Last week I asked a question I used to put to delegates: “Give me three reasons why a client would use your firm.” This week, I want to explain why so few people can answer it, and why that’s an opportunity.
Thought for the week
Why being average at explaining your value is so expensive
Over the years I’ve come to call it the theory of equal inadequacies.
In any marketplace, if everybody is as bad at something as everybody else, nobody stands out. That becomes the status quo. Nobody notices it, because everyone is doing the same thing.
But when one person becomes more adequate than everyone else, they stand out straight away.
In my experience, very few accountants are good at explaining their value. A few are average. Most are poor. That isn’t a criticism. It’s something the profession has never taught. You spend years learning to do the work and almost no time learning how to put across why it matters.
Being poor at it has a cost, and it shows up in four ways:
- Pre-discounting: cutting the fee before the client has even asked.
- Scope creep: doing more than you agreed, without charging for it.
- Free advice: the “quick question” on the phone that is really an hour of expertise.
- Giving in on price: dropping the fee at the first sign of push-back.
Each one feels small at the time. Together, they eat into your margin every week.
Here’s the opportunity. Because most of your competitors are equally inadequate, you don’t have to be brilliant to stand out. You only have to be better than them.
Top tip
Find your leak
Look back over the last month and ask yourself which of the four you did most: pre-discounting, scope creep, free advice, or giving in on price.
Pick one, and only one. Next time it comes up, pause before you react. If a client asks a “quick question” that needs real expertise, try: “That’s a good question, and it deserves a proper answer. Let’s book some time.”
Fixing one leak is worth more than worrying about all four.
All about value
When everyone sounds the same, the client compares the price
Last week I introduced the P/V Formula: the client weighs your price against the value they perceive.
Here’s what happens when every firm is equally inadequate. Each one says much the same thing: “partner-led”, “proactive”, “a personal service”. To the client, they all sound alike. And when the value sounds the same, the only thing left to compare is the price.
That’s why fees get challenged. It isn’t because the client thinks you’re poor value. It’s because nobody has shown them what makes you different.
The firm that can put its value across clearly stops being compared on price at all.
Price is the client’s language. Value is yours.
Next week: the value chicken and the value egg. Which comes first, understanding your value or charging better fees?
If you found this useful, please share it with a friend or colleague who might too.
Terry Dunbar
Selling Value 4 Professionals