How to grow your accounting firm by
60% in 60 days without spending a dime on new leads
In this article we’re going to walk you through how to grow your accounting firm by 60% in 60 days without spending a dime on new leads.
We’ve helped hundreds of firms accomplish this using the step-by-step methods that will be revealed below.
Some early feedback from accountants using our method
An email from an accountant who increased his closing rate to 75% within 2 months netting $40K net new revenue using this method and said that it is the BEST tool I have ever used to close deals…I didn’t realize how much of a problem I was having with pricing work and getting quotes out. Doing it in front of prospects is genius.
An email from an accountant who until now was underpricing his firm’s services. He used this new method to significantly increase his fee on one of his most cost-conscious clients
By the end of this article you will fully understand how you can use a unique unfair advantage that you already have in your back pocket, but were never taught in school.
We’ve seen too many amazing accountants get underpaid, both from new clients and their existing clients. This has a massive multiplier effect. Higher fees should not be reserved only for those firms who are slick at closing business. We see it all the time.
The amazing part is that there is no direct relationship between quality of work and fees. There are too many firms getting paid double or triple but their work sucks.
And firms that produce amazing work are radically underpaid. Here’s the bottom line: firms that know how to close by using their unfair advantage get paid more.
And that’s a playing field that we’re gonna level and change your future forever.
Your unfair advantage will allow you to get paid the amount that your clients are willing and prepared to pay you, during your first meeting. Your clients will be impressed with you.
And best of all your unfair advantage comes without any learning curve or stress. This is how those high paid firms do it.
Now you will too. It just works.
Who this is for
Now who is this for? If you are trying to be a better closer, get to your first mil, sell your firm, retire early, stop underpricing clients, then stick around.
If you are worried about Intuit’s QuickBooks Live eating your lunch by now offering full-service accounting for basically no money. If you’re sick of all these venture-backed SaaS platforms commoditizing accounting services and forcing your fees down.
If you’re pissed off that you wasted thousands of dollars on a “profitability and growth consultant” or blew a few grand on a value-pricing “bootcamp”. Or that it shouldn’t take days or weeks to close a new client, then this is for you.
If you hate the growing number of offshore accountants that are making your clients think that they can get full service accounting, bookkeeping or tax prep for just a few bucks, or hate that clients who pay the least tend to cause the most trouble, or just can’t believe that clients might actually leave you for a few bucks less, then this is for you.
The bottom line
Here’s the truth:
You can increase your profit by 60% in 60 days without spending a dime on new leads if you have enough qualified people to speak to and you are using a natural closing and pricing strategy.
Our core concept is that accountants fail to obtain the desired level of profitability and client base not because they aren’t good at what they do, but because they are not using a structured system to optimize their closing rates and make an immediate great first impression by visually showing their value up-front.
This results in accountants failing not because they can’t deliver great services, or save their clients money or market their services, but because they conduct these activities in the wrong order and dramatically underprice.
It’s important to note that accountants categorically save their client’s fortunes each year but have no means to pound their chest to elegantly express it, so they keep it locked up.
Ya see… in business school we were taught debits & credits with a sprinkle of alternative minimum tax. We were not taught how to unleash our natural value in an understandable way to our clients ears. No matter whether they are an architect, dentist or landscaper these same value basic principles apply.
Unfortunately most accountants are not equipped with the toolkit to unlock their value since the technologies used are relatively new and the cost can be significant.
We are the only people dedicated to solving this particular problem for accountants and bookkeepers.
It’s possible to dominate this industry if you have the right information and you follow the right steps in the right order. Unfortunately far too many accountants either don’t understand the steps or the cadence and end up wasting time and money.
Or they analyze and paralyze themselves. We have dedicated the last few years to solving this problem.
A bit of background
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Marc Howard (ex-Gartner). Along with my business partner Allan Ratafia, CPA (ex-PwC), our main focus is running a SaaS company that services close to 1,500 accountants and processes over $75m in transactions for these firms. That might sound great, but there’s a big problem.
Over the years we’ve found that when it comes to pricing services most accountants are massively undercharging for their work. And the crazy part is that they actually know this, but don’t feel like they can fix it.
