‘Partnering with Accountants’ by Scott Charlton

In this third instalment of a special three part series, guest contributor Scott Charlton provides some insights about how to enhance your relationships with accountants. These insights are an extract from Scott’s recently released book, Partnering with Accountants.

Quick summary: Involve the accountants in identifying how best to assist them in developing a more valuable business and enhanced client relationships.

In this article, we conclude the three-part system to develop accounting relationships with a process which will enable you to tailor a package of benefits that the accountant will appreciate when he/she starts working with you.

Let’s face it. There is only so much time and resource that you can devote to enhancing an accounting relationship. It’s therefore better to concentrate on doing one or two things well than adopting a scattergun approach. Equally, there’s no point in (say) going to a lot of trouble running a monthly training session for an accountant’s team when the accountant would prefer your assistance in running a client seminar.

So the third aspect of this trilogy is a checklist of areas for an accountant to indicate where his/her firm would appreciate some assistance. This checklist will enable you to concentrate on areas that each particular firm of accountants will value. Feel free to add or subtract from this list as you see fit. Naturally, you should have the resources to deliver each item.

It will certainly assist in this aspect of the conversation if you can direct it towards addressing issues that the accountant may have volunteered up to this point. For example, if the accountant is looking for business growth but is clueless with marketing, applying your experience in this area is likely to be far more valuable than (say) providing a share of your revenue.

Click here for a menu of potential ways in which you might assist accountants.

It should be noted that at any point during the conversation covered by this and the previous two articles, proceedings could be interrupted by a question about income splitting. You can virtually expect this if you are presenting to a group of accountants i.e. someone who hasn’t said much will interject right in the middle of you talking about something else. This checklist provides an excellent means of countering this question. Here’s a sample script.

Accountant: So what’s my share if I refer clients to you?

You: It’s not our policy to share our income with referrers. Instead, we look to add value in other ways. Our experience is that committing resources to your firm will ultimately be more beneficial for you and be more sustainable for us. As to what those resources could and should be, we’d value your input. This checklist [hand the document over] includes a range of suggestions. It would be very helpful if you indicated which would be of most value.

Naturally, if an accountant indicates quite a number of items would be of interest, you need to engage in a discussion about priorities. This is a great conversation to have, enabling you to set expectations that the relationship will be ongoing e.g.

You: That’s great. What I’d suggest is that we start with [X and Y]. We can introduce [Z] later on. Then at the end of the first year we can sit down to together and map out a plan for Years 2 and 3. How does that sound?

The net result should be a small list of agreed initiatives that you program into your marketing activities. In turn, this will give you the opportunity to interact with accountants in ways they will truly appreciate.

Action

• Review the checklist and amend to suit
• Ensure that the document reflects initiatives you are willing and able to provide
• Role play the process of introducing the document and discussing it with the accountant

That’s the final instalment of our three part series on fast tracking a relationship with an accountant. Now that you’ve put your best forward and got the accountant’s attention, it’s time to prepare for the inevitable test cases – a subject which is addressed elsewhere in Partnering with Accountants. Good luck with your collaborative endeavours!

To receive a free copy of Scott’s latest book, be one of the first five readers to email: scottcharlton.partnering@gmail.com, with “Partnering with Accountants” in the subject header.

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Formerly an accountant in practice, Scott Charlton is a business coach who works with both accountants and financial planners. Scott is the author of Partnering with Accountants, a guide to the ultimate referral destination.

The post How to assist accountants in ways they truly value appeared first on AdviserVoice.

‘Partnering with Accountants’ by Scott Charlton

In this second instalment of a special three part series, guest contributor Scott Charlton provides some insights about how to make an accountant much more at ease in dealing with you. These insights are an extract from Scott’s recently released book, Partnering with Accountants.

Quick summary: To give accountants confidence about referring their clients to you, address their deeply held concerns.

In the previous article in this series, we looked at how to help accountants get to know more about you and your capabilities. However it is unlikely that accountants will be swayed by this alone. They want to know that you are going to be a valuable collaborative partner. This article discusses what else you will need to cover before accountants will feel comfortable in working with you.

