Why do you Need the Reseller Edition?

Have you ever thought about what it takes to become a successful reseller of accounting software? Customers! How are you going to get these customers? Give them something your competition doesn't. Give them a path to success. Don't give them software. Anyone can do that. Now go out there and change the way you market your products and services!

It's real easy for people to say just what I have just said. Go out there and do it! The only problem is they don't tell us how! In some respects that's exactly what many people in this industry do to their clients without ever realizing it. We provide them with new financial applications, teach them how to operate the system, and then leave. Oh, we provide training and technical support and install upgrades. The only thing we don't do is assist them in integrating the accounting applications with the rest of their business. That's the missing service, and that's why so many systems don't seem to meet the expectations of end users.

Accounting applications are an integral part of a much larger system of knowledge acquisition, application, and management controls, not to mention purely accounting related functions. If that's the case, how can we justify selling and installing an accounting system without looking at how it will fit into this larger organizational structure? How can we guarantee this new system will be utilized effectively if we don't look at the manual accounting processes that will surround it and the people that will operate it? Are we really serving the best interests of our clients or are we just pushing boxes?

Am I suggesting we become business oriented consultants? Absolutely! We have a responsibility to our clients to provide what services are required to insure the accounting systems we sell will operate as intended. I'm not referring to the software itself. Hopefully we provide sufficient training so people will understand how to record invoices, pay employees and vendors, etc. To provide only those services though is to leave the door open for failure; failure of the system that surrounds the accounting applications. We owe at least this to our customers, even if they don't expect it. Many companies may not realize the importance of this self-analysis, but it's critical to the success of our efforts, and it's certainly critical to their success. If they don't realize this, we must tell them. That too is our responsibility.

I'm not asking that we become full blown management consultants like a big six firm. Many clients are not willing to pay for such services, but would be interested in a consulting-like approach to the installation and implementation of their accounting system. In fact they may be so interested, this self-analysis and improvement process becomes a distinct marketing advantage for you. The client will benefit as will you. That's the way it should be.

When you look at our industry, we are not really resellers of accounting software. We provide solutions. The accounting applications are part of this solution, but we must go beyond this point. Accounting software is no more than a conduit for information. Information is input, stored, and retrieved. How that information is input and how that information is utilized is completely outside the influence of the accounting applications themselves. The fact the accounting applications operate without error will count for little if the information produced is of little use, or the cost of operating the system is excessive. We must take positive steps to insure the system we provide our clients will accomplish the goals that have been set for it. Do we owe this to our clients? That and more.

OK, so let's get to the real problem. We want to become more successful. Our clients need us to provide not just accounting applications, but business consulting services. How can we transform ourselves from reseller to consultant? Until now few people have been able to make this transformation, simply because it appeared to be too difficult. There haven't been any guides or courses that teach us what we should do. Actually, the problem and the solution is far simpler than you might realize. You don't have to become a big six consulting company. Most of your client's aren't expecting such comprehensive services, nor are they willing to pay for such services. All you need is some means whereby you can appear to be more like a business consultant by providing prospects and clients with a guide they could utilize in a self-help format. To date there have been no such guides. Now there is! The Accounting Library - Reseller Edition was created to meet this critical need.

I have been in this industry for 12+ years and have faced the same problems as have you. I have felt the same frustration you have felt when a prospect has selected another product that I believe to be inferior. I have seen clients struggle with their system, or fail to utilize it properly, not because the system is flawed, but because the company itself is flawed. Maybe it's the management or the organizational structure or the experience or technological or accounting knowledge of the people using the system. All of these factors can bring a system to its knees. I have talked to so many resellers who are so very knowledgeable of the software they resell, but have never achieved any great degree of success. I feel for them for I have been there, and that's why this publication was written.

The Need for a Different Approach to Marketing Accounting Software

If you really want to earn more as an accounting software reseller, you will have to do something other than what you are doing now. It's just that simple. The market will force you to adopt new techniques. Your customers will demand you provide additional services. Your bank account will cry for a new approach. I'm not talking about supporting the latest technological trends. That goes without saying. I'm talking about offering prospects something that other resellers don't; a clear path to success.

If you can offer prospects business consulting services at a reasonable cost, they will look on you in a different light. That places you at a competitive advantage. If you are seen as being able to offer such consulting services, prospects will be more likely to select you over your competition. If you close more sales, you will become more profitable.

Competition

Look at our industry today. Are there really any significant differences between most products? Not really. All products tend to support similar functionality. While there are differences between products, these differences tend to be minor with the result it's becoming far more difficult to sell based upon the superiority of one product over another. To compound this problem, there are many more resellers today than there were only a few years ago. This market is becoming really crowded. If you can't sell on the basis of features and functions, how do you distinguish yourself?

