The Abundant Accountant: Leads, Sales & Business Growth for Accounting, Tax and Bookkeeping Professionals

Is your accounting firm FULL of less than ideal clients? Clients that just want you to file their tax returns, but aren't looking for the higher value services you really want to offer? If you answered YES, this week's guest on The Abundant Accountant Podcast, Heath Walters, might be able to offer some insight into fixing this problem. When Heath began his firm, he took on anyone that was interested in his services. Three years later and he was up to 400 clients. He and his staff were stressed out and working until midnight or later during tax season. Heath knew he had to put a stop to this. He knew he wanted to work with fewer clients and give those clients more of the attention they deserved. Over a three year span of time, Heath reduced the number of clients his firm serviced from 400 to 40. How did he do that? By setting FIRM boundaries when a new prospect comes his way. Heath now knows that if a prospect doesn't fit into those boundaries, it's a NO to working together. By implementing these boundaries, Heath and his firm are now able to give their clients the attention they deserve and grow their revenue by offering higher-quality services and servicing higher-quality clients. If you're ready to create solid boundaries that will help build up an accounting firm you love, then this episode of The Abundant Accountant Podcast is a MUST LISTEN! Do you continue letting in less than ideal accounting clients into your firm, leaving yourself stressed out and unable to efficiently handle the workload? Then THIS BLOG POST is a MUST READ! Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode: Michelle introduces Heath Walters. Heath shares who he is, where he's located and a little bit about his accounting firm. In order to set a boundary, Heath shares that you must know who you are and who you want to serve. Heath prefers working with businesses in the construction and financial planning niche, and he shares why in this episode. For Heath to communicate better with his clients, he likes to understand the inner-workings of their business. Heath shared that when he started placing boundaries around who he and his company would work with, they were able to better serve their clients and the clients loved that. Three or four years ago, Heath was overwhelmed with the number of clients they had and did not have enough time to meet personally with those clients. Today, Heath's firm has 40 clients versus having 400 just a few years ago. The easy first step for Heath and his firm was to take about 100 people that were just having their tax returns done and sell them to another firm that was interested in that kind of work. Selling off these clients helped increase the time he had for his other clients and it didn't really affect his bottom line financially. Over the following two years, Heath and his team continued to let the less than ideal clients go. When a prospect comes in for help on something that Heath's firm does not handle, Heath will build up his "sales karma" and refer that individual out to someone who wants that type of work. Another one of the boundaries that Heath instituted was to not take on businesses with 4 or more partners because you struggle to get everyone to agree to the actions that are needed. A very lucrative opportunity presented itself to Heath. This opportunity would have brought in a regular monthly retainer as well as a large amount of money at tax time, but because Heath could see the problem with four partners Heath's firm turned the prospect away. He shares the full story in this episode! No matter what, Heath will always work with people he likes. If he feels as though he doesn't jive well with a prospect, he will refer them to one of his peers. Heath's firm also has a minimum revenue that a prospect must be making in order to work with him. He will share ways that the prospect can hit that amount of revenue, and then refer them out to a peer in hopes that once they are making more revenue they'll come back. The cons of having boundaries and knowing you will only take on a specific type of client are similar to the pros: By letting a client go you make more time for your current clients, but if someone new comes along how do you not take them when you have payroll to worry about? Financially making decisions for your firm is always in flux. Heath still has clients in his book of business that have been around for awhile and do not meet his firm's new boundaries. It's hard to keep those boundaries tight around your long-term existing clients. Heath shares his last words of wisdom — You'll have to listen to this episode to hear them! Learn More & Connect With Me Here! Read The Abundant Accountant Blog Heath's Website Join us on Facebook Follow Michelle on LinkedIn P.S. Is your accounting firm BURSTING at the seams? Are you ready to set some boundaries and only work with those ideal clients you've been dreaming of? Then THIS BLOG POST is a must read! P.P.S. Do you feel like you give away too much information for free? Or you're tired of inconsistent income after tax season is over? Or, you feel like you're not being paid what you're worth? If you're like many accountants you may feel like you're on the cashflow rollercoaster! There is a solution – a proven, time-tested way to get off that cashflow rollercoaster once and for all. You'll be able to connect with high-level clients & business owners that you want; communicate your value, have a proven process that you can follow, collect higher fees with confidence and be paid what you're worth so you can work less and make more money! Join our Abundant Accountants Masterclass today!

