How do you and your firm win younger, dynamic clients with a long lifetime value (because of their age), provided you are able to do a brilliant job of looking after their businesses? Your firm's client portfolio almost certainly contains clients who started young with a small business and who then grew substantial businesses. So, how do you tap into that younger audience? In this podcast discussion with Sam Mitcham, you’ll learn how Sam, though in the early stages of building a successful accounting firm, demonstrated energy and enthusiasm in winning the 200 clients she already has, despite only setting the business up a couple of years ago. Discover her methodology of appealing to and attracting younger business owners. Why not join Sam and I on this humanisethenumbers.online podcast discussion to hear her share her insights into the use of social media and marketing, as well as a number of other profoundly powerful insights on how to grow and, at times, hold back from growth when it really matters. I hope you enjoy this podcast with Sam as much as I did. Please scroll down this episode page for Sam's contact information, as well as for additional resources mentioned in the podcast. |
The Solution:
I have an amazing community. I literally am not scared of anything that a client could come up with.
I still have panic moments, because we all have limitations and sometimes a client will come to me with an industry I've never dealt with before and I'll think 'Oh no! What have I done? What have I taken on?'
But then all I do is ring up one of these people in my community who bring me back down to earth and say ‘Sam, it's just the same as any other type of business, stop panicking, these are the things to look out for in that certain sector.’
Sometimes I ask advice on a personal tax query that’s quite high-level, and I just want to run it past somebody. Obviously there are always going to be paid services out there that you can implement, but if you make genuine friends, you can help each other a lot in this community.
And we do have a community now as accountants that we didn't before. When I first started my career, the accountant down the road from the firm I was working at wouldn't say hello in the street. It was an unwritten rule, you weren't allowed to talk to a member of the opposite team from the opposite firm that was just down the road, it was a big no-no.
Whereas now I meet up with, go for drinks with, get together with, compare stories, obviously keeping within GDPR, with all sorts of different accountants, because nobody wants to do it by themselves.
SHOW NOTES
Connect with Sam
Connect with Paul
Resources relating to this podcast:
Listen to Paul and Sam talk about the importance of recruiting the right people. Sam has only a very small team, and it's essential that she recruits the right people for her team, her clients and the future of her firm.
Sam operates a very human-to-human firm and wants to build a team of people who really care about her clients.
She remarks that the next person she recruits must be a 'fan of interaction', as Sam is very keen for all of her clients to feel that the door is always open.
Sam recognises that at the moment there is a talent shortage and the challenge in finding the right person for your team is that you are competing with other firms for that talent. She is also aware that, given the nature of the relationships she has with her clients, getting the right person is vital.
How hard are you finding it to recruit the right people at the moment?
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Remarkable Practice Manager Programme.
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Remarkable Practice Client Manager Programme.
You secure your firm’s future growth and profitability when your clients are loyal, recommend you more, buy additional services and are open to regular price increases.
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That’s exactly what our Client Manager Programme is designed to do.
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Sam Mitcham runs SJCM Accountancy. In this fascinating podcast you will hear Paul and Sam talk about how Sam pressed the pause button in her business to allow her to focus on the clients she already had. This meant that, when prospects approached her, she created a waiting list.
Sam talks very openly about her waiting list on this podcast and how hard it is to gauge the reaction of prospects to this.
Sam got very good at framing the conversation and making it a positive and nurturing conversation that was not based on rejection.
These conversations are difficult and challenging and Sam admits that some prospects were very shocked at her decision to 'pause' the taking on of new clients.
How do you handle challenging conversations with your prospects or clients? How often have you turned work down to take stock and focus on your current clients?
Paul talks about the art of pre-suasion and the importance of mastering this key communication skill - it's what you say before you say what you want to say that matters most.
How good are you at pre-suasion?
Click the link on the button to discover that successful pre-suasion is all about the preparation work you do before the conversation you have with your client.
Your Firm’s Future - by Douglas Aitken and Paul Shrimpling of Remarkable Practice
In a world of constant change, uncertainty, and increasing client expectations, one thing separates ambitious firms from the rest: Strategic health.
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