Perhaps Allan’s story says it best:
For my own CPA firm, I’ve seen it all. From having no clients or money to going big. From having no time, to living the good life. From renting a few small duplexes to owning many real estate complexes. I’ll spare you with all the details, but suffice it to say I made things happen. But I was always pissed off at the lack of technology to help me. Always reengineering stuff for my own needs. Why wasn’t this stuff available to everyone! So I decided to dedicate my career to helping other accountants make more money, way more. I built technologies that fixed things. Things that needed to be fixed. Things that other tech companies couldn’t fix because they didn’t understand our unique industry from the ground up.
Allan and I both realized that the real bottleneck is that there is no easy way to go from the initial client call, “Hey I’m interested in an accountant to help me with my business”… to closing at the right fee and zooming the money into the bank.
The entire closing process is haphazard for most firms. If you are reading this, you know what we mean.
After years of analysis with thousands of accountants we built a platform that could price real-time while guiding an accountant or bookkeeper on exactly what to say on a call to closing the deal and automate sending the proposal and getting paid. Soup-to-nuts. No learning curves, no hassle.
After beta testing it became obvious that we hit a nerve across the entire industry. We started getting some emotional emails from accountants who wished they had this years ago. Many firms wanted to invest in the software. We were featured in The Boston Herald, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Accounting Today, AccountingWEB, CPA Practice Advisor and several other professional publications.
Firms began using it not only to close new clients, but to improve revenue for their existing client base. Something we had not originally anticipated.
After our first beta user in rural Rochester NY used it to close $40K in new business in just 7 weeks we knew we were onto something big.
We’re now on a mission to get this method into the hands of every accountant in the US. So every accountant can be on the same playing field and get paid the right fee, right away — without ‘winging it’ anymore.
Here’s the method to do that step-by-step.
Step 1: Identify if your clients are underpriced. If so, gracefully raise their fee or monetize them via cull-out sale.
Old Way:
You wonder if you are underpricing. It’s on your mind but you have no central database to confirm this. You want to get everybody’s fees in line, but not sure how to do it without rocking the boat. You want your practice to have maximum value, but some clients are dragging you down.
Old Results:
You do nothing and stay underpriced and largely avoid price increases, with the exception of periodic small ones, Your fees and margins remain low relative to your peers. You continue to service underperforming clients. Your firm does not command the maximum multiple upon exit. Major FOMO.
New Way:
You have access to a national database to smartly price each client. You have a process to raise fees for existing clients so they are in line with their peers. You price the relationship not the service. For clients that refuse to get in line, you make a decision to either keep them for less profit, or execute a cull-out sale to monetize them and free up resources to focus on higher value clients.
New Results:
You have a firm that services high yielding relationships. Your pricing is always on point and you confidently command a premium price based on your true value. Your old ways of pricing and fear are a thing of the past. You’re no longer haunted by inferior pricing. You’re no longer losing business to other firms for a few bucks less. Your practice value is on the rise.
The Bottom Line:
It’s not difficult to have a firm that produces high margins, even for rural locations. By uncovering opportunities with existing clients you can set yourself on a high profit path with new clients. And you can get paid for weaker clients that are dragging you down. Soon enough, your strategy becomes your core methodology and you are yielding sustainably higher profits.
Step 2: Nail scope on 1st call, without leaving money on the table, by asking the right questions at the right time.
Old Way:
You pull out a blank piece of paper and begin asking your potential new client questions. Make a few notes and talk about how your firm can help. You might schedule a follow up call after they submit their source information, or you may even quote a fee on the fly.
Old Results:
You miss a ton of stuff and blow too much time. You speak for too long producing client fatigue and low closing rates. You don’t speak in the manner your client wants to hear, rather you speak in the manner that makes sense to you. You don’t get a Crescendo Effect. You accept a high risk of leaving money on the table if you quote a fee on the fly. You could easily omit a service that you’ll have to eat, or have an awkward conversation to request an adjusted fee. You extend your close time by days as you wait/hope for your client to send you source information. You likely need multiple meetings and follow ups to get it all buttoned up. The deal gets cold, the momentum is lost.
New Way:
You visually present key questions in a structured way. You know exactly what to ask without getting off track. You leverage software and analytics to guide and protect you. Your client is laser focused and understands you. Long gone are the days of needing to collect their source information first. You are comfortable with accepting that ‘Good enough today is better than perfect tomorrow.’
