My first response to this
question is “You may not.” We are really
big on making sure you are a good fit for our firm, because a mistake in
judgment here costs you and it costs me.
If that one doesn't work, then I
have a series of questions/rebuttals/comments that will hopefully answer your
question. The last thing I want is for
you to pay me and not gain any value from it; conversely, I am not fond of
wasting my time with work that isn't valuable to you, my prospective
client. See how we have the same
concerns in mind?
Here are examples of replies when
I begin to talk about my services and prices:
But I don’t bring in very much money.
I get that, but I assume it is your goal to change
that situation as quickly as possible. If it is, then I encourage you to consider our fees an investment in
your company and use our expertise to help you make more money. We are generally the first ones to say “This isn't a good fit for our firm.” Assuming
we haven’t yet told you that, we know we can help you. It’s up to you now to make that decision of
spending the money to have unlimited access to our knowledge and expertise, or
move on to someone else. The
most important thing to consider: If we aren't delivering value to you, then we aren't the right firm for you.
But my business isn't very big.
Here’s the thing….the size of your business
has nothing to do with profitability. Of
course you’re not GM. Hardly anyone
actually is that large. Some of my most
profitable clients are family-owned businesses, operating out of a home
office. But, even if it’s just you,
there are complexities and strategies with which we can help you. One of the proudest moments I had with a
prospect involved my offering him to serve as his Pricing Committee for the
first year of his business. I would sit
down with him, review all of his contracts for new customers, and make
recommendations on how he could be more profitable. He couldn't afford the monthly cost of that
service in the beginning, but his eyes lit up and he said “I never would have
thought of even asking you to do that with me. That’s an amazing service.” See
how creative we can be! The
most important thing to consider: No,
you aren't that big yet, but you want to be, and we can help you get there.
I just don’t think it’s that complicated/I don’t think it’s that
involved.
This is where I get
confused. You called me and asked for
this meeting, so I assumed you thought the work was more complicated than you
could handle. I have yet to meet anyone
who came in, admitting that their work was extremely complicated and they
absolutely had no way of knowing what to do. Most often, it’s the opposite, and they think that the QuickBooks Pro
file they just handed me is Hop On Pop. You may think it’s not that complicated, but trust me, it is. The most important thing to consider: You want things done right. You may not be able to pull that off. You aren't an accountant, because if you
were, you wouldn't be in my office. You owe it to yourself and your family to invest in expertise to make sure the information you rely on to make business
decisions is accurate, and that you are doing everything in your power to be
successful.
I just don’t know why everything has to cost so much.
It’s at this point that I realize we are not
a good fit, if nothing else has thrown off the red-flag alerts before now. If you’re a start-up, I know that every
single person you've talked with before me (and let’s face it, I’m usually the
last person you meet with, even though everyone from your father-in-law to your
banker has told you to call someone like me before now) has asked you for a
retainer or your credit card number. You’re tired of spending money. Maybe you have a home office, little to no overhead, and the thought of
plopping down 2-5% of your revenue to a CPA firm makes you hive up. The
most important thing to consider: Here’s the deal, my friend. You’ll realize more benefit than you’ll ever
pay me. Period.
And this is the real world. Everything costs something. And around here, we either do it ourselves or
we pay someone else to do it. Isn't that
what you want your customers to do?