How to Set Yourself Apart From the Competition

Source: Partner Insights

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by August Aquila. It's adapted from an article by Ned Miller of MZ Bierly Consulting.

Here are seven things top CPAs do to stand out from the crowd:

1. They bring something relevant – ideas, industry information, partners – to every client or prospect meeting.
2. They focus the discussion on their customer's strategy, not on firm services or products.
3. They position the firm's capabilities before there's an explicit need. And they don't operate under the illusion that their business customers know everything that the firm can do.
4. They leverage senior management. In some instances top CPAs call upon their firms' CEOs to open doors with company brass; in other situations they use them to solidify their position with a long-term customer. The best CPAs are never afraid to ask for help.
5. They conduct regular relationship reviews of their top clients with their product partners. But it's not just an intramural exercise. They share their thoughts with customers in formal meetings and solicit feedback from their senior contacts about how things are going. (Savvy CPAs usually know when the best time for these discussions is, tying it to the client's planning cycle.)
6. Top CPAs take a longer-term view of building relationships. They think about where they want to be with a prospect two or three years down the road and plan accordingly.
7. They win “mind-share” first, by sharing insights and expertise. Most know how to engage in banter about sports and other “rapport-building” topics, but they realize that schmoozing doesn't score lots of points with C-level executives.

For the complete article, read “7 things that top CPAs do to stand out from the crowd.”

From Partner Insights, Aquila Global Advisors, LLC, March 2013, http://www.aquilaadvisors.com.