New Results:
You nail scope and fee without stress of omission. You make a very strong first impression. You are now able to confidently provide a quote on the first meeting knowing that your price is on target with no worries about omissions. You’re able to repeat the process with new prospects or existing clients who may be underpaying to ensure that you are getting the national average fee or above for your services.
The Bottom Line:
By capturing the essence of the relationship on the first call you avoid delays, increase acceptance rates and look savvy by no longer needing onboarding or client backup information upfront.
Step 3: Determine if the client is worth pursuing or not.
Old Way:
You spend most of your time explaining why you are the right firm. But you don’t illustrate what conditions are needed to become your client in the first place. You focus on your expertise, rather than setting a foundation for mutual respect..
Old Results:
You pick up clients only to discover later that they are not a good fit. They don’t appreciate that your goal is to save them money — they think you exist in a vacuum to handle their taxes or books, like a commodity. They expect more from you and suck your resources.They feel like you are too expensive or unresponsive so they leave or resist fee increases. There is a misalignment of expectations.
New Way:
You utilize data and analytics to score a client to see if they are worth pursuing right from the start. You share this score with them in real-time so they can clearly see if they are a great match and why. You visually display how you will save them money. You spend less time talking about each service, instead you focus on value over price.
New Results:
Your client realizes that you only accept suitable clients, not all clients. They see it as a privilege to work with you and appreciate your transparency. They spend less time thinking about fees per service and more time realizing that the relationship as a whole is more valuable. They are more inclined to subscribe to you. You are able to repeat the process for each client while never having to worry about picking up a low-value client. You now have a super organized and savvy approach and your clients notice. Clients are happier and you’re spending less money on marketing while enjoying an organic bump in your referrals.
The Bottom Line:
Show the client whether they are worthy of your services by showing them how you grade them. This transparent method sets the foundation for a valuable relationship and positions you as a seasoned professional. You become the alpha dog, not them.
Step 4: Visually show the exact services you deliver, so they don’t misunderstand your depth of service.
Old Way:
During your new client meeting you verbally express your main deliverables. Since you explained it, you assume they understand it. You might talk about your fee at this juncture. Supporting service areas that are under-the-hood are left out because they are obvious to you. You assume that they know enough about you to sign up.
Old Results:
Service items may be missed or misunderstood, creating underpricing and client friction later. Client does not appreciate the depth of your services and feels like you do much less than you actually do. They are less encouraged to accept your fee and happy to shop around for a lower price. They see you as a commodity which can be replaced next year for a few bucks less.
New Way:
In a single meeting you visually match the services the client has requested with the services that you provide including smart recommendations. Without giving away free information you quickly show how your recommendations directly serve their needs today and going forward. Since they see it visually, they consume it.
New Results:
Using software, you have a visually repeatable method to display everything properly, including backwork. You itemize each of the services that you are recommending and explain exactly how it will help them in their business to achieve their goals. You no longer forget or miss any key services and they don’t think you just prepare their taxes. Your expertise shines through and there is less inclination to shop you around. You eliminate the risk of the client mistaking your services as a commodity and are no longer leaving money on the table.
The Bottom Line:
Letting the client see your attention to detail upfront provides trust, which leads to acceptance of your fee. It also mitigates any overlooked revenue opportunities.
Step 5. Blast them with your expected dollar savings so they know you are tied to their specific scenario.
Old Way:
You know that you save your clients money, but you steer away from any calculations or promises to them at your first meeting. You are not sure how to compute their expected savings so instead you talk about your services and your related expertise. Perhaps using a checklist approach. You use the same approach for every client, because it makes sense to you and doesn’t put you in a bad spot.
Old Results:
Clients don’t understand the actual value that you bring to the table in the manner they need to hear. While clients may understand some things, they don’t understand how much money you can put into their pocket. They see you as another cost, rather than a pathway to savings. They might compare you to another local accountant or even H&R Block that charges fees per service item (commodity pricing). They have no way to evaluate if your fee is appropriate because all they can do is compare it to other firms that commoditize.. And they make their decision based on this.
New Way:
You visually show the client how much you can save them in dollars and exactly how you plan to do it. You show your value first, before you talk about your fee. Now your fee becomes largely irrelevant to them, because they want you for value. You don’t guarantee anything, you just set up what it might look like for them when they hire you. You lead with this approach because you’re already doing it anyhow, and now have a means to express it properly, not just conceptually. You are confident in this presentation because you are backed and guided by software that calculates and displays everything needed.
