How to create new business: Listen to your old clients

CHICAGO--Accountants shouldn't waste time and money shouting their firms' sales pitches to prospects.

The best way to generate new business is to listen to old business, says David Maister, a CPA and consultant.

Ask clients to talk about problems in their companies and industries. Chances are, the solutions are as close as their accounting professionals.

Maister gave his advice to attendees of this year's Association for Accounting Marketing conference in the Chicago area this month. A former Harvard Business School professor, Maister is considered an expert in the management of an accounting firm.

The Boston-based consultant waved his arms and paced the room as he advised the marketers that accounting firms should spend at least 50 percent of their time "digging into the database" of existing clients.

Accountants should invite these clients to "reverse seminars." These conferences feature a client in the starring role, giving the accounting firm's professionals a rundown on the company's business.

Maister maintains that 90 percent of a firm's clients will accept the...