Close On The Account: Lessons Learned

Life Beyond the No (Part II of II)    

Last week we discussed what you needed to be on the look out for during a meeting with your potential clientele. You have left nothing to chance, have been prepared all along the way, have taken the verbal cues and bee able to navigate them correctly. Most often all this will result in closing the account in your favor. Your newly acquired client would have seen the error of their ways and realized the overall solution you are providing them. They would have been able to see that expensing their cash into your services will not only get their company healthy but thriving. You should be able to leave there with the monthly billing understanding and a box full of their receipts (their old way of keeping tabs on their accounting).

But what happens when they just didn't bite? No attempt to resolve their concerns is going to change their minds that what you have they need. To have something like that happen is certainly a blow to your psyche and can tank your motivation to move on to the next potential client.

The next 5 steps are ways you can take control of the situation and rise above the no or no's you have received in the pursuit of building your business.  

Look for the Lesson Learned
Keep in mind that every circumstance is a learning opportunity. Even if your appointment has a positive outcome, there is always a lesson to be learned. Ralph Waldo Emerson was quoted in saying, "It is defeat that educates us" and truly that is the case. Ask yourself;

• Why might this have happened?
• Could I have done anything else to anticipate it or prevent it?
• How can I use this experience to positive advantage?

Look back into your experiences even before running your own business. When was the time you learned the most? When you had the most pressure to perform? When you had that huge blunder at your previous workplace? When you did not receive that scholarship? Look for what you can do better, or what you could have missed in the interaction with the potential client. Often there is room for improvement and progress.      

Turn Adversity to Your Advantage
When you fail, doors open for other opportunities. Defeat can create greater resolve, make the failure work for you not against you. When one business owner says no to you, go to their competitor and present yourself as the edge he needs to win over his competition, who already said he didn't want the advantage. Use them as the example of what your potential client should NOT do if they want to stay or become financially well off.

The One "No" is a Step Closer to the "Yes"
The percentages for gaining accounts usually run a low 10%-20% closing rate. (In the Professional Bookkeeper™ Program you learn the tactics and strategies that have much, much higher rates than the industry average.) It's all in the numbers, the more people you see the more opportunities you have to get the account. And with the Professional Bookkeeper™ Training you receive with Universal you will be able to present yourself and your services in such a way that to reject you, will be like the small business owner I don't want to be profitable or successful.

Protect Your Mind
No one can be measured by one single failure. One failure doesn't mean you are a complete failure, it means that one person said no. Keep yourself focused, monitor your 'self-talk' and keep things positive. Many a person have come off what may be considered their greatest failure into their biggest success, so don't get yourself in the "woe is me" victim mentality.

Recommit to Your Goals
If someone says no, it's not the end of your world. You were following your Plan of Attack. You are a step closer to the goals you have set for yourself and for your company. Don't allow yourself to be frozen in place because you got a no, move forward and rise up above recommitting yourself to the goals you know you can achieve.

It is true that our students experience the 'No Factor' less often, but it still can happen. When you have the right training you will be able to convey the message of your services being the small business owner's solution to their accounting and financial headaches. You set yourself into a place where you can not only make the difference in your life and business, but also in the lives of those who you contract with to do their accounting.

Are you ready to take the next step in the process you have started in the accounting field? Are you tired of coming across those times when you know you could have done better if you just had the training in this or that aspect of the accounting and bookkeeping process? Don't hesitate another day in getting the Accounting Training that makes the difference. Click here to get more information on what you need to know about becoming a Professional Bookkeeper!