New Results:
A complete understanding why your client needs to hire you. The client immediately realizes that by working with you they are saving money. No matter their level of sophistication, your value wows them and they are itching to get going. They are no longer thinking about fees and you are no longer commoditizing your services. By the time you present your fee it’s already a foregone conclusion that you are the accountant to partner with. You now have a reliable way to visually show their expected savings that automatically factors in many of the methods that you have always used but never fully articulated. This powerful framing allows you to significantly drive up your sales closing rate. Your clients see you as a partner in growth and not simply a service provider.
The Bottom Line:
Dramatically increase the lifetime value of each client and double your firm valuation by setting the groundwork for why they engage and retain you. Avoid old-school commodity based engagements which are no longer sustainable.
Step 6: Immediately display your fixed fee and catch up fee so your true-value is highly attractive. Show your fee seconds after you show your value. And show it as a fixed subscription fee for easy acceptance.
Old Way:
In the past you had no reason to immediately show your fee, but now you do. So you spent time considering your clients needs and determining the right price. You didn’t want to miss anything. You considered upfront, ongoing and catch up fees. You might offer a predetermined plan level, but invariably it’s not a perfect fit. You wondered if you should charge more for this client because they are in a niche industry. Eventually you come up with a fee, but you bill separately for other services like tax preparation. It’s taking too long. You refer to your price list or just wing it based on experience.
Old Results:
Your client becomes focused on your price, not your value. They have difficulty understanding your fee and wonder if it’s too high. They want simplicity, but you’re making it hard. They want to subscribe to you, but now they can’t. Engaging you becomes an administrative burden for them — too many things to understand, too many steps to take. They question things and never sign up. You intended to make it smooth, but in the end it’s a time suck. And you encourage late paying clients and put downward pressure on your cash flows.
New Way:
You visually present a simple subscription fee that matches up exactly with their interests. While it’s simple, it’s actually custom for their scenario. You show your fee immediately after you show your value. The perfect crescendo effect. Your client is excited to sign up right now — before you change your mind and increase the fee :). They might think you made a mistake on the low side, but you didn’t, it’s amazing! It’s all algorithmically calculated to protect you and improve your profits. Even if something was missed it would be small and you would be able to recover this after your client is boarded through your scope protection.
New Results:
Simple and custom subscription pricing within moments. No calculations, no confusion, no burden. No squeezing clients into predetermined plan levels. No price lists. Your services are easy to understand, easy to budget, easy to subscribe and easy to pay. You have addressed their needs and emotions, so they sign up fast. Your cash flows are set on autopilot and you are rolling.
The Bottom Line:
Influence demand for your services by providing a transparent bundled price. Meet the needs of the marketplace and attract more clients by providing assurance. Make more money and get paid faster than hourly/variable pricing.
Step 7. Send your engagement within 90 seconds for immediate acceptance and payment. Strike when the iron is hot.
Old Way:
From your meeting notes, you spend time evaluating the engagement. You might need more information so you ask your client to send it first. You spend precious time assembling your engagement letter and sending it. It’s an annoying process. All the while time is ticking and momentum is being lost. You probably send it by email but you might do it by paper. You might convert a Word doc to PDF. You ask your client to sign and send it back. If you provide a payment link you end up paying exorbitant credit card fees that make you nuts. If you use a cool engagement app, there’s still manual work needed. Or maybe you just allow verbal acceptances, creating liability issues and dramatically lowering your practice valuation. You know that you need a better way, but it’s too much damn work to figure it all out.
Old Results:
It takes too long to send out your engagement letter, get it signed and collect your first payment. Your client has time to consider other options. You loathe the process. Your client is burdened by having to send tax returns or source information to you first. If you happen to send the engagement quickly, it may not have a rapid sign up option. You have no automated follow-up system that gently reminds the client, or notifies you as soon upon acceptance and payment. And you are still paying credit card fees.
