Most accountants understand that business development is essential to growing their practices. Yet they make basic errors. So, here are 11 simple solutions to the most common mistakes.
1. Planning is the key to success
The Mistake: I’ve seen many professionals who build great business development activities but do not see tangible results. They participate in events and conferences. They join professional networks. They organise special events for prospective clients. But they fail to discuss the business opportunities in depth. There is a lack of planning.
The Sol
ution: Plan every business development activity, in advance. I make weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual plans. The reason is that more information is disclosed to me over time and it needs to be taken into account. I suggest you use a two-steps process: One, think about what you want to accomplish in the specific activity for yourself and your practice. Then two, decide how you’ll judge whether it’s a success, almost a success or a failure. Only then you can correct your actions and refine them.
2. Select your potential clients carefully
The Mistake: As a believer in building relationships for a lifetime, I know that it is one of the powerful ways to develop your business and create opportunities. It’s about more than building a network of relationships. One of the main mistakes many professionals make in their business development efforts is to assume that knowing a person for a while is enough. But ask yourself how much you really know about the prospect you are chasing except the fact that, say, you studied together. Most of the time, not much.
The Solution: The first rule of business development is to know about the company and executives you are going to pursue, in detail. There are some prospects that simply won’t hire you and your services for reasons that have nothing to do with you! For example, it could be the fact that this professional belongs to a specific network and because of that he is obliged to use only the services of others in the network. Or it could be that one of the family members of this prospect delivers the exact same services as you do. So do your research!
3. Learn to give attention
The Mistake: Feelings like perceived rejection or a lack of attention, influence engagement decisions made by your prospects or clients.
The Solution: It is important to not only care about the way your prospect or clients feel but to clearly demonstrate that you care by giving your authentic attention to them. We all know these professionals that every time you meet them. They do most of the talking. I suggest you learn to give attention!
4. Build relationships, don’t sell
The Mistake: Almost every time I do a keynote, I ask a few people in the audience to introduce themselves. Rather than the person shares a few things about herself, many people immediately start telling about their work and pitching to me and the audience, without knowing if anybody is interested in their services. Sad.
The Solution: Networking events are meant to be a starting point to build relationships. Instead of trying to sell yourself at these events, make it your mission to connect with people and enjoy learning about them. This is the first step in building a relationship.
5. Follow-up with key people
The Mistake: Not following up. Not following up. You forget the contact. The new contact forgets you. Result: If you do not follow up…you fail! This is a fatal business development mistake that many professionals make. Even those who learn to follow up, do not follow up enough.
The Solution: I believe that the follow-up process is one of the most important aspects of business development in terms of building on relationships with current and potential clients. Over the years I’ve learnt that following up with everyone you met, is a waste of time. Not everybody is a viable prospect for your practice. So every time you meet a new person try to make your first initial judgment if any follow-up makes sense. The more you will do it the more practice you will gain and the easier (and even more accurate) your judgment will be. You can read more here.
6. Lost or quiet clients are not lost relationships
The Mistake: Experienced professionals know that the best clients are repeat clients and that it’s much easier to reconnect with a previous contact than it is to establish a completely new connection. But “keeping in touch” is easier said than done. This is a real mistake.
The Solution: First, relax. Keeping in touch doesn’t mean a lot of work. You don’t need to connect with them every week or meet every month… You can keep in touch by simply sending them something of value – an article you read or a link to special news that may interest them or a special hand-written card ( I like this one very much and use it myself all the time) etc. It can be done once in a while. Remember: the success in keeping in touch is by taking this step and by acting. Your success does not depend on the reply you will get from your former or a lost client.
7. Always be a person of value
The Mistake: Trying to convert a prospect to become a client too soon. By Trying to rush potential client to become a client too soon, you’re actually focusing on your wants, not a prospective client’s needs. Thus, the potential client does not see any use or value to staying in touch with you.
The Solution: Let me emphasize: Business development is about relationships. In order to win a deal or engage a client, it is essential to build a relationship. The root of relationships is embedded in providing mutual value to both parties. You are probably familiar with the saying, “you get what you put in.” That saying is particularly relevant.
In order to win the approval and acceptance of potential clients, it is more important than ever to you as a professional to provide value first before asking for anything in return from the other person. You need to become a useful resource for your potential clients. The more value you offer, the more a potential client comes to depend on you. Don’t hesitate to share information they may find useful, whether or not it benefits you in any way.
8. Offer to help, ask for help
The Mistake: I’ve discovered that a lot of professionals see asking a client to help them as being “pushy” behavior. As one to me: “We are here to serve the clients, not to bother them. The client tells us what they need and we supply it.” Really? This mindset is a mistake, in my opinion.
The Solution: I believe that you should ask for and offer to help. It will show you care, that your’re empathic. It shows that you are truly listening to their needs and focused on solving problems. No doubt that acting in this way also help to make you an even more trusted adviser to your clients. Isn’t that what you want?
9. Continue to be creative and proactive
The Mistake: Henry Ford said: “If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” And this is also true when we are dealing with professional business development. Unfortunately, many professionals learn to become reactive in their practice. They only act when a client asks them to do so. But running your practice solely on a reactive-passive basis will harm your potential growth.
The Solution: In my experience he most valuable professionals are the ones who are proactive. By definition, this means they are the one who comes with new ideas and solutions to their clients rather than waiting to respond to clients requests. Embracing business development doesn’t mean waiting for answers to appear; . Put one foot in front of the other, and find the answers. Be resourceful!
10. Set the right expectations
The Mistake: Setting expectations too high. Be honest — you don’t invest time in business development just to meet new people. Sure, that’s part of it. But, ultimately you’re hoping those new potential clients will be able to benefit you in the future, whether by becoming your clients themselves or by introducing you to someone else that might become your client.
The Solution: It’s important that you’re realistic about your expectations. Don’t expect to make your introduction and immediately ask that person to become your client or to refer you to a new client. Remember, you’re building relationships – and that takes time. Be patient.
11. Play to win
The Mistake: ‘For many, the aim is “not to lose”. This approach guarantees that prospective clients will forget you. When they need your services, they don’t think about you… and your competitor wins the business.
The Solution: As a professional, if you aren’t trying to win, if you’re just trying to participate, you are wasting your time and the time of your prospect. You have to define your practice purpose strategically, decide what specific business development victories would lead to your ideal future.
Of course, you can’t win the whole world or please everybody. Trying to be all things to all potential clients is a recipe for failure. You have to strategically narrow your business development focus and be willing to stand-out for something. Be bold, not bland.
Key Takeaways
- How many of these mistakes are you making in your efforts to increase your client base?
- Your mistakes can be assets as long as you learn from them, correct them, and stop repeating them.
- Business development is even harder without being smart about the process. Avoiding these 11 common mistakes will help improve your success rates
Which solution are you planning to implement first, and why?
Please share your input.
Want to learn how to avoid 20 common mistakes in networking and to get more results from your particiaption in Accountex 2018?
Register for Itzik’s upcoming FREE webinar here.