Losing When You Think You Have Won
Source: The CPA Journal
Have you ever left a proposal meeting thinking you have won the engagement only to find out you have lost to a less qualified firm? Have you been told the reason was price only to find out later that your price was lower?
It is not an unusual occurrence according to Charles Green, president of Trusted Advisor Associated and co-author with David Maister and Robert Galford of The Trusted Advisor.
When you finally hear the truth you learn that the prospect didn’t feel connected to you. The prospect felt you were more qualified than your competitor, and enthusiastic about helping, but your enthusiasm was too general—it was not directed specifically towards the prospect.
Accountants, because they deal with financial issues, are supposedly the most rational of all professionals. Companies look to accountants to bless their plans as practical and realistic. Accountants, therefore, try to be objective and analytical, not emotional and passionate.
In their initial filtering process, buyers of accounting services look for these traits, and they profess to do the same in making the final selection. But at a deeper level the buyer wants an accountant who makes him feel comfortable, who is honest and willing to acknowledge his ignorance on any specific matter. The buyer makes the decision emotionally, then rationalizes it.
The buyer wants the accountant to have good relations with the buyer’s people. The buyer wants to trust the accountant. But the accountant can’t tell the buyer to trust him because that is not a credible statement. The accountant must demonstrate that he can be trusted to perform according to what the client wants. The best way to do this is to separate the client’s needs from your need to land the engagement. The single most important factor is your sincerity about caring for the client. You can only be sincere if you focus on the clients needs as more important than your need to get the engagement. To do this you must eschew selling and behave as if you are already conducing the engagement. Speak candidly and spontaneously about staffing and designing the engagement, and identify the key decision points. Collaborate with the client. Don’t make a sales pitch.
From The CPA Journal, A Publication of the New York State Society of CPAs, March 2007, http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/toc/toc307.htm. For the complete article select the article: When Clients Don’t Buy What a CPA Firm is Selling.