Have you ever found a new prospect who is genuinely interested in your services, but when it comes time to discuss your prices, you FREEZE UP? Do you fear the "what do you cost" conversation? In this episode, Ross Jeffries joins me to discuss how you can build up your confidence so that you can begin discussing your prices with ease and without fearing a negative response. It's tough! I'm sure there have been times when you've been discussing the needs of your client, and when the price comes up, you allow them to dictate the conversation. This episode will help you put an end to that FOR GOOD! It all comes down to building unending confidence! Ross provides real and practical tips that you can begin putting into action TODAY! If you're ready to confidently stroll into your next sales meeting knowing your value and worth and proudly stating your prices, without worrying about the outcome, then this episode of The Abundant Accountant Podcast is a MUST LISTEN! Enjoy, and thank you for listening and tuning into The Abundant Accountant Podcast! To share your thoughts: To help the show out: Special thanks go out to Ross Jeffries for taking the time to chat with Michelle. Be sure to join us next week for our next new episode. So many of my accounting professional clients come to me because they are tired of giving away their knowledge and expertise away for free. If that sounds like you, I invite you to join my complimentary Masterclass created just for accountants who want to build a practice with premium clients who eagerly pay you what you're worth. Sign up NOW at abundantaccountant.com. Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode: Michelle introduces Ross Jeffries. Ross shares a quick synopsis of who he is and what his specialty is. Michelle gives an overview of what this episode is all about – knowing your worth so that you can help more people and increase the revenue for your firm. "A confident person is not conflicted." ~ Ross Jeffries What does a toy robot from 1966 have to do with building confidence? Listen to this episode to find out! Ross believes that in order to sell with confidence, you must be aligned. The first step to not allowing your clients to dictate your prices is to not be conflicted and be in alignment with your worth. The second thing you need to know about confidence is that it is a thing or activity you do, so that it can become a quality later. Ross shares three practical tips to build your confidence and how to apply it to your sales conversations with your accounting clients. When you embrace uncertainty and even enjoy it when it comes to sales, you then have the confidence that is independent of the day's events. Michelle and Ross share an example of how mixing paint colors and never quite getting what you want is similar to how some sales conversations will go. By being okay with the unknown you can build your confidence. Before you ever discuss what your rates or prices are, you should find out what your client's needs and problems are. Meditation is a great way to embrace uncertainty. One very important way to feel confident is to realize that NO client is out of your league. There are NO "big" clients, only those that offer incredible value to you. Learn More & Connect With Me Here! Read The Abundant Accountant Blog Join us on Facebook Follow Michelle on LinkedIn So many of my accounting professional clients come to me because they are tired of giving away their knowledge and expertise away for free. If that sounds like you, I invite you to join my complimentary Masterclass created just for accountants who want to build a practice with premium clients who eagerly pay you what you're worth. Sign up NOW at abundantaccountant.com.

003 | How To Ask For A Testimonial At An Appropriate Time Do you struggle to ask for testimonials from your clients? Does it feel uncomfortable or awkward when it comes time to approach your clients to review your work? If you're like most of my clients, then you struggle to ask for a testimonial. In this episode of The Abundant Accountant Podcast, I'm sharing the exact steps you need to follow to ensure that you're asking for the testimonial at the right time. Asking for testimonials is just like asking for the sale, you just have to do it, but if you do it at the wrong time, things could go badly. My advice? Really listen and talk with your clients, find out their needs and what they're struggling with and then provide the best services that help them overcome those struggles. Once you've done that, asking for a testimonial is a breeze! If you're ready to fill your website with glowing testimonials and reviews about the amazing work that you do, this episode of The Abundant Accountant Podcast is a MUST LISTEN! Enjoy, and thank you for listening and tuning into The Abundant Accountant Podcast! To share your thoughts: Email The Pitch Queen @ hello@thepitchqueen.com Ask a question over at www.ThePitchQueen.com Share The Abundant Accountant Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, & LinkedIn To help the show out: Please leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe to the show on iTunes. P.S. Are you ready to FINALLY be paid your value and worth? Join my FREE Masterclass NOW and learn the 3 proven strategies my clients use to fill their accounting practice with premium clients who eagerly pay what you're worth! Sign up NOW at abundantaccountant.com Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode: Michelle introduces the topic that she's going to discuss on today's show. Just like in sales, you have to ask for the sale - the same is true with testimonials. You must ask your clients for the testimonial. If you're not comfortable asking for a video testimonial to start, you can use Google Forms or a tool called Survey Monkey. Michelle shares that she always keeps track of the things that clients say about working with her. These testimonials make your website like GOLD! Always make sure to get your client's permission to use their testimonial for advertising purposes. When people say they want to talk with others you've worked with, you can direct your prospects to your testimonials page. If you get a client testimonial in an email and it's not structured well, you can always ask if the client is okay with you tweaking the formatting. The best way to help your client is by helping them overcome their problems. You do that by listening 80% of the time and talking 20%. If you listen carefully, your clients will tell you everything you need to know in order to help