Here’s What Most ‘Business Advisors’ Get Wrong
There are thousands of small businesses.
And most of those businesses will fail. In fact, about half will fail before they reach their fifth birthday.
It’s clear that business owners need help.
They need help because they are insecure in their ability to run and grow a financially healthy business.
Just yesterday, I talked to Sarah — a potential client who owns an interior design business. One of the first things she said to me was “I got a degree in art. I didn’t take a single day of business classes.”
She was an expert at her craft — interior design.
She wasn’t an expert at what it takes to run and grow a financially healthy business.
She was insecure.
She knows her craft. However, just because she’s an expert in her field does not automatically mean that she’s an expert at running a financially healthy business.
Enter people like you and I.
We’re, theoretically, perfect for business owners like Sarah.
We know what it takes to run a financially healthy business.
We know what it takes to improve profitability and cash flow.
We know what it takes to have a sustainable business that outlasts the SBA statistic that most businesses fail.
We know.
And herein lies the problem.
Our clients don’t know how much we know …and they don’t care.
Theodore Roosevelt said it best:
“People don’t care how much you know…”.
To successfully sell a client on your outsourced CFO/business advisory service, we need to do more than exclaim how much we know.
Because…that’s what your competitors are doing.
You need to be different.
Here’s the thing: It makes logical sense that business owner will hire you because of your knowledge.
And so, most business advisors approach marketing and selling from a logical standpoint.
But that’s not how business owners operate. Most business owners (who are human) approach things from an emotional standpoint.
I bet you do to.
I bet when you decided on what car to buy, where to live, what to name your children, or even what restaurant you ate at last Saturday night — all those decisions were based on emotion first, logic second.
So, when it comes to marketing and selling a business advisory service to business owners — we must appeal to emotion first.
There’s a second part to President Roosevelt’s quote
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
To appeal to your target clients’ emotions — they must know how much you care.
How much you care about them.
How much you care about their problems.
How much you care about their business.
It’s not about you. It’s about them.
If you can convey that message — you’ll have no problem growing a highly successful business advisory service.
Until then…you’ll have good company with the thousands of other low-paid accountants, bookkeepers, and business coaches who know too much yet are making less than they should.
This post is written by Adam Lean, co-founder of TheCFOProject.org. Have any feedback or suggestions? Send an email to adam@thecfoproject.com.
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