A central theme of this part of the process is demonstrating that you understand their concerns and what you have done to address these issues.

Essentially, accountants want to know that when the going gets tough, you won’t cut and run. Remember – whilst the clients are new to you, in many instances they represent highly valuable, long standing business relationships to the accountant. Little wonder they will naturally be cautious about referring their clients to you.

The Due Diligence checklist referred to in the previous article is based around deliverables – your fee schedule, personal profile, papers you’ve written, website etc. What this doesn’t cover is your approach to business and working with clients. Hence, there is a second document, which I recommend providing to the accountant immediately after you have stepped him/her through the Due Diligence checklist.

This second document is called Our approach to working with accountants and contains a set of commitments which accountants will appreciate. These include taking responsibility for the advice you provide, keeping the accountant informed regarding clients referred and reinforcing the central role that the accountant plays in the financial life of his/her clients.

Click here to see an example set of commitments.

In a similar vein to the previous checklist, it is recommended that you alter these commitments to suit the way you want to work with the accountant and reflect the way you like to express yourself. After all, when you are sitting across the desk from an accountant, you need to own these commitments!

This particularly applies to the final point regarding your views on sharing income, a topic discussed in more detail in Chapter 9.1 of Partnering with Accountants. Suffice to say that if your choice is not to share income, then this document provides a very positive context in which you can express such a policy.

Here’s a sample script in terms of introducing this document, after the accountant has digested the Due Diligence checklist.

Accountant (looking thoughtful and putting the Due Diligence Checklist to one side): Thanks for that. I’ll have a look at it and get back to you.

(As a point to note, never leave meetings on the basis of the accountant getting back to you because they get busy doing other things.)

You: Great. I think you’ll find that quite helpful. However, I venture to say that there are still some issues that you will need to satisfy yourself about. Would I be correct in saying that you’ve had some not so great experiences with other advisers in the past?

Accountant: That’s an understatement.

You: Like you, we derive most of our income from looking after our clients over the long term. What this means is that you can be confident that we’re not going to leave you with a problem. We’ve put this together in the form of a set of commitments for any clients you refer to us. (Hand over the document.)

At this point you will go through and discuss each item. Happily, many fears and concerns that accountants will have are addressed by this set of commitments.

In due course, the accountant will verify that you actually live up to these commitments. For now though, the very fact that you have raised the issues is a strong indicator that you are capable of delivering. This is likely to be enough to warrant giving you some test cases (an issue addressed elsewhere in Partnering with Accountants) which represents a significant advance in your relationship.

Action

• Review the checklist and amend to suit as appropriate
• In particular ensure that the document reflects your views on sharing income
• Role play the process of introducing the document and discussing it with the accountant

That concludes the second of our three part series on fast tracking a relationship with an accountant. The final part of the series will help you to identify areas by which you can truly add value to the accountant. Going through this process will not actively foster more referrals, it will greatly enhance your ongoing relationship.

To receive a free copy of Scott’s latest book, be one of the first five readers to email: scottcharlton.partnering@gmail.com, with “Partnering with Accountants” in the subject header.

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Formerly an accountant in practice, Scott Charlton is a business coach who works with both accountants and financial planners. Scott is the author of Partnering with Accountants, a guide to the ultimate referral destination.

Read the first instalment here.

The post How to make an accountant comfortable about giving you referrals appeared first on AdviserVoice.

‘Partnering with Accountants’ by Scott Charlton

In this first instalment of a special three part series, guest contributor Scott Charlton provides some insights about how to make an accountant much more at ease in dealing with you. These insights are an extract from Scott’s recently released book, Partnering with Accountants.

Quick summary: To fast track confidence in you as a reliable business partner,help the accountants do their due diligence.

In this article, we are going to cover the first of a three-part system which will enable you to engage in meaningful dialogue with accountants much earlier than you likely have experienced to date. Having a professional process will provide you with confidence, create a good impression and let the accountant know you have value to add.