New Way:
Within 90 seconds, a perfectly tuned engagement with a payment link is in your client’s possession. Often while still on the initial meeting, creating an environment for rapid sign up. You automate the entire process using smart technology simple enough for your assistant to run. You digitize everything and move away from all the multiple steps. You are no longer chasing clients for payment. You no longer need different systems for pricing, closing, engaging, and getting paid. You’re running your systems in the cloud using technology that scales with your firm.
New Results:
You are closing deals faster and getting paid in just minutes. You find yourself having initial client meetings in the morning then getting started with your newly signed client in the afternoon. You look super savvy in your client’s eyes and they are honored to work with you. Loathing the engagement process is a thing of the past. You are linking new clients accepted into other firm softwares to create more efficiencies. You’re running a well oiled sales machine that is inspiring confidence from your clients. You redeploy these shaved hours into delighting and servicing your clients. Referrals and client satisfaction increase.
The Bottom Line:
You will significantly increase your client acceptance rate and revenue growth by digitizing your engagements and automating your payments..
It all really boils down to two key concepts.
Concept #1: Overtly express your expected dollar savings on the call, visually shown.
Old Way:
The old way requires too much time calculating the expected savings or not recognizing that you’re already doing it. This self-fulfilling uncertainty disrupts your ability to nail the client. Instead you focus on superficial services as your main lead. You might spend time with other softwares trying to justify how much you can save them, but its a ton of work. The old way takes too long to close a new client. You have several calls and wait until you have their prior tax returns and access to their QuickBooks file. You spend days chasing them down for this information only to find that their books are a mess and that they will be a lot more work than what you originally thought on your first call.
Old Results:
Days or weeks later you send them an engagement only to have them politely inform you that they have already found an accountant who was “a better fit”. Unfortunately you’ve spent hours reviewing their tax forms and QB file, not including that 1-hour free consultation where you gave them some great advice that they will take to the other accountant or just try to do themselves. Most clients do not understand or appreciate the work that a good accountant does for them. Worse, accountants often end up doing work that goes uncompensated.
New Way:
Ask the right questions on the first call that maps customer needs to the services that you provide. Visually show the prospect expected savings in working with you.
New Results:
There is no need for the prospect to continue to research and compare you with competitors. They immediately see the value in actual dollars by working with you. No fancy calculations or other softwares needed which serve to delay things further.
But how does a visual pricing presentation increase my close rate?
Humans respond to and process visual data better than any other type of data. In fact, the human brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than text. That means that a picture is actually worth 60,000 words (National Academy of Sciences U.S.). When you are speaking with a prospect being able to show what they can potentially save in working with you using visuals cements this into their brain. Instead of the last thing they remember being how much you cost, it’s now how much you’re going to save them. Major difference.
Concept #2: Immediately juxtapose their savings with your fee to get them hooked in 1 shot.
Old Way
Providing your pricing is stressful. You debate with yourself that if you charge too much you may lose the deal but too little and you’ve left money on the table. If you knew you could save your client $20,000, it would be easier to close them now. But you need to think about it. Unfortunately after your hour long free consultation the only thing the prospect remembers is your price. You may not even send out the engagement letter until days later because you’re trying to calculate the optimal price.
Old Result
Prospects say “let me think about it and get back to you” and you never hear from them again.
Let’s use an example. To see this issue in action let’s compare two accountant’s sales-closing pitches.
We’re going to refer to the first accountant as “Darth Vader, CPA” and the second as “Luke Skywalker, CPA”.
Darth Vader, CPA and Luke Skywalker, CPA both offer full-service accounting, including bookkeeping, tax preparation, tax planning, outsourced CFO services, payroll and client advisory services. Let’s say that Darth Vader, CPA charges $700 per month for these services and Luke Skywalker, CPA charges $1,400 per month.
Vader is just about to close the deal with the business owner for $700 per month, but at the last minute the business owner decides not to move forward because it’s “too expensive for me.”
Vader goes on about how many years they’ve been in business, how great their customer service is, how many “satisfied customers” they have, etc. Vader might even be compelled to say “there’s a lot of work needed.” But its too late now. The business owner has heard this same pitch a dozen times and he really doesn’t care about how cool the firm’s new online client portal is. Darth Vader, CPA ends up never hearing back from the prospect.
The truth is that in today’s highly competitive accounting landscape, most customers take it for granted that you have good customer service and that you’re a professional that will do good work for them.
