marketing, sales process and selling skills for accounting firms – marketing machine webinar part...

10 Steps to Building a Marketing Machine for Growing Your Accounting FirmYour Marketing Machine | Part 3: Steps 7 to 10

10 Steps to Building a Marketing Machine for Growing Your Accounting FirmMichael ‘MC’ Carter - Director of Practice Paradox

Today’s webinar• Quickly recap first 6 components of Marketing Machine™ model

(covered in last two free webinars) • Next 4 components of your firm’s Marketing Machine™

• Your Packaging: When does (and doesn’t) ‘bundling’ services work?• Your Pipeline: Introduction to Opportunity Management• Your Oil: The art and science of ‘soft skills’ in selling• Your Control Panel: Marketing KPIs to monitor

• The plug: Announcing Marketing Masterclass for Accountants 3-day marketing workshop in November on Sunshine Coast, QLD

• Question & Answer time

Resources section

Free Videos area

practiceparadox.com.au

Access recordings of past webinars for free

Slides also accessible in blog posts on the site

Why do we call it a Marketing Machine?1. It works! No mystery. Predictable performance.

2. Structure and design to it. Understandable.

3. Works without you. Flick the switch. Duplicatable.

4. It’s scalable and adjustable. Turn it up, turn it down to suit.

5. You can learn how to run it. There is a manual!

Your Marketing Machine

1. Your Radar

2. Your Hopper

3. Your Fuel

4. Your Engine

5. Your Conveyor Belt

6. Your Filter

7. Your Packaging

Service Level Agreements? ‘Bundles’?• Defined services grouped into named levels

• How you name the levels/options isn’t crucial• Different price points on each level• Clearly defined scope on each level

• Clients know what is included• Clients know what is ‘outside scope’

The Purpose of Packaging Your Services• Give clients clear choices• Let client know you can do more than the basics• Structures the conversation with a client• Aids the sales process

• A ‘which option suits best’ close• Not a ‘will you go ahead’ close

The Purpose of Packaging Your Services• Educates clients as to ‘where they sit’• Pricing of top level provides contrast

• Makes middle level seem affordable• Provides clients with development path• Allows you to build in exclusivity

• Special events for your top clients

When Packaging Services Fails• Thinking that ‘having some’ will make it work• Being inflexible

• The goal is to make a decision easier• Not to shoehorn clients into slots• Tailor levels to suit

• Is not a replacement for a full ‘Needs Analysis’ process with a client

Simple Needs

Moderate Needs

Complex Needs

Infrequent Contact

Quarterly Contact

Monthly Contact

Focus on Recent Past

Monitoring Progress

Development Advice

Complexity Focus Frequency

Simple Needs

Moderate Needs

Complex Needs

Infrequent Contact

Quarterly Contact

Monthly Contact

Monitoring Progress

Development Advice

Simple Needs

Moderate Needs

Complex Needs

Infrequent Contact

Quarterly Contact

Monthly Contact

Monitoring Progress

Development Advice

Simple Needs

Moderate Needs

Complex Needs

Infrequent Contact

Quarterly Contact

Monthly Contact

Monitoring Progress

Development Advice

Simple Needs

Moderate Needs

Complex Needs

Infrequent Contact

Quarterly Contact

Monthly Contact

Monitoring Progress

Development Advice

8. Your Pipeline

What is ‘Your Pipeline’?• The flow of opportunities for new business• A record and system for tracking opportunities• Allows growth projections to become

more predictable through ...• Statistics on conversion rates and sales

cycle times (how likely, and how quickly)• Treating process as a numbers game• Reduces time and emotion/stress involved

What is Opportunity Management?• Where do you and your team record opportunities:

• For potential new clients?• For additional services for clients?

• Is this information centrally stored?• Does it make it easy to see:

• How full/empty ‘the pipeline’ is?• Details of individual opportunities

What is Opportunity Management is not• Having only one or two ‘hot prospects’

on the go at any one time, and• Pinning your hopes on them,• Then wondering where they’re at

with their decision making,• Then getting disappointed at missing

out on these prospects, and• Letting that affect your confidence

The Opportunity Management Mindset• It’s simply a numbers game• I/we have a realistic conversion rate

of getting proposals across the line• “We don’t win them all”

• I/we have a realistic timeframe wework to, from initial conversationto a decision being made• “It doesn’t happen overnight!”

Elements of your Opportunity Pipeline

Process Milestones

% Probabilities of Winning

Linked

Enquiry Received 20%

INA Completed 40%

Request for Proposal 50%

Proposal Discussion 60%

Verbal Confirmation 80%

Signed Agreement 100%

Process Milestones

Linked

Lead 25%

Opportunity 50%

Solution Proposed 75%

Formal Approval 100%

Process Milestones

Expected $ Amounts

Linked

ExpectedClose Dates

Opportunity Names

Client/Prospect Names

Opportunity Owners

Opportunity Pipeline Management Tools

• Whiteboard• Spreadsheet

• Excel• Online Apps

• Software

Spreadsheet

Capsule CRM

SmartsheetStandalone or can work with Google Docs

Then what do you do?• Train your team in how to update the pipeline• Review your own pipeline every day• Review your team members’ pipeline

on a regular basis• Formal weekly Pipeline Review

meetings one-on-one• Ask, ‘What can I do to help you move

this opportunity to the next stage?’

PollDoes your firm have a

formal Opportunity Pipeline system and process?

What is a lack of Opportunity Management costing you?

• Missed opportunities …• ‘Falling through the cracks’• Lack of prompt follow-up• Opportunities going stale

• Fewer clients• Reduced revenue

9. Your Oil

What is Your Oil?

