The One Thing Your Clients Really Want

What is that THE one thing?

As an accountant or tax professional, your services, knowledge, expertise, experience and wisdom are simply the means to delivering that one thing. Your office, computers, software, resources and everything else are just the means to producing the deliverables.

But what is that THE one thing YOUR clients really want? Where will your future profit come from?

Future profit.

Future.

Get the hint?

Your future profit will come from future. Your clients’ future.

But they, like many of us, do not know what lies in the future and how to (safely first, successfully if possible) get there.

As an accountant or tax professional, you are great at organizing the information of what has already happened, and to some extent “working out” the near-term impact of what has happened. To file taxes accurately, it is a NEED to organize the information correctly. And need – which is compliance driven – is invariably not valued beyond a particular price. Which means competing on price is inevitable. And with technology automating a gazillion of process steps and “validating” them against applicable laws, the cost of “production” by machines (computers) is difficult for a human being to beat.

So how do human beings beat this “technologization” of what accountants traditionally did?

The answer lies in “future”.

There is NOTHING ever invented by technology or machines. EVERYTHING in this world was, is and will be invented by human beings. Because, we can imagine, realistically visualize, scientifically estimate – the future and find (profitable) ways to get there.

And your clients, the entrepreneurs, get into business because they see the future – and create everything (the business) to get there.

But, as it often happens, the weight of the past, the stretch of the present and the fog of the uncertainty of future create huge challenges for the entrepreneurs. And that’s where you, the accountant, have the ability to make the future clear for your clients.

How?

1. Mind Your Clients’ Business: “Never invest in a business you can’t understand.”…..Warren BuffetYou want to understand the business your client is in – for you would want to work out the future of it for your client. Identifying potential challenges is a huge help for entrepreneurs. One way to do so is thinking that your client is already in the future – lets say – January 1, 2017 and is giving you the reasons (excuses) for the failure or problems she is facing. What can you do NOW to overcome those future problems? Projected cash-flows, sales required to avoid being in red, number of customers required to achieve sales and so on. Help your clients chart the successful path for their business.

2. See What Your Clients Don’t See: Everyone knows “cash is king”, yet so many business struggle with cash-flows. Why? Because, once the sale is made, the focus is invariably on making the next and the next. Similarly, once a purchase is made, till such time the goods are used to make something salable, it is an asset only in the books but it is really cash not available immediately. Accountants can spot this “locked cash” pretty easily and prove to the business owner that his purchasing habits and / or the sales cycle mismatches are causing the real problems. That was just one example. Show your clients the habits that are costing them dearly.

3. Show Your Clients What They Can’t See: Someone’s got to do it. It’s better an accountant does it, than a Doctor doing it. Yes, an accountant can actually save a human life, by telling in advance how to avoid future business disaster. On a positive note, accountants have the most important insight into the financial health of their business clients. Saying something like “you are actually financing your customers’ operating costs for 6 months” can be a lifesaver for a businessperson who has been too scared to put up with demanding customers. If your client is delivering real value to his customers, you would be very helpful to tell him that he has nothing to fear. Show your clients the reasons that are stalling their growth.

The One Thing Your Clients Really Want:

The one thing your clients really want is your “path breaking” help to take them to the future that they designed when starting their entrepreneurial journey. Don’t you think so?

Have you created your dream practice, yet? Pransform is dedicated to help accounting and tax firms and professionals reach the future they wanted to create. Contact us now to know how Pransform has helped firms just like yours reach their goals.