Cross-Selling

Jennifer Wilson, co-founder and owner of Convergence Coaching LLC, writing in Accounting Today, offers some observations on this important subject.

Cross-selling will happen only with a strong commitment from the firm’s leaders. 

Compensation systems often ignore cross-selling because it is not measured.  Firms focus on new clients and may think that selling to clients is over-hyped.  There can be a suspicion that staff seeks credit for new engagements the client would have asked for with no encouragement. There can be controls for this, and there should be incentives for the referrers as well as for the service providers.

Partners may be reluctant to refer their clients because of prior poor service experience.  Cross-selling of substandard service offerings will rarely happen. When the quality of the service is improved, the whole firm should be made aware of it. When clients belong to a partner rather than to a firm, communicating marketing information to the clients is more difficult. 

Some partners will not sell additional services for fear of jeopardizing the existing business.  But cross-selling should not be about selling; it should be about providing more value to the client.  It should be a responsibility of the firm, rather than a self-serving opportunity, to meet the needs of the client. (Editor’s note: Otherwise, the client may fill the need elsewhere.  Moreover, the firm should not try to sell services that are not needed by the client.)

Mining data about the clients is sometimes difficult. A marketing matrix worksheet can be effective—show clients on one axis, services on the other, and make  appropriate entries in the convergent squares to designate opportunities.

Everyone in the firm must be sufficiently educated so they can clearly articulate the features and benefits of the services offered by the firm. Firm members should be taught the ideal profile for each service area of the firm. Clarify the value of each service in terms of its potential impact on client performance. A questionnaire on each service should help the members identify candidates for the service. Details should be left to the experts on the service, not to the person in charge of the client. A questionnaire might also be used during tax preparation interviews.

For more, see Accounting Today, Dec. 20, 2004-Jan. 9, 2005, p. 22, or

http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=9740&;pg=acctoday