them. Once you've delivered the result that your client desired, you can then ask for the testimonial. Sidenote: You may not always provide the result that your client wants, if they don't do their part of the work, everything may not go as planned. Michelle shares the exact step by step process she uses when asking for a testimonial. After a client has submitted a testimonial, be sure to send them a thank you note, thanking them for taking the time and for sharing their experience with others who may be interested in working with you. An additional bonus you can offer certain individuals is to provide a linkback to their website, under their testimonial or review on your website. Michelle shares her ONE goal for you to accomplish this week! Learn More & Connect With Me Here! Read The Abundant Accountant Blog Join us on Facebook Follow Michelle on LinkedIn Are you ready to FINALLY be paid your value and worth? Join my FREE Masterclass NOW and learn the 3 proven strategies my clients use to fill their accounting practice with premium clients who eagerly pay what you're worth! Sign up NOW at abundantaccountant.com

002 | Should You Have a Niche as an Accountant? Are you afraid to niche down your accounting business because you fear that you might run out of clients? In this week's episode of The Abundant Accountant Podcast, Luke Gheen joins us to share the evolution of his business' niche. When he first started out, Luke's primary goal was to bring in business and revenue to the firm, but he quickly learned that working with any ol' client was not what he had in mind when he decided to become self-employed. Luke contemplated a few different potential niches, before naturally falling upon the one that he works with now (you'll have to listen to hear what he chose!). By choosing a specific niche, Luke has been able to create tailor made services, and charge higher-end prices for them. Which means, Luke is able to work a little less clients, and make a little more money, leading to that Abundant Accountant life we all desire. If you're ready to start working with your dream clients in the niche of your choosing, then this episode of The Abundant Accountant Podcast is a MUST LISTEN! Enjoy, and thank you for listening and tuning into The Abundant Accountant Podcast! To share your thoughts: Email The Pitch Queen @ hello@thepitchqueen.com Ask a question over at www.ThePitchQueen.com Share The Abundant Accountant Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, & LinkedIn To help the show out: Please leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe to the show on iTunes. Special thanks goes out to Luke Gheen for taking the time to chat with Michelle. Be sure to join us next week for our next new episode! P.S. Do you feel like you give away too much information for free? Or you're tired of inconsistent income after tax season is over? Or you feel like you're not being paid what you're worth? If you're like many accountants you may feel like you're on the cashflow rollercoaster! There is a solution - a proven, time-tested way to get off that cashflow rollercoaster once and for all. You'll be able to connect with high-level clients & business owners that you want; communicate your value, have a proven process that you can follow, collect higher fees with confidence and be paid what you're worth so you can work less and make more money! Join our Abundant Accountant Masterclass today! Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode: Michelle introduces this week's special guest, Luke Gheen, CPA. Luke introduces himself and shares a little bit about what he does and how he got started as an accountant. From the beginning Luke and his team were cognizant that they didn't just want to bring in money from any client, but they were much more open to who they'd bring in than they are now. Luke opened an office in Denver and in Colorado Springs in order to generate the revenue he was looking to bring in. When Luke created his accounting firm he didn't want to create something that was dependent on him personally. He wanted the niche he worked with to be able to work with anyone on his team, not just Luke. Luke believes that in order to pick the niche for you, you need to find the natural fit. You have to look for what feels good. Luke shares how he and his team stumbled into a specific industry for their niche. (you'll have to listen to hear what niche he chose!). If you're unsure why you chose to become self-employed, Luke encourages you to think back to when you first chose to become self-employed and then build your business around those reasons. Luke talks about how zeroing on his niche helped him focus his marketing efforts. My narrowing their focus, Luke has been able to increase his company's income because of offering more specialized services to his specific client base. Luke shares an interesting story of when he took on a client that he shouldn't have because he wasn't a good fit for the firm. Luke ended up firing the client. Over the years the firm Luke built has changed, but constantly analyzing whether people were his ideal client or not helped with his consistent lead generation, and sinking a lot of money into marketing. Luke and his team are willing to work with individuals who are below their typical revenue requirements for an ideal client if there is potential for growth there. Luke talks about a service he tried to provide that didn't end up working out because the clients wouldn't put in the necessary work. If you're feeling frustrated with the work that you're doing, Luke encourages you to re-evaluate. Michelle and Luke discuss starting before things are perfect, because nothing will ever be perfect. Luke shares what he'd tell his younger self. Learn More & Connect With Me Here! Read The Abundant Accountant Blog Join us on Facebook Follow Michelle on LinkedIn P.S. Do you feel like you give away too much information for free? Or you're tired of inconsistent income after tax season is over? Or you feel like you're not being paid what you're worth? If you're like many accountants you may feel like you're on the cashflow rollercoaster! There is a solution - a proven, time-tested way to get off that cashflow rollercoaster once and for all. You'll be able to connect with high-level clients & business owners that you want; communicate your value, have a proven process that you can follow, collect higher fees with confidence and be paid what you're worth so you can work less and make more money! Join our Abundant Accountant Masterclass today!