Customer Satisfaction

Now we come to the decision makers themselves. Our customers believe the installation of a new financial management system will somehow transform them into a world economic power. When that doesn't happen, who will they blame? Us! We can no longer afford to provide just the financial applications. Somehow we have to provide our customers with the means by which they can help themselves become more efficient and effective, and therefore more profitable. That's what they expect without really saying it. Whether we like it or not, in the eyes of our customers we are no longer selling software. We are selling a means by which their business can be transformed into a smarter, more effective, more profitable enterprise. In short, our prospects and clients are demanding we become more like consultants than just resellers of accounting software.

Adopting A Consulting Approach to Selling Accounting Software

When a prospect calls, what do they want? (Hint: accounting software isn't the answer) Companies deploy new financial management systems because they are seeking increased profitability. This increased profitability may be secured through a combination of increased efficiency in the accounting process itself or through improved reporting that gives people the right information at the right time and in the right format. All of this may not be verbalized, but assumed.

In some instances the prospect really doesn't know why they are making this move. It just seemed like the right thing to do. In other instances, the prospect knows their profits should be higher, but just doesn't know how to undertake a thorough analysis and reorganization of their business, so they restrict their reorganization to something with which they are at least partially familiar; accounting software. Maybe they know some form of reorganization is the most effective alternative, but the cost and complexity of the process frightens them. They probably have heard the terms business process reengineering, total quality management, the learning organization, and maybe some have even read several books about such topics. The only problem is that even the books on such transformation methodologies are complex to the point that improvement projects are never started or, if started, are rarely completed. Other companies may assume by changing their accounting system they will somehow become more profitable automatically.

How many of your prospects or customers fit into one of these categories? Each of these companies are prime candidates for your consulting services. They would be more than receptive to a sales presentation that combined the installation of a new financial management system together with a critical analysis of their business so each would be able to operate at maximum efficiency. If you were able to offer your prospects this path to success, do you think they would be interested? Of course they would! Do you think these services would give you a significant competitive advantage? Naturally! All you have to do is offer the possibility of such a process and people will listen.

Even though you may not have offered such comprehensive consulting services in the past, you can through The Accounting Library - Reseller Edition. That's why we published it in the first place. While there are any number of books that deal with business process reengineering, total quality management, etc., etc., all suffer from the same problem. They seem to be written from an academic point of view, and require a great deal of prior knowledge and concentration to understand, much less implement. That's not required here. The companies with whom you and I work need a more practical approach to improving their accounting and business processes; one that will take them by the hand and lead them through this critique of their business practices. That's what you will be able to give your customers through The Accounting Library. Practical Business Excellence. Business Excellence is the phrase I have coined to describe any process whereby a company looks at itself critically, and takes steps to improve its efficiency, whether it's just improving the manual side on the accounting system you will install or a complete examination of the whole enterprise. The concepts aren't that difficult. The process doesn't have to be as difficult or frightening or expensive as it appears. All I have done is translate the concepts and the processes into something that makes more sense to your clients and mine.

While it may seem as though this publication is dedicated to end-users, it isn't. It's dedicated to you, and it always has been. My objective has always been greater profitability. My strategy is to sell The Accounting Library to accounting software resellers and consultants for that market is easier for me to reach than end-users. In order to carry out my strategy, I had to create a tool whose power is self-evident. The power of The Accounting Library lies in its ability to transform you from a reseller into a business consultant in the eyes of your prospects.

I can't guarantee all of your prospects will select you. That won't happen, but a significant number of prospects will be interested in your services, not just because you sell a particular product, but because you can offer them something that other resellers and consultants cannot; a clear path to business success. The concept of Business Excellence is immediately recognizable. The marketing of the concept isn't that difficult because I will tell you how to integrate it into your sales program. You will benefit because your customers will benefit from this approach to implementing a new financial management system. I'm not even asking you become a business consulting expert. That's not necessary. The concept of Business Excellence as I will lay out for you and your prospects (and clients as well) is designed to be a self-help process. That's why two of these three books have been written for your clients, not you. They have been written so you can give the books to your clients and have little or no active participation in the process. That doesn't mean you couldn't become more active if you so desire, or if your clients ask you to. What form your consulting services takes is totally up to you. That's the real power of this approach to marketing accounting software.

One final point should be made here. Please don't think you are on your own once you receive these manuals. Our support policy is quite simple. If you need help, call me. Certainly technical assistance is assumed, but I'm also talking about consulting assistance. Whether you need to pick my brain, or ask for suggestions, or advice concerning the approach to a particular prospect, or if you want to suggest how we can improve this publication or the analysis program, please don't hesitate to call me. I want you to be successful.