Financial advisory services have huge potential for accounting firms. Many SMB entrepreneurs benefit from having familiar accountants rather than external financial consultants, who offer modern and proactive advisory services. Entrepreneurs might even purchase accounting services from law firms, but the price tag is significantly different.
Are your clients saying they are not willing to pay extra for anything? Do they ask only superficial financial questions, even when you think they should have a good reason to follow cash flow and shareholder equity? Are the bank account balance and taxes the only things that interest them?
If you’re thinking about these questions, you read the right newsletter. We’ll go through tips to help you plan how to package your accounting firm's advisory services.
1 What's your customer's burning problem?
Your client will pay for the service only when you solve their most pressing problem. An entrepreneur is rarely a financial expert. They may lack the skills or the time to understand and analyze the key points of financial graphs, profit & loss statements, and balance sheets. Therefore, your client may not even realize they are heading to the burning issue.
Tips: Review your clients’ financial data, and key figures, and familiarize yourself with forecasts. Identify bottlenecks and upcoming urgent problems. Ask your clients what they consider to be their biggest challenges.
2 Provide a measurable value proposition for the service.
Most consultants don’t dare promise anything at all. Create your measurable value proposition, as your clients will immediately notice a good promise. Such a promise makes the purchase decision easier.
"Promise makes the purchase decision easier for your customer.
A strong promise sets you apart from competitors' vague assurances.
Ideally, the promise is so unique that no competitor can offer the same. It:
Captures your clients' interest and might even cause some skepticism,
is easy to measure,
Stands out from competitors’ promises,
And encourages clients to buy.
The promise often also includes a guarantee, reducing the client’s risk to purchase. Tip: Many entrepreneurs would be thrilled if someone finally came and talked to them about money. Could you demonstrate how much your client is burning cash flow by not examining inflated cost structures or advance payments? How long will the cash position remain positive with the current cost structure? Offer a budget, an excellent tool for monitoring cash flow in businesses of all sizes.
3 Multiply the service.
You need a product that provides immediate value to your client. Your client is impatient. S/he thinks things move too slowly. Slow and passive service is rarely a competitive advantage, while fast and proactive service increases clients' interest in buying.
With a financial analysis, you provide immediate value to your client and distinguish your new advisory service from bookkeeping services. This speeds up the delivery rate of financial services. Customize only the key factors that give your client a clear competitive edge. The high-quality financial analysis, predictions and forecasts from Riskrate are designed precisely to meet this need.
Tip: Offer your client a unique digital financial analysis, customized with your comments, and accounting firm's logo, as an introduction to your financial services. In just 10 seconds, your busy client can get an overview of predictions and a forecast. When your client feels valued and your tools surpass consultants’ Excel spreadsheets, they are more likely to buy your advisory services.
4 Ask for feedback from your clients.
For a successful advisory service, it’s important that the service meets the client’s needs and exceeds their expectations. Therefore, client feedback is crucial. Tip: It’s nice to hear positive feedback, but critical feedback and improvement suggestions are the most valuable. Accept them with gratitude, as only through these can you develop your advisory service to a level that exceeds clients’ expectations.
High-quality financial analysis as a service
Riskrate is an assistant for accounting firms that allows you to create analyses and AI-based forecasts with a single click. A high-quality analysis with your accounting firm's logo provides instant value to your clients and showcases the premium advisory service you can offer in addition to bookkeeping.
We'd love to serve you. We are more than happy to offer a ready-made solution that can increase your business's share of financial advisory services. Let’s book a meeting. We look forward to serving your team.
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