3 Key Questions to Ask Prospects in Your Initial Value Conversation

Your sales process for acquiring prospects may be the most important interaction you have with your clients throughout the life of the engagement, because this is the time to truly find out not only their needs, but how much they value the solution. That should help you price, scope and set the expectations for the project and/or engagement.

Now consider it from the prospect’s perspective: how you sell yourself and/or your services sends a clear signal of the potential quality of what they are buying, making the sales process a component of value to the actual service that will be performed.

Yet, what I find is that many CPAs and accountants don’t know how to structure the sales process. It isn’t complicated! I believe it boils down to three simple questions that should be part of every conversation with a new prospect:

“Mr. Customer, we will only undertake this engagement if we can agree, to our mutual satisfaction, that the value we are creating is greater than the price we are charging you. Is that acceptable?” I learned this one from Ron Baker, author of Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms, which he attributes to McKinsey & Company. The real purpose of this question is to start the conversation with the clear message that this discussion will be about value instead of price. It sets the conversion on the right path because “yes” is the only answer you will ever get to this question.
“What can we do or forget to do that would be an immediate deal breaker for our relationship?” This question needs to come about when the conversation is around past failures, things that have gone wrong, and/or their fears around things that could go wrong. The information you gain from this question is extremely important because it sets the expectations about where prospects draw the line in the specific areas that are most important to them. In my experience, nine times out of 10, I get information about what ticks them off that I would not otherwise have gotten with any other question!
“Imagine if we were having this discussion three years from today and you were looking back over those three years. What would have happened in your personal and professional life for you to feel happy with your progress?” Once the rapport is built and it is established that you are, in fact, qualified to solve their problems, this is a great final question to ask. It allows prospects to summarize the actual results and outcomes they are expecting from you, which gives you carte blanche to prepare your proposal around that “desired future state,” the basis of The Dan Sullivan Question by Dan Sullivan.

Of course, there are other questions to ask during the sales process. Here are a few I commonly use for prospects:

Why Me? Why This? Why Now? Why Not? – Why are you talking to me or our firm? Why is this specific solution important to you? Why didn’t you do it before? What would happen if you don’t do anything?
Is there a narrowly defined and objectively measurable result to be achieved by the firm, or is the engagement very broad and dynamic?
What is the specific result the firm is guaranteeing? In the event of an audit, what is the firm guarantee? Do you need us to be 100% independent and objective?
If you have an accounting/tax question for us, how quickly do you expect an answer and how do you want that answer?
Ideally, when do you want us to start working? When do you expect to see either work in progress reports or final completed work? Is there a deadline?
How do you want to pay? Up front with 100 percent or at the end? Maybe something in between such as 50 percent up front and 50 percent when the engagement is final? Are you expecting us to refund you if the result was not achieved? If so, how much?
Are there users of my work and reports outside your organization? How involved do you need me to be if a third party such as a bank or investor enquires about by work?
How would you define a successful relationship?
Do you want a transactional relationship – call me when you need me, and we will work and charge you then – or a proactive relationship where you expect me to alert you of industry/tax updates, remind you of important deadlines, warn you about obvious risks to your business, and address other matters?
If price wasn’t an issue, how would you describe our ideal role in your organization?
How much budget have you allocated to business growth?
What is the cost of all the technologies you are currently using?
Is your business set up to allow you to disconnect from work or take a vacation?
What does a typical purchase and sales process look like?
How do you manage documents?
What is the best way we can learn more about your business processes?
What does your cash flow look like and/or how do you think we can help you improve it?
What could we take off your plate immediately that will free you up to spend more time doing what matters most for your business?
What do you think we could do to help you reduce expenditures, increase sales, and/or increase the value of your business?
Is your business on track for an exit strategy, such as a sale or succession?
Is your business attractive enough for external investors? Is it bankable where banks would easily lend to it at prime market rates?
Does the business produce enough to fund your retirement plan?

At the end of the day, the questions you ask will determine how well the relationship goes. I think Phil Jones, author of Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact, said it best: “Questions start conversations, conversations lead to relationships, relationships lead to opportunities, and opportunities lead to sales.” Good luck with your prospect meetings!

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Hector Garcia, CPA, is CEO of Quick Bookkeeping, a tax preparer, and an accounting technology and QuickBooks consultant in Miami, Fla. Contact him at hector@garciacpa.com.