The Offbeat Accountant

"It is much more profitable and effective to maintain a client, and increase your business within our company, than to acquire a new client." Harry Beckwith O k Harry, but, how do we do it? In my last trainings focused on the topic of "Relationship Accounting", I´ve aimed to create reflection spaces on how to keep customers happy, and develop factors that help strengthen the relationship and improve every “touch point” with them. But earlier this year, during the first annual meeting with my team, someone raised the question of how we could transform that relationship into greater sales and better profitability for the business. Luckily by chance,(or simply confirming that cell phones listen to us 24/7), a few days later I got an email whose subject was "10 tips to improve the sales strategy". I had that mail open a few days, until my laptop decided to updat unexpectedly and the email disappeared back into the matrix. I never found it ...

“Es mucho más rentable y eficaz mantener un cliente, y aumentar su negocio con nuestra empresa, que adquirir un nuevo cliente.”                                                                  Harry Beckwith Ahora bien Harry, ¿Cómo lo hacemos? Mis últimas capacitaciones, enfocadas en el tem a de la “Contabilidad de Relaciones” ( Relationship Accounting ), apuntaban a crear espacios de reflexión sobre cómo mantener contentos a los clientes, y desarrollar factores que ayudan a fortalecer la relación y mejorar todos los puntos de contacto con ellos. Pero a principios de este año, en la primera reunión anual con mi equipo surgió la duda de cómo podíamos transformar esa relación en mayores ventas, y mejor rentabilidad para el negocio. Por esas casualidad de la vida, o simplemente confirmando que los c...

“A vocation is the backbone of life.” - Friedrich Nietzsche A few weeks ago, I met Vicente. Vicente is an accountant. He arrives every day at 8.30 in the morning (on the dot!), has a coffee at 11 and a light lunch at his desk at 1pm. He almost does not get up from his desk all day. In the days that I worked with him, he only did it to collect some papers, crush others and go for his coffee. When he arrives at the office he checks the news in several online newspapers, analyzes the behavior of some stocks and then turns on his Quickbook to begin registering the previous-day`s operations of at least five companies. He makes some calls, reconciles the bank and then, about 5-ish, “he calls it a day". He takes his worn-out briefcase - those old ones that are barely seen in banks or gangster`s movies-, and turns off the lights of the office, locking each door. Then, with the sun of the afternoon giving full in its back, he walks about 3 blocks up to the first subway station. Wit...

"Acércate más que nunca a tus clientes. Tan cerca que les puedas decir lo que necesitan incluso antes de que ellos lo sepan "                                                                          -Steve Jobs Cuando cada año comienza, ya es costumbre realizar una reunión de lanzamiento en la oficina. No sólo es para definir los objetivos de nosotros como equipo, sino también para poner en perspectiva el año que pasó, y ver los puntos que se pueden mejorar y mantenernos motivados. Mientras planeaba los temas de la agenda, recordé un libro que leí hace algunos años. " Vender lo invisible " de Harry Beckwith. En el mismo, el autor trata las mejores prácticas para vender servicios intangibles, comparándolos con la venta de un producto raso. Afirma que cuando un cliente compra un producto...

Guidelines on how to add up to the surplus side of the Relationship Accounting “If you take care of your people, your people will take care of your customers, and your business will take care of itself -JW Marriot My last post gave something to talk about… As I commented, I introduced the concept of Relationship Accounting at  the kick off meeting of 2017. ( http://theoffbeatccountant.blogspot.com/2017/01/relationship-accounting.html )  However, I believed that was not enough. Personally, I don’t enjoy meetings in which I talk for an hour and the only feedback I receive is “ Yes, we will do that ” or “ we understand ” or the different versions of “ aha..ehem..ok ”. So, to turn the tables a little bit, after I told them the story of “ Paccioli and Co ” I stood quiet.  Silence filled the room, and nervous looks crossed the room. It was clear that in their minds (even in my head) they were recalling all those times in which they add up crosses, either in...

“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves” -Steve Jobs A new year has started, and with it comes the kick-off meeting to settle the goals for 2017. As I was planning the topics of the agenda, I remembered a book I read some years ago.  “ Selling the invisible ” by Harry Beckwith deals on the best practices to sell intangible services, comparing them to the industry of products. When a customer buys a product, the simple physical existence of that product acts as a constant reminder of how satisfied they are, and what a good choice they made. But what happen with a service? Services are invisible and finite, which ma kes it difficult to create a positive and constant reminder to a customer.  Beckwith states that many purchasers of services aren't even sure what it is that they are buying, since it hasn't typically been delivered yet. They are buying a promise of fulfilling a n...