Focus Article- Christine Camara

Business Development Through the Client Experience Lens

In our business development (BD) processes, it’s easy to get mechanical. It’s time to get out of that rut and think about growing your business with client experience (CX)-focused development opportunities.

BD efforts can fail when we lack authenticity, ignore the emotional reasons behind a client acquisition, or fall back on the routine. Approaching revenue generation as an act of service, instead of an act of selling, can help transform the sales process.

Emotions and Buying

We like to think of ourselves as rational human beings, but in fact, we buy based on emotion and then use logic to justify it. While our emotional influence is often subconscious, it helps our conscious mind make decisions. Neuromarketing follows this same idea. The practice captures the true emotional responses of the audience, which may run counter to what they say in an interview. Brands that engage emotions effectively also tap into basic human needs. To move beyond surface-level, solely service-based relationships think about what you can do to connect with your clients and prospects on an emotional level.

Connect Through Storytelling

Storytelling helps to forge strong connections. The stories you tell must be authentic and even “small talk” conversations offer opportunities to tell stories. For example, you can answer “How are you?” by saying, “Oh, I’m doing great. It’s the first snowstorm of the year and I love it. We got to build a snowman with the kids.” Your conversation partner is likely to come up with other questions from there — Where do you live? How many kids do you have? How big was the snowman? People may hear something about that small story and think, “Me, too!”

Strategic Questions, Active Listening

Before you offer a solution to a prospect, seek to understand the nature of their needs. It’s easy to jump to a solution or the next question you want to ask, but it’s important to be present and listen intently. You must ask great probing questions so you know exactly what your clients want to achieve. The more you let the prospect or client talk, the more they will reveal about what they need. Jot down notes in the meantime.

A few client experience-focused questions you could ask to dig deeper into your prospect's needs include:

• Tell me your back story. How did you get to your current position?

• What are your top priorities for the coming year?

• Describe the best experience you’ve had working with accountants and advisors.

• What are some of the most pressing issues facing your business?

Align Expectations, Pricing and Outcomes

No one wants to talk about money, but it’s an inevitable conversation. Be transparent and flexible around the different fee arrangements available and make sure new clients understand what they’re signing up for when they work with you. Ask them if it aligns with their expectations. If it takes them a moment to collect their thoughts, you may be out of alignment.

Onboarding for Success

Once your new client comes on board, or your current client adds that big new project, use onboarding to offer reassurance, align expectations, minimize friction and strengthen trust to formalize a rich, successful relationship.

Onboarding should include a formal welcome meeting or kick-off call plus a new client questionnaire that can help uncover goals, preferences and pet peeves. To make sure you’re all on the same page, ask questions such as:

• What is your preferred mode of communication?

• How frequently would you like to receive status updates?

• Are there key events at your company that we should be aware of?

• Do you have personal pet peeves when it comes to working with accounting firms? If so, what are they?

With these tips, you’ll create long-term, strong relationships through the client experience lens in no time.

Guest column by Christine Camara, based on webinar content created for AAM High by Jennifer Carro and Alyson Fieldman, Marcum LLP. Excerpt re-published with permission from the author.