References?
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I became a proadvisor last year and have started a my own bookkeeping business. I'm still struggling to have enough clients to get by. (I'm going to start contacting local CPA's - the one tactic I haven't tried yet.) My question is: I had someone get my number off the Proadvisor referral site. She asked me for references. I've always had references for jobs, but what about being self-employed? I asked a couple of my clients if they would mind being a reference, and they said "no problem." But if I'm doing one time jobs for people (like setting them up or just doing some training), my poor references could end up talking to a lot of my potential new clients. How do you deal with this? Do you use "testimonials?"
Answer
Testimonials are a great idea! Whenever you set up a client or do some training for them, tell them you're update your website and would like to include a testimonial from them. You only need 1-2 sentences and you might offer them a small discount or link to their website.
Just like tax clients are short term engagements so are some of our QB consulting clients, but they are still clients. Besides, they usually don't actually call your references, they just want to hear some names of clients. You need to talk to potential clients with confidence in your abilities so they will have confidence in you too! If you have to--fake it (ie your confidence)!
Michelle L. Long, CPA, MBA
Author of: Successful QuickBooks Consulting: The Complete Guide to
Starting and Growing a QuickBooks Consulting Business (SuccessfulQuickBooksConsulting.com)
Author of the book "Successful QuickBooks Consulting"
http://www.LongforSuccess.com
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