Talk With Clients About Merger Opportunities

Source: The Rainmaker Academy

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from a blog entry by Patrick Pruett.

Many accountants shy away from mergers talk with clients as they worry about losing a good client through a takeover. However, if you don't work with them it is likely that someone else will step into your shoes to fill a void in advice. You are best to be proactive and offer solutions that make sense for the clients that will really help them make a good, sound decision. You are their most trusted advisor. And you can generate substantial fees for the effort. One Enterprise Worldwide firm a few years ago generated more than $100,000 in revenue by helping its client through a transaction.

Take a look at your client base and judge whether you have candidates for a merger or acquisition. Many of your small business clients haven't planned well so have no succession plan other than the dim hope that one of their children may want to take over the family business. In many cases these family members are not “realistically” the best choice to leave a legacy with. They should probably sell the business to another capable business owner. Your role, if you choose to make a client impact, will be critical to making sure your client conducts the transaction the right way and ends up with the best deal.

For the complete blog entry, read “One Hot Idea To Generate Revenue For Accounting Firms.”

From The Rainmaker Academy, http://www.therainmakeracademy.com, January 12, 2011.