💥 3 Skills You Need to Stand Out

PLUS: The best way to improve your clients' business, your invite to a virtual AI + ChatGPT summit, and the one good thing about tax season.

Hey there 👋,

In today's email, here are some tips to help you escape the accountant’s trap.

💥3 skills you need to stand out
💥The best way to improve your clients’ business
💥Your invite to a virtual AI + ChatGPT summit
💥The one good thing about tax season

What’s the accountant’s trap?
You're in the trap if the only way to get paid more is to work more hours or take on more low-value and high-demanding clients.

At the same time…
You can't raise your fees because there's always a competitor willing to do the same work for less.

3 SKILLS NEEDED TO DIFFERENTIATE YOUR FIRM

It used to be that all an accountant had to do to earn respect, win over new clients, and have a growing firm was simply to be a great accountant. Those days are over.

They’re over for a few reasons:

Reason #1: Most clients don’t value accounting as much as we think they should.

Reason #2: Most clients (especially business owners) would rather their accountant give them advice (instead of simply being a recorder of the past).

Reason #3: There’s a ton of competition in our space because the barrier to entry is low and because there’s a plethora of so-called “tech” companies trying to automate our jobs away.

Simply put, there are so many other options for clients to “get the books done” or “taxes filed” than there used to be.

So, to differentiate your firm, you must be able to master three specific skills.

Skill #1: Messaging Skills
You must be able to speak to potential clients in a way that will get them to take action (read: become your client).

Skill #2: Giving Advice Skills
You must be able to give advice in a way that gets results to your clients without you having to spend a ton of time coming up with the advice.

Skill #3: Scaling Skills
You must be able to scale your business in a way that allows you to earn more without working more.

👉The Bottom Line

If you can increase your messaging skills, giving advice skills, and scaling skills, you will be on the right track towards successfully differentiating your firm.

Not only that, but you’ll also be able to escape The Accountants’ Trap where you’re simply trading time for money. You’ll own a scalable firm instead of your firm owning you.

Two resources just for you:

🚨Take a training this Thursday on how to grow your practice this year through CFO and business advisory services and learn how to increase your messaging skills, giving advice skills and scaling skills. Click below to RSVP.

🚨Check out an article on CPA Practice Advisor, that explains those three skills you need to differentiate your firm more in-depth.

THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR CLIENTS’ BUSINESS

The answer? Constantly guide them to improve their cash flow.

Getting your client to generate consistent positive cash flow is the only thing required to stay in business.

If you can help your client do this, well, you’ll have a very happy client.

There’s fifteen drivers of cash flow. In previous issues, we’ve covered the first two: leads and conversion rate. Today, we’re looking at retention rate…

⚙️Driver of the Week: Retention Rate

This is the percentage of your clients’ customers who come back each year.

This drives revenue because getting existing customers to purchase again will improve revenue.

Let’s say that your client had 1,000 customers who purchased prior to December 31st of last year. If they were able to get just 5% of those customers to come back and purchase this year your client would have 50 customers that already know, like and trust them that will spend money again this year.

THE AI AND CHATGPT VIRTUAL SUMMIT

Want to see how AI and ChatGPT can help you save time, increase productivity and generate more revenue this year?

Our friend and colleague Mark Wickersham, over at the Value Pricing Academy, is holding an AI and ChatGPT Virtual Summit on Wednesday, March 27th at 11:45am ET | 8:45am PT.

Here’s what you will get out of this 3-hour summit:

☑️Master Time-Saving Techniques with ChatGPT: Learn techniques to free up your day for more strategic tasks, enhancing productivity and focus.

☑️Boost Business Efficiency: Integrate AI to streamline operations, reduce errors, and elevate your team's efficiency for competitive advantage.

☑️Grow Your Firm with AI Technology: Harness AI to attract clients, offer new services, and effectively scale your accounting business.

☑️Optimize Your Outputs with Better Prompts: Construct precise prompts to get accurate, relevant information for smarter business decisions and service quality.

☑️Automate Customer Service for Quick, High-Quality Responses: Implement AI for faster, quality client responses, freeing staff for complex tasks and enhancing satisfaction.

☑️Add Massive Value to Your Clients with AI: Leverage AI to provide personalized financial insights and proactive advisory services, strengthening client relationships.

This training is $50. But, for subscribers of Escaping the Accountant’s Trap, it’s only $19. Woot woot. Click below to get your ticket.

ONE GOOD THING ABOUT TAX SEASON

If you’re interested in offering advisory services, there’s one good thing about tax season…

You have the attention of your clients.

Here’s how this is useful. One of the easiest ways to get an advisory client is through upselling your existing business tax clients.

Well, because you have the attention of your clients, you have a non-salesy reason to contact them and ask them one question that will be your ticket to escape the accountant’s trap.

Here’s the question that you should ask your business tax clients…

When I was looking over your tax return, I saw some opportunities to help you grow your business. Can we book a time to talk?

What business owner will say no to that? They already trust you.

And if someone that they already trust, who also knows their financial situation, is offering advice on how to grow their business they will schedule a time to talk with you.

Let me repeat: they will schedule a time to talk with you.

This is huge. You’ll now have a conversation that can lead to you proposing your advisory services.

And, as proven, 62% of business owners who are proposed to with a CFO/advisory service will say yes (according to The CFO Project’s 2023 Trends report).

Want to learn more about how to sell advisory services to your existing clients (as well as new prospects)? Take our upcoming training called How to Start a CFO Service.

👉The Bottom Line

One of the best ways to strike up a conversation about you becoming your clients’ CFO or business advisory is to leverage tax season by asking one question:

“When I was looking over your tax return, I saw some opportunities to help you grow your business. Can we book a time to talk?”

WANT THE STICKER OF THE WEEK?

The Sticker of The Week

😎Who says accountants aren’t cool? Proudly show off your coolness with our sticker of the week on your laptop, phone or fridge. How do you get the sticker? Glad you asked!

🍓Send an email to [email protected] (with the subject line Financial Mess) and let us know the juiciest financial mess you’ve seen a client get themselves into and how you got them out!

📬We’ll mail you (yes, physically mail you) our sticker of the week!

😁BTW: Please change the names to protect the innocent.

MEME OF THE WEEK

Betty, we need to have a conversation about what Timmy has been texting…

We ❤️ Accountants.
We ❤️ Bookkeepers.

Escaping the Accountant’s Trap newsletter is created with love by a team of accountants, marketers and business experts.

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