• Makes your Marketing Machine work to its optimum level

• Without it your pipeline won’t flow to its optimal level

• Understand that this is a MASSIVE topic ...

What is Your Oil?

• The ‘soft skills’ involved in selling • Sales process structure

• S.P.I.N. Methodology - Neil Rackham’sbook, ‘SPIN Selling’:

• Situation• Problem• Implication• Need-Payoff

Selling is mainly about asking questions

• Seek first to understand• Questions steer the conversation

• Open questions• Question lead-ins• ‘Tell me more’ prompts

• Selling is about solving problems

Toula Portokalos: Ma, Dad is so stubborn. What he says goes. “Ah, the man is the head of the house!”

Maria Portokalos: Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

We are all in sales!

• Asking clients to take a course of action is selling

• Anyone with client contact mustget formally trained in sales

• Client Relationship Managementis a sales process

• A neglected skill by most firms

Tips on structuring client meetings• Always set expectations and scope in

advance of the meeting• No ‘ambush selling’ allowed!

• After initial chat/small talk:1. Purpose Statement2. Time frame3. Ask, ‘Is there anything else you’d

like to cover today?’

Tips on structuring client meetings• Always BAMFAM!

• Book A Meeting From A Meeting

• Even if it’s not for a few months

• Always clarify next steps for both parties

• Always maintain control of next steps

• Don’t leave ball entirely in client’s(or referral partner’s) court

• Gain permission to follow-up bya certain date

Objection handling tips• Pre-empt objections

• Raise them in advance - e.g. “Some clientshave told us that initially they thoughtthey couldn’t afford to pay for ourCash Flow Monitoring service, and [not ‘but’!] what they found is that theadded peace of mind and bettermanagement of cash, actually meant theyhad more cash and less stress than before.”

Objection handling tips• Write each objection down to:

1. Show you are taking each objection seriously2. Reflect them back to the client/prospect

to ensure you understand each clearly• Feel-Felt-Found reply

• “I understand how you feel about that,and I know a lot of clients initially feltthe same way, and what they found was”

Objection handling tips• Parking the objection

• Ask, “Imagine just for a moment that [timing] wasn’t an issue for you, then you’d go aheadwouldn’t you?”• Often the first objection is not the real

objection? - e.g. Client might add, “Well, actually, I’m not sure that the business can afford that at the moment.”

• If they reply, “No” without adding anything,then add, “Well there must be anotherconcern for you then …?” [Pause, await reply]

Objection handling tips• Keep in mind that a thorough Needs Analysis

conversation at the start of the process will allow you to either pre-empt or detect/hear any objections well ahead of the ‘close’ stage where you ask for the go-ahead

• If you get a lot of objections, that’s a symptom of a poor front end on your sales process, resultingin you not fully understanding the client’sSituation and Problems, and not getting themto speak about the Implications

Objection handling tips• By the time you get to the Needs-Payoff stage,

the courses of action should feel like a mutual conclusion and joint decision …

• Which is why the number of objections youget at this stage should be very low

PollWhat percentage of your team

members who have client contact have undergone formal sales training?

10. Your Control Panel

Monitoring the performance of your firm’s Marketing Machine

• “What you can measure, you can manage”• “What you measure, improves”• “You get more of what you focus on”• So what you should you measure and focus on …?

Results KPIs for Marketing and BDKey Performance Indicator

No. of New Clients Acquired

Annual Fee Value of New Clients Acquired

No. of Existing Clients Up-Sold to Additional Value-Added Services

Increase in Annual Fee Value of Existing Clients Up-Sold to Additional Services

Clientshare™ - Average Number of Services Provided Per Client Per Year

Increase in Average Annual Client Fee

Results KPIs for Marketing and BDKey Performance Indicator

No. of New Referral Partners Acquired

No. of New Subscribers added to Marketing Database

No. of Articles and Interviews in Local Media

No. of Clients Attended Seminars and Webinars

No. of Client Referrals

Activity KPIs for Marketing and BDKey Performance Indicator

Meet individually with Top 6 Referral Partners each quarter

12 client email newsletters produced per year

2 printed and mailed client newsletters per year

4 client seminars per year

4 client webinars per year

4 media releases per year

Activity KPIs for Marketing and BDKey Performance Indicator

24 new blog website articles per year

2 in-house rainmaking skills workshops per year for existing team members

2 Client Advisory Boards (client feedback and market research) per year

4 “How’s it going? How can we serve you better?” client visits each month

Monitor and respond to Post-Job Client Feedback Survey responses

How do you monitor these KPIs?

• In a spreadsheet• Put it in your firm’s knowledgebase (centrally stored)

• Control editing rights• Marketing Coordinator keeps data up-to-date

• Sources of data• Practice Management system• Opportunity Pipeline• Email Marketing System• Event booking system/records

The Plug

Tuesday 14 SepAnnouncement WebinarMarketing Masterclass for Accountants3-day workshop, Sunshine Coast QLDSat 13 Nov - Mon 15 November 2010

Crank it up!

Marketing Masterclass

Crank it up!

• 3-day intensive, hands-on workshop

• Day 1: Strategy

• Day 2: Communication

• Day 3: Change

• Very interactive and hands-on

• Special pricing for booking in Sept

• Special bonuses for booking in Sept

Crank it up!

• Structured for CPE/CPD hours

• Certificates of Completion provided

• Designed for Equity Partners and Marketing Team

• ‘365x3 Money Back Guarantee’

• 3 times ROI on ticket price

• Guarantee open for full 365 days

Questions?

Complete Evaluation Formgrow@practiceparadox.com.auwww.practiceparadox.com.au

Next Webinar - 12pm Tuesday Sep 14 - Marketing Masterclass Announcement

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