Sally Glick, chief marketing officer and growth strategist at Sobel & Co. CPAs in Livingston, N.J., has been named the first woman principal of the firm.
So we asked her…
1. What are the key challenges and opportunities facing CPA firms going forward in this economy?
I think that now more than ever owners and leaders in the middle market business community need to remain as informed as possible – seeking sound advice on their short and long term planning, which increases the importance of the CPAs’ role over all. Yet, if clients go bankrupt, or their business slows to a point where they cannot pay us, the trickle down effect will ultimately impact the firms’ cash flow.
2. What should CPA firms be doing?
Because most CPAs cherish their relationships with their clients, their loyalty influences their decisions. I am pretty sure most will do their best to carry them (as needed) and hope to weather the storm together. I do not expect to see CPAs “dropping” A and B clients for lack of payment unless the situation is severe. Instead, I think everyone will try to work out plans to go forward together – helping their clients remain as profitable as possible and waiting for the economy to rebound.
3. In particular, what’s your firm doing?
Our firm realizes that we need to be as proactive as possible with clients whenever there is a slowdown in the economy. Under these types of situations we can encourage our clients to embrace more entrepreneurial thinking and more innovative strategies – which they might not have tried when the economy was robust. We interact more, not less, frequently – helping them keep an eye on cash flow, projections, and new opportunities. We earn the title “trusted adviser” by how we behave in tough times equally as well as we earn it when things are going very well.
Glick knows what she’s talking about. She was was practically born into accounting firm marketing. Over the past 20 years, she’s served at Pencor, Polaris and Videre CPAs. She’s chaired the board for the Association of Accounting Marketing, was selected Marketer of the Year in 2003, and in 2007 was elected to the AAM Hall of Fame. In addition, she was on Accounting Today’s list of Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting for three years. Glick maintains a blog on AccountingWeb.com and authors Marketer’s Corner for the Commerce Clearing House “CPA Practice Management Forum.”
One Response to “Q&A with Sally Glick: These are the times CPAs really earn the title “trusted adviser””
Leisa Gill
Sally is absolutely correct about the need to stay more connected to clients. Some clients will experience difficult times and firms need to reach out and help clients navigate through by assuming the ‘most trusted advisor’ role.
One suggestion would be to take the lead role by being aware of industries that are more heavily impacted than others. Then, determine any clients a firm has in that industry and sit down with those clients. This can be done through brainstorming sessions, planning sessions and one-on-one. There are numerous other things that firms (CPAs) can do and the specifics of those should be determined by the firm. No matter how it is done for those firms that do assume the ‘trusted advisor role’ will demonstrate their abilities and commitment to help clients through good times and tough ones.