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How can IFAs get accountants to be more receptive?

Many IFAs have either thought about or tried approaching local accountants who have clients that could be ideal customers and clients for your practice? Most accountants will have between 100 and 400 clients so, in theory, this could be a great route to market - IF the accountant is willing to advocate you and to refer any of their clients to you. And that's a BIG if.

So STOP
I've lost track of how many IFAs have asked me how they could make this work or, more often, where they're going wrong.

Instinctively the idea makes sense but so many IFAs mess up. They don't know the first thing about how accountants work, what motivates them or how to get them to refer their clients on to other service providers. Have you tried this in the past and been tempted to give up?

Certainly there is little point in going in blind. You will never get a second chance to make a first impression. Once you've messed up your initial approach you will have blown all prospect of securing introductions to any of the accountant's clients.

The Solution
It was because of the large number of IFAs and other people seeking my advice on this subject - and my love of entertaining and informing audiences that I have created a unique seminar revealing What Everybody Should Know... About How To Build Profitable Relationships With Accountants. And the positive feedback from those who attended the seminar on it's first outing in January 2009 exceeded my highest hopes. I've included some of the testimonials I received below.

Read on to learn what the seminar covers, what previous attendees thought, who will benefit from attending and why you cannot afford to miss this special opportunity.

Coverage
This unique seminar will enlighten you as to what matters to accountants, how they work, why they reject so many of the approaches they receive from third party service providers and what you can do to overcome their objections.

You will learn the key differences that you must understand as between different types of accountants, the differing obligations they have as regards commissions and the fundamental differences between accountants and almost every other type of service provider.

You will leave the seminar with insights and knowledge that would otherwise take many months or years to learn about how to approach accountants, how to secure their interest and how to gain their confidence. You will be able to avoid making the fundamental mistakes that your competitors make and which reveal your lack of experience in dealing with this profession.

As well as the specific issues relevant to dealing with accountants this unique seminar will also cover some more generic issues such as elements of referral marketing and effective networking techniques - on and offline.

Networking
The range of people who have previously attended this seminar and who have expressed interest in attending it in the future means that you will also gain the added benefit of networking with other people in complimentary businesses. You may be able to initiate mutually beneficial relationships that will result in you referring work to one another. You will be encouraged to plan your future activities with accountants to avoid competing with other and to benefit from third party referrals and recommendations.

All 'graduates' of the seminar are also invited to join an exclusive online networking club run by Mark Lee, the seminar leader.

Satisfaction guaranteed
If you don't agree that you've had value for money at the end of the session, tell us before you leave and we will make a full refund of the attendance fee.

Testimonials from attendees of this seminar in January 2009
Some of these attendees have many years experience of TRYING to sell to and through accountants. Others are newer to the marketplace. ALL found it worthwhile. 50% of attendees rated the presentation 'Great'. The others all rated it only 'Good' !

"Very useful event which has helped me clarify my marketing plan to accountants and potentially other professionals!"
Edwin Whittingham, Financial adviser with St James's Place

"Extremely worthwhile. A vital value for money 3 hour delivery, A must for anyone involved with business generation"
Simon Denton, MD Sovereign Group

"Very worthwhile seminar. Mark Lee is a very engaging and intelligent speaker and well worth listening to his insights on the professional market"
Will Parker, UK country manager at accountsIQ

"Informative and challenging insights delivered with energy and vigour by Mark"
Phil Brigstock Bates, Customs Duty adviser

"Got what I came for, I know lots of accountants and now I understand better how to help them with my network. Very accurate and informative session."
Bernie Mitchell, BoB networks

"Very refreshing"
Robert Griffiths, PFP

"Thanks Mark - brilliant seminar - well done. It was the first time I had heard you speak and I was dead impressed. You kept my attention for all 3 hours!"
Alan Kennedy, Smith Kennedy Limited

"Great content, delivered in an engaging and entertaining way. The written materials alone were worth the seminar fee."
Julian Woodward, Axiot IT

Caveat
Let no one tell you it's easy to win over accountants. It isn't. But if you get it right............
Sadly most people go about it all wrong and mess up any chance they might have had of securing valuable business opportunities, introductions and fees as a result of their relationships with accountants.

Current insights
Towards the end of 2008 Mark Lee, the creater of this unique seminar, was asking accountants all over the UK to tell him "What would it take for you to advocate someone else's services?" He has collated the written replies from over 200 accountants and they are remarkably consistent. To an extent they are counter intuitive. Some of the answers and comments supplied by accountants will surprise and SHOCK you. They don't surprise Mark though as they are entirely in line with what he has long known. And he'll be sharing these POWERFUL insights during the seminar. A full list is also included in the 40 plus pages of clear and well signposted notes that accompany the seminar.

The target audience includes you if:

• You want to target accountants to get them as clients; or
• You see accountants as potentially good introducers to their client base; or

Perhaps

• You have staff who are new to the company and you want to accelerate their development, understanding and knowledge of the accountancy profession; or
• You've been struggling to break into this potentially lucrative world and want to find out what mistakes you've been making and how to 'get it right'; or
• You simply want to explore the opportunities that you forsee of working with or through accountants; or
• You may have recently joined an established IFA practice that works with accountants, and you need to get upto speed; or
• You want to stand out from the competition and get a better return on your investment in terms of the time and money you spend networ

  Author: Mark Lee
  Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009 | 10:34:56 PM