“Thinking about it,” never cuts it

The summer between my junior and senior years in college, I worked for the now-defunct Jack LaLanne chain of health clubs. My job basically was to sell memberships to people who, in all honesty, most had no intention of embarking on a regular exercise regimen.

Also I was instructed in no uncertain terms to present them with a basic pricing model and then at the 11^th hour convert them to what they referred to as the “platinum” tier. Many of you are probably familiar with this underhanded sales tactic – known fondly as “bait and switch.”

It probably goes a long way to explain why the chain is not around today. But if nothing else, I did learn one carryover sales tactic. When I had a prospect in the office who was on the fence about joining and admitted they’d been “thinking about it,” I countered by pointing out that “thinking about it” never got anyone in shape.

That worked about 50 percent of the time, which in sales terms was a pretty good conversion rate.

I sometimes think about that process when I visit CPA firms at the end of tax season which is fast encroaching. I try and schedule my appointments shortly after the filing deadline, so the aggravation and frustration of tax season is still fresh, especially for those firms who are in dire need of a succession plan. A few months down the road, what I like to call “revisionist history” sets in and suddenly those 14-hour days and seven day work weeks don’t seem so bad.

So as you can imagine I cringe a bit after I mention succession planning and the firm owners and partners counter by saying, “well we’ve been thinking about it.”

That’s where the health club training comes in – although admittedly it’s far easier to sign someone up for a $300 club membership than convince a skeptical accountant to press ahead toward the biggest business decision of his/her life.

So naturally the process can’t be settled in less than an hour – it may and often does, require multiple visits and a lot of hand holding.

Succession planning for aging partners is actually similar to an exercise program for an overweight chain smoker and fast-food junkie. Both need quick, if not immediate, attention or else the consequences can often be disastrous. The procrastinating CPA without a transition plan risks either entering into merger with unwanted terms or closing up shop for good, while the sedentary smoker risks a permanent relocation to a cemetery plot.

Either way, it’s not a bait and switch, but a necessity.