Want to share something that transformed my practice. I partnered with a CPA firm in Nashville that has about 200 commercial clients. The arrangement is simple: the CPA introduces me to their clients as a trusted resource for utility bill auditing. I audit the bills on contingency. The CPA gets 15% of my fee as a referral commission. In my first year with this partnership, I audited 34 of their clients and generated $180,000 in revenue. The CPA earned $27,000 in referral commissions for essentially sending introduction emails.
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CPA referral partnership — $180K in my first year
This is the single best business development strategy in our industry. CPAs already have the trust of the business owner. When a CPA says "you should let this auditor look at your utility bills," the close rate is 80%+ because the recommendation comes from a trusted advisor. I have three CPA partnerships in the Philadelphia area on PSE&G and PECO territory. They account for 60% of my annual revenue. The key is making it easy for the CPA — I provide a templated introduction email they can customize, and I handle everything from there.
How do you approach the CPA initially? I've tried cold calling a few CPA firms and they don't seem interested. They see me as another salesperson trying to get access to their client list.
Karen, the best approach is through a warm introduction — have a mutual contact introduce you, or meet the CPA at a networking event first. If you're going cold, don't lead with "I want access to your clients." Lead with value: "I help your commercial clients reduce operating costs by auditing their utility bills. When I save your client money, it makes you look good because you brought them the resource. And I pay a referral commission that creates a new revenue stream for your firm." Frame it as a three-way win: the client saves money, you earn a fee, the CPA earns a commission and strengthens their client relationship.
Randy described it perfectly. My CPA partnership started at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast. I sat next to a CPA partner, we got to talking, and I explained what I do. She said "my clients overpay for everything — can you really check their utility bills?" I offered to audit her firm's own bills as a demonstration. Found a $380/month rate error on NES. She was sold. Started referring clients the following week.
$180K from one partnership — that is outstanding. Mind if I ask what your average fee per client was?
Average was about $5,300 per client. Ranged from $1,200 on small accounts to $22,000 on a large manufacturing plant. The big ones make up for the little ones.