The problem is they are comparing you to a dozen other CPAs in the area, who say the same basic thing. You are effectively competing with the exact same “features” that other firms claim to have. You are therefore reduced to a commodity in the customer’s eye and everything else held constant, they are going to choose the accountant down the road for ten bucks less.
Or will they?
Now let’s meet Luke Skywalker, CPA. Skywalker takes a different tack, a smarter approach that aligns the client’s pain points with his solutions. Skywalker knows that the client’s business (let’s say its a single-member LLC) is making $500,000 per year in profit including the owner’s salary.
Based on his initial consultation questions, Skywalker knows that he’s going to save the business an average of 15 to 20 percent a year in tax savings based on experience. He knows it is not a perfect calculation, but it’s pretty close. This includes identifying savings opportunities such as reviewing owner wages versus distributions, saving on Social Security taxes, deferral and prepayments, entity structure management, bonus depreciation and much more. All the stuff he does regularly.
Skywalker therefore confidently tells the business owner that he expects to save him approximately $75,000 to $100,000 in the first year (perhaps a bit more or less, but this falls well in line with his typical 15 to 20 percent savings for this kind of business).
Skywalker smoothly closes the conversation by saying, “Based on the information you’ve provided and my experience with clients like you I expect to save you approximately $75,000 to $100,000 with our work, vs if you were improperly represented.” It may be a bit more or a bit less once we fully review your situation. The price for our relationship will be $1,400 a month, and we can start immediately.”
Which accountant do you think that business owner would hire?
In most cases, the business will choose Luke Skywalker, CPA because he established value before price. He also projected his professional expertise based on the many businesses he’s helped in the past (this is known as benchmarking) and effectively showed the prospect that he will be saving him about five times more than what he will be charging for his services. The force is clearly with Skywalker CPA.
Of course, this is just one element of value-based pricing and there are dozens of other factors that an experienced accountant needs to consider. At its core, value-based pricing is simply basing a product or service’s price on how much the target client believes it’s worth.
If you can effectively communicate your value before your price, you not only increase your sales-closing rate but also maximize your up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. When prospects have this kind of consultation experience, it’s exactly the confidence that makes them choose you versus the guy down the road that uses the same recycled pitch as everyone else.
So how does framing this value tie back to higher fees?
The New Way
You will make an unforgettable first impression by providing a savings estimate and visually showing your value on your very first call with a prospect. Then immediately sending the engagement letter so that it’s fresh on their mind and the excitement from the conversion has them in an action-taking mood.
The New Result
Your pricing is always on-point , you no longer leave money on the table and the recurring payments are teed-up.
But how can I provide a price quote before I have all the client information?
Asking the right questions on the first call helps avoid the time delay and back and forth collecting client information like tax forms and QB data files. If there is any surprise information once you onboard the client the pricing can be later adjusted to reflect the actual information. You’ve probably heard the expression Ready>Aim>Fire. In this case it’s all about Ready, then Fire, then Aim (adjust later). Too much Aiming upfront is a deal killer. Firing first is the move.
Most clients do not share the same sense of urgency when it comes to providing prior year tax returns, QB file access and other information. So asking for a bunch of information before the sale is closed ultimately delays the closing process. This technique is to be able to separate the closing from the onboarding process. Sure you can combine the two then show the client what you expect to save them weeks or months later into the relationship, but that assumes that they decided to hire you. Why leave that to chance?
Showing your value and expected savings upfront gets you in the door. Then there will be additional cross-sell and up-sell opportunities once they are a happy client.
Summary
So in summary all you need to do is identify:
- If your existing clients are underpriced
- Then correct through a graceful fee raise or cull-out sale
- Implement a repeatable discovery process to nail the scope for an optimal price
- Evaluate if the client is profitable before bringing or keeping them on board
- Visually show your services so they know everything you’re capable of helping them with
- Show their estimated dollar savings upfront based on their unique scenario
- Promptly display your fixed and catch up fees as a comparison to how much you expect to save them
- Then send your digital engagement within 90 seconds of the end of the meeting to maximize the acceptance rate and accelerate your payment
The steps outlined here are “Level 1” detail and there are many nuances to them, so instead of attempting them without help, which is likely to be frustrating, lonely and unsuccessful, you can use technology to guide you along the way and make it more profitable.
And this is how you grow your accounting firm by 60% in 60 days without spending a dime on new leads.
