How to Network and Find New Clients across Borders: Test Whether You Have the Traditional Skills and Social Media Savvy to Land International Business Opportunities
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Companies increasingly are investing across borders. That includes foreign companies establishing operations in the United States or Canada. The North American investments require accounting and tax services, making foreign companies potential new clients for North American accounting firms. But what is the best way to network across borders and attract these potential clients? Can social media help limit international travel, keep business development costs down, and save time? The JofA sought answers to these questions from three experts: Douglas Ng, CA, a partner who specializes in international business development for Canadian accounting firm MNP LLP; Hideo Takada, CPA, a partner with Dixon Hughes Goodman, who specializes in recruiting U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese companies; and Art Kuesel, president of Kuesel Consulting, who spoke at this year's AICPA Practitioners Symposium and Tech+ Conference. Test your skills with LinkedIn, Twitter, email, and blog posts by considering the following questions, which are based on situations Ng, Takada, and Kuesel have experienced: 1. You want to get your accounting firm's name in front of potential clients on a global scale. What's the best way to fuel opportunities? a. Focus your theme as narrowly as possible. b. Create a content strategy c. Exploit the power of LinkedIn, blogs, Twitter, and other social media. d. Seek opportunities to get your content published in trade publications. e. All of the above. 2. You have your eye on a potential client, a U.S. subsidiary of a Japanese company, but nobody in your office has a contact. What's the fastest way to get a referral to the subsidiary's CFO? a. Seek help from a managing partner in your firm whose office is located near the target company. b. Do a Google search of the parent company and send an email in Japanese. c. Check your LinkedIn network. d. Find the CFO on the company's website and call him or her. e. Call the U.S. trade representative nearest the parent company. 3. As the number of potential international clients increases, CPAs will encounter different business cultures. How does that change business development? a. To win the sale, you need to demonstrate respect for your prospect's culture and engage in customary business practices even if the discussion is in English. b. You need to bring an appropriate gift to win a sale. c. The American style of doing business is accepted worldwide because most of the world has adopted English as a standard business language. d. Social media has become a great tool for overcoming cultural barriers. 4. Your accounting firm wants you to recruit new international clients, and you have a good understanding of the kind of companies you're supposed to target. What effort is most likely to elicit inquiries into the specific services your firm could provide? a. You attend social events, such as annual chamber of commerce dinners, where you can meet executives of companies and hand them your business card. b. You start a monthly newsletter that addresses accounting and tax issues your target companies care about, and you email it to them. c. You conduct regular webinars about accounting and tax issues that companies care about. d. You offer monthly seminars on accounting and tax issues in various locations, and you use a contact in each location to invite your target companies to attend. 5. Your accounting firm wants you to recruit Chinese companies that are considering a North American expansion. You get the name of a company from the trade office, alliance partners, or other Chinese players, such as investment bankers. What's the course of events most likely to happen next? a. You work your LinkedIn network to find a contact in China who will refer you to the target company and arrange a face-to-face meeting with the top executive. …