march2021 - 15

THE MILLENNIAL ADVISOR

Stop Selling:
GARRETT WAGNER, CPA

CEO/Founder, C3 Evolution Group
garrett.wagner@cpapracticeadvisor.com

Who Needs Help?

DOES ANY OTHER part of the job illicit more disdain than selling? For accountants,
selling is about as natural as a cat taking a bath. But our practices cannot survive
without new clients or expanding our services among our current ones.
Let's consider leaving sales behind
and they are looking for ways to solve
THE COMFORT ZONE

about your firm or services. Listen.
Focus on understanding where things
stand today-and how they got here.

in 2020, along with the rest of the
chaos. Instead, think of a future
where we help rather than sell.
By providing solutions to new
prospects and current clients, we
focus on their problems and challenges-rather than our own anxieties
to hit a number or fulfill some obtuse
obligation.
By shifting into the mindset of
solution providers, we become consultants and facilitators rather than
worrying about sales. But to make
this shift, we are called to embrace
the idea of probing our clients more
deeply than their taxes or uttering,
" What can I do for you. "
After all, they may not know what
they don't know.

Like peeling an onion, sometimes
people need to peel back many layers to get to the actual problem. For
example, if they mention turnover is
the biggest problem, is it because a
number of employees are leaving for
better pay across the street? Or is it
really the monotony of the work-
which may lead you to thinking about
their lack of an inventory management
system?
Perhaps this client started small.
Yet, the client still relies on paper
records to track an increasingly
complex inventory process. The
client might be turning people out,
doing everything by hand, and the
best people conclude this is madness
and go to greener pastures. In this
example, your client does not need
to keep raiding wages. He or she
needs an inventory management
system.
Our roles have never been so
important. Luckily, we do not need to
be sales people to sell being resourceful or experienced. We can evolve into
better helpers more easily than better
sales people. By helping our clients
understand the true natures of their
problems, then finding solutions to
those problems, we deepen these
relationships without getting them
dirtied in a sales routine.
So, who can you help today? ■

THE SOLUTION PROVIDER
Our role is changing, and we have
talked about this before in many
articles. We are moving away from
looking backwards to becoming their
forward-looking advisors.
This transition means we come to
learn the client's business, so we can
anticipate what is next on their horizon-preparing not only tax solutions,
but other ways they might stay ahead
of the inevitable. What clients do not
want a dashboard offering trends and
some sort of predictive analytics, for
instance? Our clients have problems,

them. Who better than you to research
and rally on their behalf?
This is the key pivot you need to
make. How often do we find that a
salesperson is pushing us to buy something we don't want simply because
they have only one product to offer?
They are limited by the features and
benefits of a one trick pony, and even
if that person senses we do not need
what they have to offer, there is little
choice but to hawk that single product.
As a trusted advisor and with
unique knowledge of a client's business, you are in a position unoccupied
by any other.
Build upon this role and unique
knowledge to provide clients with
solutions. This is where true value
rests. Interestingly, clients may not
know what it is they even need or what
the threats may be short- or long-term.
They are busy being an entrepreneur,
driving revenue, fighting costs, and
holding onto valued key employees.
Not every client needs a dashboard. This is about understanding
the challenges each client may face
on a daily basis and how can you
help each client solve them. That is
what they truly need, and it is how
you will remain relevant in a world
where the competition is fierce for
keeping anyone's attention.

With your mind open to the idea of
" help " rather than " sell, " you are in
a frame of mind to get in front of
your clients and prospects without
broadcasting any pressure or hard
sales tactics. You come from a place
of magnanimity and respect: A professional they look forward to seeing,
rather than finding excuses to put
off until another day.
Next time you connect with one
of your clients, set aside five minutes
during the conversation to ask them,
" What is the biggest challenge you
are faced with that you never think
to share with me? "
They may take a minute to formulate what to say and how to say it. Let
that silence reign. Let them speak first
to fill that silence. That silence is the
sound of a new beginning.
Let them drive the conversation as
you remain naturally curious. Perhaps
you'll find you can offer a solution to
some part of their problem-or you
know someone who else who can.
Either way, you have succeeded by
opening a door to a new dimension
in your relationship. You are a trusted
advisor, the professional unafraid
to talk about things that may have
nothing to do with lining your wallet.
Business people appreciate that. After
all, you do too, right?
Resist the urge to make everything

MARCH 2021 ■

TRUE NATURE

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