Now there are a couple ways to achieve this:
Option 1: You can figure it out yourself
Option one is to come up with the perfect sales closing and pricing system by yourself, however:
You’ll spend days chasing clients for the new business, hoping they will read your website, never knowing if they truly understand your value or if your price was the only thing that they really heard. You can continue to use your same sales pitch but if you’re not closing 50–75% of your qualified leads then something is amiss.
You’ll also need to build and maintain your own cost-plus pricing system for every service or hope that somehow your new 3-tiered pricing menu inspires prospects to “choose the middle” price. You may even have a 3-page PDF listing your rates down to each tax form.
If you still bill hourly although pricing may be easier for you it also makes it easier for prospects to compare you to the accountant down the road, not to mention challenge fees later. Then you need to come up with a compelling rebuttal when the prospect challenges you with “But the other two accountants I spoke with are charging less than $xx/hr.
Developing pricing and closing on your own is possible but will always be an uphill battle because you will constantly spend time on tweaking the pricing, forgetting to add a service, forgetting to charge for a service, low-balling yourself, discounting to at-cost just to land a new client, etc.
Finally you’ll need to generate the right engagement letter with the correct pricing, ensure that you haven’t missed anything, hope that your prospect is telling the truth about the state of their books, finally draft up and send out the engagement, get them to sign, and get them to pay promptly. If it’s a recurring payment you will need to ensure that you have a recurring payments system setup and routing automatically to your own bank account.
This is a painful road that is hard to get off of. It’s possible but painful.
Option 2: You can use a proven system: Bookgel
Or you can use a proven system: Bookgel, the pricing and sales closing platform exclusively for accountants, to instantly and visually show that you will save them more in profit than the fee that you will charge them. It takes you all the way from the first client call all the way to getting paid right to your own bank account.
With Bookgel you will automatically price and close the deal real-time in-person or remotely on your first consultation call. This new cloud technology shows you exactly what to ask and when to ask in order to quote the optimal price. Your price is always on target with the services you provide powered by a powerful, always up-to-date AI-pricing engine (that’s been featured in Accounting Today, AccountingWEB, CPA Practice Advisor, The Boston Herald, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch and a dozen other publications). No need to spend weeks or months perfecting and updating your firm’s pricing or learning a new value-based pricing system.
Bookgel is a repeatable sales argument that produces scaleable practice revenues.
Now you can present, close the sale, send the engagement within minutes, get it signed, get paid to your own bank account and just let the recurring payments roll in every month automatically.
Who this is for:
Again, Bookgel is for accountants and bookkeepers who are trying to grow their accounting firm by 60% in 60 days without spending a dime on new leads, but are struggling with closing more new business clients or would like to convert existing clients to higher-margin recurring revenue clients.
Case Studies
Let’s look at some real-world examples of accountants using the Bookgel platform and method to successfully price and close clients.
Roe CPA of Atlanta — $40K in net new revenue in 2 months while increasing close rate to 75%
John Charles from Roe CPA skyrocketed his closing rate to 75% within 2 months of using Bookgel.
Roe CPA is a full service accounting firm in Atlanta, GA. Although the principal, John Charles Roe, CPA has always had a process for closing and pricing clients he sought a better way that could increase his close rate while improving his margin.
John Charles used Bookgel and within minutes realized that he was leaving money on the table. He also realized that he was doing his clients a disservice by not showing prospective clients how much he could save them.
Using Bookgel John Charles was able to generate $40,000 in net new revenue in just 2 months. His close rate effectively went up to 75% within 2 months, a significant improvement over his close rate of the last 8 years.
With Bookgel John Charles is now able to show value before price and in a very visual way, right over Zoom and in real-time. No more waiting to come up with a price, figuring out which services the prospect is a good fit for or spending any more than a few minutes actually sending out the engagement.
Smart Choice Accounting of Los Angeles
Julianne from Smart Choice Accounting Services was closing clients within hours of first using Bookgel and said “Bookgel delivered value-based billing principles on a silver platter and now I don’t need to study how to do it.”
Succentrix Business Advisors of Gwinnett
Ron from Succentrix Business Advisors now uses Bookgel for every new prospect and says “Bookgel now helps us present our value pricing for clients while clearly explaining the savings. We use it for every potential client.”
