Three tips to strengthen your opportunity spotting muscle

Develop an effective strategy for making the most of every opportunity

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Taking advantage of opportunities that come your way is a key element of a successful accountancy firm. Whether you want to grow your business, improve the services you offer or attract better quality clients, it’s important to seize the moment when it happens.

And the good news is that, just like going to the gym, the more you work your opportunity spotting muscle, the easier it becomes.

Systemise opportunity spotting

The truth is that systems help you not just to spot more opportunities, but also to create them. And it isn’t difficult.

Create a simple spreadsheet listing all the services you offer along the top with client names down the side. Which services have you discussed with each client? If you haven’t discussed eg cashflow forecasting with client A, put that on the agenda for your next client meeting. Depending on how it goes, after the meeting, put a ‘T’ for told or a ‘S’ for sold next to the client (at AVN we call this a Windows of Opportunity chart). It makes it easy to keep track and also to see which services are most popular with your clients.

Keep updated on industry trends

Staying current with the latest developments in your clients’ industries gives you plenty of opportunities to offer better services to your existing clients and to attract new ones.

What are the biggest concerns for them right now? Which aspects of the industry are growing, shrinking or changing? What kind of information would be really valuable to business owners in that sector?

Staying up to date will help you to identify potential new services and be proactive in providing advice on current issues.

Don’t keep your ideas to yourself

Opportunity spotting is a team effort so make sure everyone in your team is also on the lookout. Be open about what you’re trying to achieve and make it easy for everyone to share their thoughts, perhaps in a regular meeting. Often, just discussing an idea with others will spark more creative suggestions and open up new avenues.

Networking is also a great way to find out what other accountants are doing (or not doing). Sometimes a chance conversation is all it takes to see where you could offer a service that a business owner is missing.

These tips will only work if you actually implement them, of course. Schedule time to look at new ideas with your team and decide which are the most promising. And make sure you have a way to capture ideas as they come to you; they never seem to happen when you’re at your desk! Record a quick voice note on your phone or jot down a quick overview you can flesh out later.

Download my guide to Mastering the Art of Advisory for seven ways to make the most of every client interaction so you create more opportunities for selling high level services.

Shane Lukas – AVN for Accountants