The interview: Referrals aren’t a growth plan

By Janet Berry-Johnson | for Net Gains

Let's be honest: most accountants didn't choose this profession because they dreamed of becoming salespeople.

But as Chris Cocca, CSL, president of Chris Cocca Strategic Sales, points out waiting around for referrals is like hoping the rain will come when your pipeline is already dry.

In this conversation with The Net Gains, Cocca shares how a solid sales strategy—complete with a playbook, process and the right mindset—helps firms grow with more intention and less guesswork. Whether you're sales-averse or just sales-curious, his advice makes the whole thing feel a lot more doable.

-Bianca Prieto, editor

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Many accounting firms grow through referrals and word-of-mouth. Why is relying on that alone risky, and how does a sales strategy create a more predictable path to revenue growth? 

Referrals and word of mouth are not a predictable way to ensure you have enough qualified leads to hit your sales goals. A sales strategy includes your go-to-market strategy on your ideal client targets/business verticals and how you will reach them. The right go-to-market strategy builds a consistent pipeline of qualified opportunities. This strategy needs to be supported by outreach conducted by marketing and everyone involved in business development.

What are the core components of a great sales strategy for accounting firms, and how does it help teams stay consistent and confident during the sales process?

A sales strategy includes the following key components for any professional services firm: ideal client profiles, sales guiding principles, buyer personas (by vertical), sales math (tied to the sales funnel), key performance indicators (KPIs) and business development goals, a refined unique value proposition and differentiators, competitive analysis, a three-year roadmap for growth and whitespace analysis for cross-selling. All of these elements are part of a business development playbook that every firm needs to grow and scale.  

Accountants aren’t typically trained in sales. What mindset shifts need to happen for firm owners and team members to feel more comfortable having sales conversations?

Most owners and team members have never received formal sales training. I am a big believer in developing and coaching each team member with the right consultative sales training. The platform that I use is RAIN sales training, which is best-in-class for professional services firms. This, combined with application coaching, ensures team members learn how to build rapport, trust and collaboration throughout the sales process. I also think firms should consider utilizing the Objective Management Group assessment to determine the "business development DNA" of each team member to better understand their competencies and set the right goals.

For firms just starting to formalize their sales process, what’s one simple action they can take today to move toward a more structured and scalable growth strategy?

 It is critical that the firm has a repeatable and scalable sales process tied to its CRM. There is no "silver bullet" for this—it requires documenting each step in the process and then mapping it to the CRM. All team members must learn the process and then consistently execute it in their CRM to drive consistency and predictability. This sales process is also a critical part of a business development playbook.