Don’t just take our word for it, Bookgel has been featured in over a dozen publications including:
Here’s what is going to happen when you work with us:
You will be able to command fees that you have never thought were possible.
You will be able to dramatically boost your closing rate for higher fees
You can eventually sell your firm for 2x revenue if you execute properly.
You can finally get rid of those “D” and “F” clients.
You can forget about losing customers to newer, cheaper, faster virtual or offshore accountants.
You will forever get out of the “commodity zone”
You will feel empowered, confident, and motivated.
How It Works
So how does it work?
Before, when you wanted to close prospects you would need to spend days or weeks chasing the client for the new business, hoping that they would read your website, never knowing if they truly understood your value or if your price was the only thing they really heard.
But now you can use Bookgel to instantly and visually show the client that you are the right match for each other. And determine during the first meeting if you will be able to save them more than the fee that you will charge them.
This significantly reduces the chance later of them politely informing you that you’re too expensive or that they already found an accountant who was “a better fit for our industry”. Now let’s see just how easy this actually is.
Step 1: Determine which of your existing clients are underpriced or intelligently price a new prospect
Bookgel lets you review your existing clients to see which ones are likely underpriced, then lets you instantly calculate the correct fee based on our algorithm which includes national averages and over 50 factors levering machine learning that gets smarter the more you use it.
Step 2: Use our smart interview process to ask the right questions at the right time so you nail the scope without leaving money on the table.
Now you can use the same method to land new clients or use to re engage and reprice existing clients. No more missing questions or forgetting what to ask to obtain the optimal fee.
Step 3: Determine if the client is worth pursuing or not
You display a value meter with arrows that show the situation. You let clients candidly know if they are worthy of your time. You let thiem know if they are in the Go zone, or No zone. If Go, you continue. If No, you decline elegantly. You set the foundation that you don’t take every client, rather only clients with a high value proposition to both sides.
Step 4: Visually show the exact services you deliver, so they don’t think you are limited to just preparing their tax return or handling their books.
Visually showing the client the itemized list of services you offer fully customized to your client intake questions and the services that your firm offers today. Thinking of offering Outsourced CFO or Client Advisory Services? Now you can price it and pitch it like a pro.
Simply enable in Bookgel the services you offer and the questions dynamically update and show you exactly what to ask then it prices on-the-fly. Clients will appreciate all the services that you offer while you will appreciate that you’re no longer forgetting any opportunities for upsells or worse, providing a service and forgetting to charge for it.
Step 5. Show the dollar savings that you expect to produce for their unique scenario so your value is overwhelming.
Dramatically increase the lifetime value of each client and double your firm valuation by setting the groundwork for why they engage and retain you. Show the client right over Zoom (or your favorite remote tool) not only what they can expect to save working with you, but exactly how you will do this for them. You can click the How We Do It button and it lists the various methods that you will use, all real-time right on the client call!
Step 6: Immediately display your fixed fee and catch up fee so your true-value is highly attractive.
Influence demand for your services by providing a transparent bundled price. Make more money and get paid faster than hourly/variable pricing. Let Bookgel automatically calculate the one-time, recurring and any additional or optional Add-ons that would be a great fit for your client.
Step 7. Send your engagement within 90 seconds for immediate acceptance and payment. Strike when the iron is hot.
You will significantly increase your client acceptance rate and revenue growth by digitizing your engagements and automating your payments. You can use your existing engagements or payments software to export then send manually or simply click a button and do it automatically with us:
Bookgel makes it easy and helps guide you using the latest machine learning algorithm to always nail the right price.
Before, when you wanted to get paid at the optimal price you would have to build and maintain your own pricing system for every service or dabble with a 3-tiered menu pricing system hoping that it inspires prospects to “choose the middle” price.
But now, you can use Bookgel to price real-time automatically right over Zoom on your first consultation call. It shows you exactly what to ask and when in order to quote the optimal price.
Your price is always on target with the services you provide powered by a powerful, always up-to-date AI-pricing engine. No need to spend weeks or months perfecting and updating your firm’s pricing or learning a new value-based pricing system.
No more prospects telling you “let me think about it and get back to you” only to never hear from them again.
To learn more and to see if your firm is a good fit try our 20-second quiz: https://www.bookgel.com/quiz.
