đ„ What exactly is a CFO/Advisor?
PLUS: Three marketing tools every practice needs | How to help your client grow their business | How to communicate with clients
Hey there đ,
In today's email, here are some tips to help you escape the accountantâs trap.
đ„What exactly is a CFO/Advisor?
đ„Three marketing tools every practice needs
đ„How to help your client grow their business
đ„How to communicate with clients
Whatâs the accountantâs 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 timeâŠ
You can't raise your fees because there's always a competitor willing to do the same work for less.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A CFO/ADVISOR?
If youâve been debating offering advisory services, youâre probably wondering âWhat, exactly, is a CFO/Advisor?â
Good question.
Hereâs how The CFO Project defines an advisory service:
A CFO/Advisor isâŠ
Someone that a business owner can trust to guide them towards having a growing and successful business.
Thatâs it!
Itâs someone that can understand the past (using the financials) and help guide the client towards having a better future.
The keyword is successful. A âsuccessfulâ business is defined in two ways:
Way #1: How the client defines it.
Every business owner defines success differently. A successful business to one business owner may be a business they can pass down to their kids. A successful business to another business owner may be a business that allows them to only work 20 hours per week.
Way #2: How we define it.
We, as financial professionals, should define a successful business as one that can generate positive cash flow on a consistent basis. Period.
Now, hereâs the thing: not many business owners even know what a CFO is (most think itâs the head accountant) nor do they think their business even needs one!
However, if you frame an outsourced CFO as âsomeone that a business owner can trust to guide them towards having a growing and successful businessâ âŠwell, you'll now be speaking your prospects' language.
Every (literally) business owner that weâve met wants someone like this for their business.
Itâs all about how you define yourself and what you do.
If you define yourself as a better/faster/cheaper CFO, your message will fall flat. If you define yourself as a better/faster/cheaper accountant that offers advisory services, your pitch goes nowhere.
People donât want a CFO per se, rather, they want what a CFO can provide for them.
So, if you define yourself as a trusted guide who can help business owners have a growing and successful business, well, youâll have no problem attracting high-paying clients.
Why? Because, for most business owners, their business is not a hobby. Itâs their full-time job thatâs supposed to put food on the table.
It must work.
đThe Bottom Line
If someone that they can trust (like you) comes along and says you'll guide them towards having a growing and successful business they will certainly pay attention to what you have to say and will most likely sign on to whatever youâre offering.
Do you offer some sort of CFO/business advisory service now?Click on an option below to cast your vote. |
đšFREE TRAINING THURSDAYđš
If youâre considering offering advisory services, join our free Masterclass this Thursday where we'll show you, exactly, how to start a CFO service. You can be the person who provides real help to the thousands of struggling business owners in your town (or across the country).
In this free 1-hour Masterclass, you'll learn:
How to escape the Accountant's Trap.
What business owners really want from a CFO/Advisory service (it's not what you think).
How to determine if you're qualified to provide CFO/Advisory services.
How to get business owners to pay top dollar for your CFO/Advisory services.
How to get new clients to your practice and how to approach existing clients.
How much you should be charging for this type of service.
How to provide a CFO/Advisory service in the most efficient way possible.
THREE MARKETING TOOLS EVERY PRACTICE NEEDS
To have a growing accounting, bookkeeping and/or CFO/Advisory practice we needâŠdrum roll pleaseâŠa steady stream of leads.
We asked our friends at CountingWorks PRO for their thoughts on what marketing tools every practice needs to get a steady stream of leads. Hereâs the three tools they say every practice needs:
Tool #1: A Website
But not just any website. You need a website that speaks to who you want to target. And is mobile friendly. And is easy for a prospect to understand how youâll help them.
Tool #2: Lead Magnets
A lead magnet is simply a gift that you give to visitors in exchange for their contact info. That way, you can market to them over time. The idea is that itâs something that should attract leads to your practice (like a magnet!).
Tool #3: Email Campaigns
Once youâve attracted a lead, you need a way to follow up with them and build a relationship with them at scale. This is what an email campaign does. Itâs a series of emails that is sent automatically to your leads with the goal of getting them to take action (like to schedule a call with you!).
If youâre interested, CountingWorks PRO is offering to provide these three tools for you and more. If youâd like to learn more, click below and theyâll give you a demo of what they can do for your practice.
đšFREE TRAINING FRIDAYđš
Are you a bookkeeper?
Are you interested in becoming a CFO?
If yes, youâre invited to a special training this Friday (March 29th) called Bookkeeper to CFO where weâll help you go from just being a recorder of the past to helping business owners have a better future.
In this free 1-hour training, you'll learn:
What, exactly, a CFO/Advisor does
How to know if you're qualified to provide CFO/Advisory services
How to package and price your bookkeeping & advisory services
How to market your bookkeeping & advisory services
How to overcome impostor syndrome and start offering advisory services
How to deliver an advisory service in a way that gets results
HOW TO HELP YOUR CLIENT GROW THEIR BUSINESS
As an advisor, thereâs one main way to grow your clientsâ 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, youâll have a very happy client.
Thereâs fifteen drivers of cash flow. In previous issues, weâve covered the first three: leads, conversion rate and retention rate. Today, weâre looking at purchase frequency rateâŠ
âïžDriver of the Week: Purchase Frequency Rate
This is the number of times a customer purchases from your client in a year.
This drives revenue because the more purchases a customer makes, the more revenue will increase.
Your clients can dramatically improve profit by getting existing customers to buy again. Not only will they be earning more from each customer, but they also wouldnât have to spend additional marketing dollars.
Letâs say you had a HVAC client. If the only thing they did was get additional customers to buy again, they would increase revenue without having to get new customers.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENTS
We all know that client communication is important â but when was the last time we felt confident even in difficult scenarios? Too often we wrestle with how to communicate with clients and feel defeated in their lack of responsiveness. But it doesnât have to be this way!
Our friend and colleague Will Hill, over at the Will Hill Consults, is holding a Drive Action with your Client Communication webinar on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 12:00p ET | 9:00a PT.
In this webinar, youâll dig into core elements of client communication that will enable you to drive action with your communication, with both clarity and confidence and you'll learn the following:
â You will be able to recognize the importance of context in communication and be equipped to incorporate this into their communication.
â Youâll be able to identify where the actionable elements in communications are present.
â Youâll be able to leverage questions to produce commitment on the part of the communications' recipient.
MEME OF THE WEEK
We â€ïž Accountants.
We â€ïž Bookkeepers.
Escaping the Accountantâs Trap newsletter is created with love by a team of accountants, marketers and business experts.
Have a suggestion? Send us an email to [email protected].