Last week, I introduced my first blog on rainmaking, and introduced why and how I plan to share my 20+ years’ experience of selling professional services with my readers. I’ve learned many things over those years – most of them in the 13 years of building Miles Consulting Group, where as the owner, it is absolutely my responsibility to bring in the revenue. But, like many of my readers, clients and strategic partners, I’m a financial person. I certainly didn’t start out wanting to be in sales and marketing! Now, some of the biggest compliments I can get are, “Are you in sales?” OR “You don’t SEEM like an accountant! You have a much better personality.” Thank you very much.
For many of us in public accounting or financial consulting, the thought of having to go out and drum up business is scary and daunting. Our profession is largely comprised of very bright, yet often introverted individuals that very much want to get to the right answer, and in the process benefit our clients. Many of us are good with people as well and genuinely want to build relationships of trust and longevity with our clients.
Yet when we think about “Selling” – which often comes at the very beginning of that relationship that we wish to build, we get outside of our comfort zone. After all, no one wants to be “sold to”. People are selling to us all day long, and as trusted business advisors to our clients, we want to be above that fray. And yet, we need to engage in honest business development in order to build our businesses as well. It’s finding that balance that will lead us to the right place.
So much of it is truly believing that we have a product or service that people want and need, and that we offer it for a fair price. But since we are in the financial services industry, people also need to trust us before they’ll buy from us. And that doesn’t happen overnight. So, the mindset needs to be more about believing that we have a good product, people want and need it, we’ve priced it correctly, AND we need to spend time up front developing a relationship enough such that we can ultimately have the right to ask for the business. How long is that? It varies, of course. And it HAS happened to me that someone found out about my services at a networking event, took my card, and then called me to engage with me. But more often than not, it’s a process that can take weeks or months – even if they need my service. Patience is key. But it’s also not just about sitting by the phone and being patient. There are things you can be doing to gain that trust and credibility with a potential client while you wait!
In this blog series, we will share tips with you about how to get into the right frame of mind AND how to get the right practical tools to become more successful at starting and building those relationships and ultimately turn them into your “perfect client”. Check out our blog next week, when we discuss the perfect client and how to identify them.
Monika Miles is President of Miles Consulting Group, a firm specializing in multi-state tax consulting for middle market businesses. Clients include technology, manufacturing, software and SaaS based companies doing businesses across state lines. Miles Consulting Group assists companies in determining the sales tax and income tax ramifications of creating a taxable presence in a state and how to address these issues with the various states. When she’s not assisting clients with multi-state tax issues, she passionately shares Rainmaker strategies with other professional services firms. Check out our “Jumpstart Your Rainmaking” webinar series, debuting in November! Stay tuned.