000 | The Abundant Accountant Podcast The Abundant Accountant Podcast is where accounting professionals come to learn the most efficient and powerful ways to grow their firm, sharpen their skills, and have consistent increasing revenue. We cover topics from networking, pricing, finding your ideal clients, increasing cash flow, setting boundaries with clients and much more so you can stop giving away your time and expertise away for free and start being paid your value and worth! You'll learn tips and strategies as well as hear personal interviews from successful accounting professionals. This podcast will show you exactly how to create the business (and life) of your dreams full of abundance! If you're like many accountants you may feel like you're on the cashflow rollercoaster! There is a solution - a proven, time-tested way to get off that cashflow rollercoaster once and for all. You'll be able to connect with high-level clients & business owners that you want; communicate your value, have a proven process that you can follow, collect higher fees with confidence and be paid what you're worth so you can work less and make more money! Join our Abundant Accountants Masterclass today! Learn More & Connect With Me Here! Read The Abundant Accountant Blog Heath's Website Join us on Facebook Follow Michelle on LinkedIn Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here's How » Join the Abundant Accountant Community today: theabundantaccountant.com LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube

How often are you asked for free advice? The second you let people know that you're an accountant, they probably start asking you question after question. It can get overwhelming, plus giving all of that free information away doesn't help you AND it doesn't help those friends of your either. Not to mention, that when you give advice away for free, the prospect rarely (if ever) takes action on the advice you gave? It's a pretty common occurrence, one that many of my accountant clients have experienced. In fact, when someone pays for your services they are much more likely to take the advice, put it into action and then benefit from that action. The key here… Stop giving away everything for free! ;) There is a better way to serve your prospects, prove your worth and land the new client without sharing everything you know. In this episode, Denise and I share all of our reasons for not giving away information for free, plus we share how you can still serve your clients without giving **too** much away! Enjoy, and thank you for listening and tuning into The Abundant Accountant Podcast! Special thanks goes out to Denise Mandeau for taking the time to chat with Michelle. Be sure to join us next week for our next new episode! Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode: Michelle introduces The Abundant Accountant Podcast, what the show's purpose is and how she hopes to help accountants. Michelle shares a quick synopsis of who she is and her experience. Denise introduces herself and shares her experience and who she is. The topic this week is surrounding giving away too much free information and free advice to non-paying clients. It's important to know how much free information you want to give away before talking with prospects. Denise discusses why entrepreneurs give away free advice. Michelle describes her client Kate, who was giving away too much free information and how she helped her change her process and mindset. "Very few people implement any free advice you give them." ~ The Pitch Queen Another client, Lauren, is discussed and how Denise and Michelle taught her the best way to answer any question about free advice, is to ask another question! Listen for the full description. Denise shares a couple tips on where to draw a line before giving away TOO much free information. Michelle and Denise discuss "Awareness Content" what it is and how it can help your business. Another way to help your clients without giving too much information away is to provide them with "Insider Value." Curious what that is? Listen to this episode to find out! There is nothing quick about building a long-term business relationship. You want to become your client's trusted advisor. Denise shares a great example of how you wouldn't expect a doctor to give away information for free, why do people expect their accountants or CPAs to give information away? The ladies discuss how doing a time study can help you recognize how much time you've spent giving away free information, like answering peoples "quick questions, to responding to emails all day long, that could have been spent in other ways to build your business. Michelle shares the story of her client Marc, and how he realized too much of his and his team's time was being eaten up by just one of his needy clients. "Do you prefer to get paid for the work that you do, or do you prefer to run a non-profit?" ~ The Pitch Queen If you think giving away free advice is the only way to show your value and worth, then you're moving into the scarcity mindset. Learn how to shift out of this, in this episode. The number one way to turn people into paying clients is to tune into Michelle and Denise's webinar. It's time to attract your ideal clients and push yourself to stand out from the crowd. Michelle thanks everyone for being with them for the first episode. Learn More & Connect With Me Here! Read The Abundant Accountant Blog Join us on Facebook Follow Michelle on LinkedIn To share your thoughts: Email The Pitch Queen @ hello@thepitchqueen.com Ask a question over at www.ThePitchQueen.com Share The Abundant Accountant Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, & LinkedIn To help the show out: Please leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe to the show on iTunes. P.S. Do you feel like you give away too much information for free? Or you're tired of inconsistent income after tax season is over? Or you feel like you're not being paid what you're worth? If you're like many accountants you may feel like you're on the cashflow rollercoaster! There is a solution - a proven, time-tested way to get off that cashflow rollercoaster once and for all. You'll be able to connect with high-level clients & business owners that you want; communicate your value, have a proven process that you can follow, collect higher fees with confidence and be paid what you're worth so you can work less and make more money! Join our Abundant Accountant Masterclass today! Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here's How » Join the Abundant Accountant Community today: theabundantaccountant.com LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube