There is never a place for time-based billing!
This might be controversial to say, but it's a really lazy way to price. The concept of the billable hour was created back in the early 1900s by a chap called Reginald Heber Smith. He was a lawyer who created it to overcome the ills in his law firm....
There's no way I'd talk to another accountant - what if they steal my clients?! I don't want to share my secrets with the 'competition'...
How things have changed
Only a few years back, you'd never hear of accountants talking so freely to other accountants. But accountants are sharing and caring...
In anything we're looking to buy, there are two things in place that speed up our buying decision, and, are most likely to speed up the decision of your prospects too.
These two things are certainty and choice.
Certainty in how much we have to pay to acquire a good or service, and choice in terms...
At some point in our careers we all asked ourselves this BIG question…
“Why do I need to go to work today?”
Does that sound familiar?
For some of us, we live this out day in – day out for weeks, months, years!
So much so that we never think to question it anymore.
Like...
Back when I acquired my firm in 2008, things were pretty tough.
We were poor on our systems… we had no “ideal clients”… our pricing wasn’t great, and we had a high staff turnover.
Basically, we were a sinking ship.
And so I realized I had to do something about it...
Recently, we’ve had one of our best years over the last 12 months in our accounting firm.
And this is even with the whole pandemic period of last year spelling doom for most businesses.
How did we achieve this?
Well, for one thing, it wasn’t easy and definitely didn’t happen...
Do you still struggle to win clients into your firm?
Well, then you might be guilty of this…
Lack of positioning.
That’s right.
That is the number one reason why most accounting firm owners struggle to win over new clients.
You see, without defining your ideal client, it’s...
Accountants: so you say you are the 'TRUSTED ADVISOR'? Then why are you charging clients for picking up the phone to you??
A true trusted advisor would ALWAYS be there for their clients. To hear them out in their time of need. To help them solve their problems and overcome their challenges....
One of the biggest fails for most people starting out is that they end up taking on everyone and anyone, every client they meet, essentially, and then suddenly they're just bogged down with far too much work and clients that don't hold much value in their work.
You've got to be really clear and...
Imagine if all your social media accounts got blocked today. What would you do?
Will you go bankrupt?
Will you lose all your business contacts?
Will you have a panic attack?
Well, I know one thing for sure.
If you put all your weight on your social media platforms then you could possibly go...
So marketing doesn't stop when a client comes on board. Marketing continues all the way throughout your client's journey with you.
Because for us accountants in particular, we rely heavily on referrals. When we get a referral, chances are much greater that we'll convert that referral into a...
Prospect: "It's too expensive"
You: My prospects are price sensitive
Reality: No they're not. Most people in life are not price sensitive. They are VALUE SENSITIVE. If the value we get is greater than the price being asked, we buy.
Value though lies in the eye the beholder. Different...