True story. I met an accountant via Linked In and in subsequent correspondence ascertained that he was looking for a referral relationship. A meeting with a planner located near the accountant’s office was duly arranged and the three of us met up for a discussion. The meeting proceeded well, with the accountant asking a range of questions of the planner. After the meeting I reflected upon the questions that the accountant had asked which thoroughly canvassed the issues I would have asked in his situation. It occurred to me – “If these questions are so predictable, not only can we prepare for them, but we can influence the outcome.”

As illustrated by the following case study, this realisation is quite significant.

True story. In a previous role I was part of a team which was endeavouring to recruit the financial planning arm of an accounting firm to our dealer group. The managing partner of the accounting firm organised a “beauty parade” of candidates and over the ensuing months conducted a series of meetings. The process dragged out endlessly and by the end I became convinced that he couldn’t remember what he had discussed with who. In the end, the accountant realised he’d spent way too long on the matter and made a decision. Happily, we got selected but it was a torturous process for all concerned.

So, for anyone who has invested meeting after meeting with an accountant without seemingly getting anywhere, this article is for you.

Cutting to the chase

Why not actively help accountants to do due diligence on you? Giving them the questions and helping them find the answers will quickly put the accountants in a position to make a decision. No longer will they be procrastinating, wondering what else they should have asked. No longer will they defer making a decision because they have forgotten what they have previously ascertained. Now it’s a case of if they would like to proceed. Whether they do or whether they don’t, at least you know where you stand. Quickly.

So here’s how this works in practice. Having ascertained that there is a degree of interest from the accountant in working with you, steer the conversation along the following lines –

You. Do you mind if I make a suggestion? I know that referring your clients to someone else is a responsibility you take very seriously. Before sending any clients to me, you will naturally want to check us out. To help you do this, I’ve taken the liberty of preparing this checklist of items that in your shoes, I’d want to know. (Hand over the checklist.)

Accountant: Thanks.

You. On the list I’ve included things like our web address and a prompter to look at my Linked In profile. I’ve also put together an information pack containing all the items referred to in the checklist such as our fee schedule, some case studies and testimonials. (Hand over the package.)

Accountant: OK.

You. I know that your time is precious so hopefully you will find this helpful in terms of making a decision about whether to entrust us with your clients.

An example due diligence checklist can be accessed from Scott’s website.

You will find the checklist to be self-explanatory. Naturally, you should add other items to the list where you have resources or a track record that will present you in a favourable light. This could include (say) links to video clips, details of your community involvement and/or fund raising for worthy causes. Equally, delete items on the list that don’t apply or where you don’t currently have resources.

The checklist covers approximately half of the items that accountants will either consciously or subconsciously want to know about you. The remaining items are covered by the document which will be introduced in the second instalment in this special series for AdviserVoice readers.

Action

The checklist referred to above picks up on a number of issues covered elsewhere in Partnering with Accountants. It’s likely that you will have some items to address before you actually put this into practice. Clearly, there is no sense giving an accountant the checklist if you don’t measure up!

• Consider any other aspects that will present your firm favourably and add these to the list
• Delete any items which are not relevant to your firm
• Compile an information pack consisting of all the items referred to on your checklist. Package this nicely in a bound report or presentation folder
• Role play the process of introducing the checklist and handing it to the accountant

That concludes the first of our three part series on fast tracking a relationship with an accountant. The next part of the series will explain how you can proactively address the concerns that accountants will inevitably have about referring their clients to you. Quite simply, the fewer doubts they have about entrusting you with clients the more likely they are to refer.

Formerly an accountant in practice, Scott Charlton is a business coach who works with both accountants and financial planners. Scott is the author of Partnering with Accountants, your guide to the ultimate referral destination.

To receive a free copy of Scott’s latest book, be one of the first five readers to email: scottcharlton.partnering@gmail.com, with “Partnering with Accountants” in the subject header.

The post How to make an accountant at ease in dealing with you appeared first on AdviserVoice.