Don't Cross-Sell, Cross-Serve

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

Excerpts from this article by Tracy Crevar Warren are reprinted with permission from the AICPA.

It's probably no secret that one of the biggest turnoffs to most practitioners is the thought of appearing like a pushy salesperson to their clients. Unfortunately, expectations for professionals to win new business continue to increase due to the struggling economy and a more competitive accounting environment. Not to mention that clients are just more demanding these days.

So what's a professional like you to do?

Think of Yourself as a Trusted Advisor, Not as a Salesperson

Forget about being a salesperson who is trying to get your clients to buy something. Look at your role in a new light. Rather than thinking of it as cross-selling, view it as an expanded function of being a trusted advisor. It's all about identifying new opportunities to help your clients, which involves indentifying new services with which you and your firm can assist them. Consider it an extension of your function as a service provider.

When looking at your position from a new perspective, it makes it not only palatable, but an important part of your obligations to your clients.

Consider Cross-Serving vs. Cross-Selling

In the new book Bull's-Eye! The Ultimate How-to Marketing and Sales Guide for CPAs, recently produced by the AICPA and AAM, business development veteran Russ Molinar discusses a concept known as cross-serving. It offers another favorable approach to cross-selling, while highlighting the importance that the trusted advisory role plays in serving clients.

In its simplest form, cross-serving can be defined as:

The process of identifying unmet client issues and needs and offering specific products, services and solutions from your firm to fulfill their individual and organizational needs.

In other words, it is the process of enhancing your relationships with clients by expanding the number of services provided to, and the fees received from, your clients.

For the complete article, read “Have You Failed Your Clients?”

From AICPA CPA Insider, September 13, 2010, www.CPA2biz.com.