Highly influencial: life's a pitch

Being a senior accountant in 2009 involves much more than accounting, particularly given companies are becoming more and more selective of the firms they do business with. For you and your firm to survive the downturn, business pitches (and winning them) have become vital.

Yet many accountants miss out on winning new business. This is mainly because they employ the wrong sales techniques, react to pressure by jumping straight into selling, appear desperate and fail to address the individual needs and expectations of their prospective clients.

Firstly, accountants often fail present to themselves as a team. Team members should introduce themselves and no one person should take the limelight.

Another mistake often made is striking too early with the hard sell. Teams often pounce at the first sign of interest when, instead, they should hold back and listen. Accountants pitching ought to find out more about what the client really wants. The result is a prospect who sees an interested team. The client learns, the accountants learn and the team has built value into their proposition. Price, therefore, becomes less of an issue.

Also bear in mind the ‘So what?’ question. It might be impressive that your firm ranks highly and has just opened a new office in Abu Dhabi, but is this relevant to your client’s needs?

Ultimately, pitches should be made as simple as possible. Teams try to communicate far too much information to prospects and ‘sell’.

Multimillionaire businessman and star of ‘The Apprentice’ in the USA, Donald Trump, once said in Forbes magazine that those pitching ‘have to be enthusiastic, succinct, and fast’. Therefore keep credential documents as brief as possible (anything approaching the length of a Harry Potter novel is perhaps too long!) and explore the client’s issues. This has much more impact than simply stating what services you offer.

By asking questions, the client feels listened to, rather than sold to.

Remember that pitches are not only an opportunity to close deals, but also a chance to establish relationships. Therefore, the aim is to leave the client feeling really good about meeting you and positive about doing business with you in the future.

Jack Downton is the MD of The Influence Business and a former Royal Marines colonel