In my last blog, we explored the first of three activities to help you capitalize on your summer growing season - networking in your “social sphere.”  In this article, we’ll explore two other important activities that can help you generate new business and expand your influence in your chosen markets.

Meet With Your Clients
Cross-serving your clients – or selling additional services to them - is the holy grail of the accounting profession.   It is a great client retention strategy because clients are more likely to stay with their CPA firm the more services the firm provides for them.  Making your firm a “one-stop service provider” helps build client retention and loyalty.

I’m not suggesting that you explore ways to deliver more to your existing clients just so you can sell your clients more “stuff.”  Instead, I want to help you uncover real client needs waiting to be met, because if your clients have unmet needs and you’re not solving them, you run the risk that someone else will.

To position yourself to meet your clients’ needs, conduct at least one existing client meeting per week this summer (either by phone or in-person).  Start with your “A” clients or your largest clients and eventually contact all of them.  Use the meeting as an opportunity to “check in” and see how you are doing for them.  Then, ask a few questions to help you assess whether or not the client may be a candidate for other services, including finding out their most important goals for the coming year and what challenges they’re most concerned about as they look ahead. 

Assuming the client is satisfied with the quality and level of service that they are receiving, you can also share that the highest compliment they can pay you is the referral of a friend or colleague to your firm. Ask them if they know anyone who is looking for a CPA or someone who could benefit like they have from your services - and make sure that they know you’re not “too busy” to accept referrals or to do more work for them.

Build Referral Source Relationships
Another great way to develop business this summer is to focus on establishing long-lasting relationships with referral sources.  If you already have some strong referral sources, be sure to first reach out to them and schedule an appointment to meet if you haven’t met for awhile.  Then, commit to continue meeting on a regular basis, perhaps as often as quarterly, to deepen the relationship and stay current on changes in your firms.  If you want to build additional referral sources, begin looking for potential bankers, attorneys and other service professionals with whom to partner. 

Start by contacting your own banker, insurance agent or other professional service providers and make them aware of your interest in exploring a referral relationship.  You can also contact your local bank branch and ask to speak with their business banker.  Most business bankers are very interested in CPA relationships, so your interest is likely to be reciprocated. 

With any potential referral source, let them know that you would like to talk about the possibility of getting to know each other better because you would love to be able to make recommendations to your clients who may require their services and want to serve as a reliable and trusted resource for them to refer their clients to.  Although asking for these types of meetings can feel somewhat awkward at first, it will start to feel more natural the more often you do it. 

Keep in mind that you may need to have a couple of meetings before you determine if you are going to have a win-win referral relationship.  If it doesn’t feel right or you wouldn’t feel confident referring people to the prospective source, simply thank them for their time and move on to other sources until you do find the right fit.  Referral sources are long-term relationships where mutual respect and trust are present.  You only need a few to really generate opportunities, so be particular with whom you choose to partner. 

Dedicate time to these two activities every week, and you’ll be sure to generate new relationships and new business, too.  What one specific action can you take this week?  Post your commitment and share your result, too.  We’re interested!

Jennifer Wilson is a partner and co-founder of ConvergenceCoaching, LLC, a leadership and marketing consulting and coaching firm that specializes in helping CPA and IT firms achieve success.  Learn more about the company and its services at www.convergencecoaching.com.