A recent survey from accounting experts has produced some interesting results. The survey asked local accountants to explain why clients came to them. Fifty-seven percent said clients need someone to "straighten out their records." Another 29% said clients came to them for tax return preparation and 14% said clients came to them to find ways to increase profits. What was interesting about these results was that they were all based on superficial responses made by clients. It seems that few the accountants perform needs analyses to determine their clients' underlying requirements.
According to expert in marketing accounting services, most clients do not seek out accountants for financial statements or tax returns. He pointed out that "most clients are looking for tax savings, increased profits, increase cash flow, and advice to help them reach these goals. The problem is that most don't put their needs in these terms. This is where a needs analysis can be of critical importance."
Needs analysis is a systematic process for helping people to decipher what they need and where their priorities like. Clients' needs and wants are often complex and usually one need conflicts with another. To untangle these needs and help clients prioritize for their businesses, a need analysis will ask them sets of questions. The questions are generally broken into three groups including questions that help clients focus on business goals, questions that help them discover new needs, and questions that help them relate their needs to their goals. Performing such analyses can help accountants generalize the needs of groups of clients to determine what services they should be offering and how they should be marketing those services.
One practitioner in the focus group pointed out that a competitor preaches that an accountant should differentiate his or her services by becoming a "trusted advisor" and by building a closer relationship with clients. This philosophy is mostly right because it emphasizes the role of an accountant as an advisor. Helping clients to understand their own needs is part of the advisory role. The best way to solve the true needs of clients is through a properly developed needs analysis that uses open ended probing questions. A needs analysis must often be tailored to a client's specific industry, with the ultimate goal being to help the client better describe his or her own needs. Reading trade magazines and keeping up with topics in the industry can help an accountant focus the client on his or her specific needs.
The utility of a needs analysis is that it helps accountants to help their clients, which is a winning situation for all parties. As an advisor, it is important that accounts recognize they are offering more than just number crunching services. Accountants are actively engaged in helping clients to understand their businesses and get the most out of them.
According to expert in marketing accounting services, most clients do not seek out accountants for financial statements or tax returns. He pointed out that "most clients are looking for tax savings, increased profits, increase cash flow, and advice to help them reach these goals. The problem is that most don't put their needs in these terms. This is where a needs analysis can be of critical importance."
Needs analysis is a systematic process for helping people to decipher what they need and where their priorities like. Clients' needs and wants are often complex and usually one need conflicts with another. To untangle these needs and help clients prioritize for their businesses, a need analysis will ask them sets of questions. The questions are generally broken into three groups including questions that help clients focus on business goals, questions that help them discover new needs, and questions that help them relate their needs to their goals. Performing such analyses can help accountants generalize the needs of groups of clients to determine what services they should be offering and how they should be marketing those services.
One practitioner in the focus group pointed out that a competitor preaches that an accountant should differentiate his or her services by becoming a "trusted advisor" and by building a closer relationship with clients. This philosophy is mostly right because it emphasizes the role of an accountant as an advisor. Helping clients to understand their own needs is part of the advisory role. The best way to solve the true needs of clients is through a properly developed needs analysis that uses open ended probing questions. A needs analysis must often be tailored to a client's specific industry, with the ultimate goal being to help the client better describe his or her own needs. Reading trade magazines and keeping up with topics in the industry can help an accountant focus the client on his or her specific needs.
The utility of a needs analysis is that it helps accountants to help their clients, which is a winning situation for all parties. As an advisor, it is important that accounts recognize they are offering more than just number crunching services. Accountants are actively engaged in helping clients to understand their businesses and get the most out of them.
You can continue to learn about Practice Marketing For Busy Accountants by visiting Secrets of Marketing Accounting Services
Kirk Ward is a retired tax expert, accountant and auditor. He provides the same resources he used in building his practices to startup accountants through his Secrets of Marketing Accounting Services website and creates all sorts of marketing goodies for accountants who really want to build their practices.
His latest creation is the "Bean Counter's Cookbook" (http://beancounterscookbook.com/). And, it's just one of many bright ideas that come crawling out of the warped mind of this retired "Bean Counter!"
Kirk Ward is a retired tax expert, accountant and auditor. He provides the same resources he used in building his practices to startup accountants through his Secrets of Marketing Accounting Services website and creates all sorts of marketing goodies for accountants who really want to build their practices.
His latest creation is the "Bean Counter's Cookbook" (http://beancounterscookbook.com/). And, it's just one of many bright ideas that come crawling out of the warped mind of this retired "Bean Counter!"
0 comments:
Post a Comment