How to really get an accountant’s attention and put your practice over the top

(August 19, 2003) Here’s the problem: In the race for the high net worth, advisors are all pursuing the same prospects. Some advisors have found a viable solution by re-tooling their practices and tweaking their marketing campaigns to include private dinner parties, exclusive meetings with clients and money managers, and high-end golf trips — all in an effort to attract affluent prospects. Those can be very effective, but advisors can save time and money by skipping the high-net-worth prospects themselves and instead pursue their gatekeepers — accountants.

Financial advisors should consider networking with accountants who themselves may have 500 to 2,000 high-net-worth clients. Many advisors are already working with accountants. By demonstrating advanced levels of trust and competence, you can become a valued referral source to another professional.

You’re probably thinking this is easier said than done. The following are some advanced networking strategies for advisors to consider when working with accountants.

Start small and stay there. Network with small accounting firms. There is often less red tape and you may have a greater chance to make an impact and to be known by the firm’s key decision makers.

Focus on the rainmaker. If there are nine partners in a firm, chances are at least two partners are rainmakers, the people who find and close more of the new business for the firm. Network with these partners, as they may be more receptive and keen to network back. To find out who the rainmakers are in a firm, try this simple manoeuvre: Call the receptionist at the firm and ask him which partner takes the most business lunches. Sounds corny, but you just found your rainmaker.

Win an accountant as your client first… Showing the accountant how you work as an advisor will help alleviate an accountant’s greatest fear of referring you one of his clients: damaging his reputation. The accountant fears you will let him down, or the stock market will let him down, and that the unhappy client will look angrily back at the accountant for making the referral.

… or become their client. Get your own tax work, or your client’s tax work, done by several different accountants. This allows you to interact with several different professionals, broadening your network!

Buy an hour of an accountant’s time. Call up the local accountant and schedule a one-hour meeting to discuss her services. Ask what her hourly rate is and go prepared to pay with a cheque in hand. In the meeting, explain that you want to understand how you can use her services for your clients. And of course, explain what you do. Leave the cheque on her desk as you leave. Chances are every partner in the firm will know what you did the next day.

Recognize their skepticism. Accountants may be skeptical to sales pitches because of the number of pitches they face. Not only do many accountants get bombarded by financial advisors wanting to network, they are also being asked to give second opinions on pitches their clients are receiving — often without getting paid. Offer to pay for the accountant’s time spent evaluating your clients’ proposals. Also offer to visit the accountant to explain the proposal. This helps your chances to win the proposal while creating another desirable relationship with the accountant.

Always deal with costs up front. Accountants always want to know “how much” even if they don’t ask. Avoiding the subject during sales calls almost always assures failure. If you are proposing an insurance policy, explain the relevant costs. If you are proposing an investment portfolio, discuss MERs. You don’t have to provide the lowest cost (the accountant likely doesn’t either), just clearly explain your value.

Be a friend during tax season. Every tax season make it a personal mission to help local accountants get their tax returns completed faster. Offer to research fund company data, stock and bond prices and more for their clients. Send pizzas to their offices on Saturdays in March and April and attach your business card.

At the height of tax season it is not uncommon for accountants to leave messages for advisors in the middle of the night looking for missing tax data. You can stand out as a hero in the accountant’s eyes by responding to those calls immediately. Otherwise this may be a typical dialogue between an accountant and his client on April 28 as the client visits to pick up his tax return: “Jim, this year I charged you $400 more to prepare your tax return because your investment advisor was uncooperative in providing investment data. I’d encourage you to consider a new financial advisor and I have one you may want to consider.”

Market to their uniqueness. Recognize that there are different kinds of accountants. For example, a trustee in bankruptcy may be working 120-hour workweeks in August to meet a deadline. Service these accountants better by offering extended hours, weekend meetings and visits to their home or office.

Team up. Work with accounting firms in unofficial alliances to offer joint service partnerships. Joint marketing and revenue sharing from mutual clients is a win-win. There are now ways for accountants to get more involved in financial planning without going offside of their rules of professional conduct. For example, an accountant may broaden his practice to do a fee-based financial plan or play a continuing role in monitoring the client’s investments.

Offer complex jobs back. Referring your client’s personal tax return work to accountants may hurt you more than it may help. Many don’t want money from doing more personal tax returns. To put this into some perspective, this can be the equivalent of someone referring you an RRSP client worth $2,500. Referrals and networking work best when you refer high-quality work like audits, estate work, corporate reorganizations and financial statement preparation.

Accountants, as gatekeepers to so many high-net-worth clients, can be an effective route to your success. Develop focused efforts and commonsense strategies. Make accountants your clients and you’ll be going down the right path.

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Kurt Rosentreter, CA, CFP, CIMA, TEP, FMA, is senior financial advisor with Berkshire Securities Inc. (Member CIPF) in Toronto. The opinions expressed are those of the author and may not necessarily be those of Berkshire Securities Inc. or Berkshire Insurance Services Inc.

08/19/03