Many companies are now using external, third-party procurement consultants to manage the vendor selection process. How will this effect professional services firms?

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Peter Belsey believes that the bottom line for professional services firms is that without business development there is no business. And firms can learn some valuable lessons from outside the professions.

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Many companies have a surprisingly relaxed approach to the business of negotiation, regarding it as one of those things you are either good at or not. This is an area where the amateur spirit could prove costly.

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Should you cast the win/win ethos of negotiation out of the window because of the current crisis?

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Read our case study of the personal experience of SPIN Selling by Richard King, deputy managing partner, Ernst & Young

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For many professional firms, the 'holy grail' of increased fee income is value creation by everyone who comes in contact with the clients. For most it has proved elusive, a wonderful concept that is impossible to achieve in practice, often because the process for achieving it is fundamentally flawed.

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Peter Belsey warns accountants against mis-selling if they want to be recognised as trusted advisers.

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Peter Belsey dispels some sales myths and stereotypes.

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Peter Belsey argues how accountants who continue to be 'technical experts' and focus on the task in hand, results in them being perceived as impersonal and boring! And how today, clients want their accountants to show greater dynamism and rapport in understanding and meeting rapidly changing needs. They already have, counters Tom Kelman, as featured in 'the debate', published in Accountancy Age.

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