Trust is the foundation of a good business relationship. And that’s especially true for accountants—you’re responsible for your clients’ livelihoods. Expecting total trust and commitment from the beginning might be unrealistic.

Ryan Lazanis from Future Firm partnered with Karbon to deliver a private podcast series, The 7 Quick Win Marketing Tactics for Accounting Firms, highlighting quick (yet impactful) tactics you can implement today to grow your firm. In the sixth episode, Ryan discusses how following up on lost deals will help you grow your client base and make the most of the work you’ve already put in with prospects.

It’s worth noting that only a small percentage of your follow-ups will convert a new client, so you should set your expectations accordingly. But follow-ups are easy to send, making this tactic worthwhile, even if you only convert a few prospects per quarter.

Why you should follow up lost deals

There are a number of reasons a prospect might not sign up with you straight away: perhaps another firm had lower rates, or they decided to keep things in-house.

It might seem like following up with lost deals is an exercise in futility. They already said they weren't interested, right? But a prospect deciding to not sign shouldn’t be the end of your professional relationship. Remember, something about your firm interested them in the first place. That’s what separates a follow-up from a cold call.

You might not have been a great fit together when you were first talking, but from those early discussions, you will have learned valuable information about their business, such as:

• Pain points

• How their organization works

• The types of projects they work on

• Opportunities for growth

You can still use that information to check in, and that’s all a lost deal follow-up is: checking to see if anything has changed. Are their accounting needs still being serviced in the right way? Have they recently expanded and need a specialist service your firm provides?

Tip: Using a de-brief to find out why a prospect didn’t sign with you will give you valuable insight you can use for your follow-ups. It only takes a few simple questions in a call or email to find out what they were looking for that you didn’t provide, or any other suggested improvements from them.