eBook, value $39.95, from our free downloads page. It is a comprehensive look at the good, the bad and the downright ugly of the web. Includes: What tools do you need to do it yourself? What are META TAGS and why are they so important? Getting personal and interactive with visitors. Turning visitors into clients. The essentials of a good site. Why many sites fail to get results and much more.

After reading this eBook you will know all of the key elements involved in producing a web site for your firm, the tools you will need and where to get them, and what your site should include to give you the best chance of success.

This will only be available free of charge for a limited time, so go get your copy before it joins our range of books for sale. This will retail at $39.95 soon, so be sure to get your free copy now.

Free Marketing Tips For April.

Having got the "housekeeping" announcements done, here are the free tips and ideas for April 2002...

Dealing with "No".

We've all been here - we've paid a visit, by appointment, to a prospective client, gone through our presentation, asked all the right questions and provided excellent answers and waited for a response, only to be told that the prospect wants to "think it over" before making a decision.

The same can be said for meeting with an existing client (or discussing this with them on the telephone) to talk about a new service that your firm could offer, that the client would benefit from.

I believe a "no" is not a definite or permanent state of mind, it's more like a "no, not yet" - perseverence pays huge dividends. While many "nos" are indeed a "no, not yet", the concept of getting objections out in the open and not wasting your time if they are fundamentally insurmountable at an early stage is a good idea.

We use the "Think It Over" (TIO) policy ourselves, often when an irritatingly persistent sales representative from a newspaper advertising sales office calls. We know when we say it that we really mean "no". So why do we believe that at "think it over" response from our own prospects would be any different?

Well, I'll tell you. It's because the advertising usually offers us no benefits whatsoever, yet we believe in what we do for our clients, that we genuinely help them, that by using our firm, they are far better for the experience and the quality of service we provide. We can help them grow their business, raise capital, save them tax, produce their financial statements faster than they presently get them, etc, etc...

Unfortunately, it's certain you and your people, at some time or another, have been on the wrong end of that TIO sentence. And every time you hear it, you fall victim to the biggest time-waster plaguing accounting firms everywhere.

Why do we encounter it so often? Well, many prospects think it's the easiest way to get rid of you so they can focus on more immediate opportunities and concerns. If that's the case, then you really need to qualify your prospects much better before meeting with them, and eliminate these to begin with.

But that's not the only reason we find ourselves in front of a TIO.

Some well-meaning people just hate to say no. But most of all, accounting professionals have a real problem asking prospects to make a decision during a sales presentation, largely because we don't want to be told "no".

So we permit prospects to drag us through the purgatory of alternating hope and despair. And even though 95% of all TIOs will never result in any business, human nature compels us to hang on in hopes that, this time, things will finally go our way.

The end result: we waste valuable time and resources waiting for a sale that ain't gonna happen. TIOs make it take forever to get to "no", which permits the prospect to steal your valuable time.

Clearly, we must learn how to respond to TIOs.

Better yet, we can stop the TIO from happening in the first place. If a prospective client is not convinced of a strong compelling reason to use your firm today, then they will put you off indefinitely in favor of priorities that have more immediate impact on their business and personal situation. So why not get straight to "no" in the first place and save everyone's time?

Here's how to eliminate TIOs.

It's critical that you make your customer understand they have two distinct and equal choices at every meeting, and that you are comfortable with either.

Tell them up-front that at the end of the meeting you will agree upon a course of action:

Finally, take this expectation into each step of the sales process: your prospect must convince you that there is a reason for your continued involvement. The TIO can pop up at any stage in the process, so if you're having any doubts that there's a reason for the two of you to do business together, tell the prospect. Then let him or her convince you why you should stay involved.

After all, what's a "no" worth? Just the most valuable thing you possess: your time.

Quick Tip

So here's how you can use this over the phone, to up-sell or cross-sell your exisiting clients,
with the coffee track...

The Coffee Track When you have a new service that some of your clients would be prime candidates for, and they would benefit from it, use the coffee track to get their agreement to a meeting to discuss the idea. Call each client to say that your firm has a great new service that you are about to introduce, and you thought of them immediately, as they would likely benefit most form this. Then, use this like a script to follow but make sure you sound relaxed and not reading this over the phone: "What I'd like to do, is to sit down with you, over a cup of coffee. I'll explain how this works, what the benefits are that you'll receive, and the likely costs involved. If, after I've explained it in full, and you understand completely how it works, if you feel it's not for you, I'll be the first to tell you not to do it. Does that sound fair?" Most existing clients would take the meeting with you, knowing why you are visitng and that they are not under any pressure to buy. If it's a "No" you can move on quickly to the next client to approach, with no hard feelings and no wasted time.

And finally, here's a neat idea...
Why not promote you own firm or its web site with a WEB DECAL

Remember in recent issues I said I was going to get some WEBDECALs? Well, I did, here they are:
Drive traffic to your web site just by driving to appointments. Neat, eh?

Check out the manufacturer's web site by clicking here.

So, that's all for now, if you need more, sign up for our free e-newsletter, LEDGER, on our newsletter sign-up page, or look at our best-selling manual LOW COST HIGH IMPACT WAYS TO WIN NEW CLIENTS.

Thanks for visiting.
Have a great month.
Until next time.

Call us today at 905-569-2174 to arrange a free,
no obligation, initial meeting

©2002 Stephen J. McIntyre-Smith, Marketing For Accountants.com. All rights reserved.