I would bet a good portion of my bank account that most accountants do not view themselves as 'sales people'.

But, if you're an accounting firm owner, like I am...I have news for you.

You cannot afford to not be a sales person. You want growth? Expansion? Opportunity? Well, you need to start learning about sales and perfecting your process.

I'll be completely real with you - when I started down the sales rabbit hole I was overwhelmed and struggled initially to implement all of the strategies I was learning into my firm.

Now, my sales process is (if I do say so myself) is pretty damn good.

So, here we go: 

Key Points

1. Have intent with Sales – Create time and a routine to work on sales regardless of the size of your business and how many employees you have 
2. Develop your sales process and sales cycle – Depending on the services you offer and the type of client you are looking to acquire your process could be a 1 call close or up to several...

By Amber Salgado

There's no way around it: tax deadlines suck.

Things go wrong at the last second (we had power outages all last week). You get hit with the flu, your clients don't listen - Murphy's Law is in full effect every deadline, I swear. 

But, there are things your firm can do to make the deadlines a little less sucky. 
Here's What We Do:

• Change our due date for clients - Just because the IRS sets a deadline doesn't mean you can't make yours several weeks earlier. Give your clients a date to have missing information by and give your clients a date to get their e-file forms returned to you. Neither of those dates should be the IRS deadline.
• Have payment information included in your engagement letter - terms to draft upon receipt of e-file forms. You shouldn't have to chase people down to get paid. (and you should NEVER file a return without payment).
• Use a system with identity verification technology to get e-file forms signed electronically instead of...

By Miranda Pink

1. Have a work day schedule & don’t ignore it. 

• I can’t throw laundry in at 6:00 AM because I am working. Pretend it’s physically impossible until you clock out.  

 2. Schedule “backup” time.  

• Recognize life will interrupt you no matter what you do (Cat starts meowing when you’re recording a Loom video, your kid wants to show you a toy he’s shown you a million times before…).  
• Always have “backup” time set in your mind to make phone calls & avoid getting unnecessarily frustrated. 

 3. Use Teams & Outlook apps during the work week to stay in-the-loop. 

• You won’t waste time when you clock in “catching up” or feeling lost. 
• Turn off notifications when the week is over! 

 4. Have a designated place for an office. 

• I gate myself in & the kids/husband out. 
• Have physical office...

By Amber Salgado

Today on the podcast we discuss the ups and downs of being a completely remote firm. One of the biggest struggles any 100% remote business has is hiring and training employees and maintaining that team-like atmosphere and company culture.

As the Director of Operations for Stratlign, I have put in a TON of time figuring out some best practices for remote employees, so read on for all my tips and tricks...

Hiring:

• Make sure you ask questions about remote work experience
• Do they have any remote experience?
• What struggles did they find with working remote and how did they overcome them?
• What is their set up like at home – do they have a dedicated workspace free of distractions?
• How did they make sure they formed a connection with their teammates?
• Be sure to talk about how you connect your staff in a remote environment and let it not effect your company culture, etc.
• Go over remote working policies so they know exactly what is expected of them.
• Workspace...

By Jake Andrews

Onboarding is a science and an overlooked piece of creating a healthy, long lasting client relationships. The better your onboarding experience is, the longer your client life cycle will be. Here are some tips from us that have helped us build a strong onboarding process that is generating referrals.

We started with nothing, just 4-8 whiteboards and some markers. We now track our onboarding process in Asana with a dedicated Onboarding Captain that runs the ship for our onboarding journey with prospects and new clients. Here are the keys to our success with onboarding..

1. Communication – Be clear and define roles, responsibilities and timelines for your client and your team.
2. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat and repeat again. Drill your process and expectations into your team and clients. This will make for a smooth transition from prospect to long-lasting client.
3. Create “wow” moments throughout the process. Be intentional and personal with client...