Be specific and find ways to “catch” the partner in action.
By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
An Example of the Process
It’s one thing to say “the managing partner implements strategy,” another to put it into action.
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Following is an example of this process, providing more detail to show how it might look in actual practice. Let’s assume that one of the goals of a partner is to increase the Most Trusted Business Advisor Activity for his or her top clients. In the initial goal sheet, for this one goal from the managing partner, that might look like this:
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BONUS: Checklist for considering additional client services.
By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide
The following listing can give you ideas of additional services clients might need.
This list is not complete, but it is a good start for you to start thinking about what types of additional services you can offer to your clients!
Preserve your sanity, amaze your clients.
By Frank Stitely
Asking clients great questions is central to Ruthlessly Efficient Workflow Management (R.E.W.).
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Great client questions can save hundreds of hours of time during tax season and prevent projects from falling behind schedule. Here’s an example of questions done badly.
3 steps to making their lives easier.
By CPA Trendlines
You know who we’re talking about here. They show up in early April with everything you need to prepare their taxes. But it isn’t on a CD. It’s in a soaking-wet shoebox. Or they’ve got everything ready on January 2, except it turns out they aren’t sure whether they made their quarterly IRS payment last July. Or when you ask for their total payroll tax paid, they say, “Payroll tax?”
Or their numbers just don’t add up. Or they desperately need a refund this year, no matter what. Or they say they’ll get back to you but don’t. Or they keep asking your for legal advice. Or they just don’t have time, what with Mom and her broken hip, the kid needing to be picked up from ballet class, the dog that needs to go for a walk at 5:30 or else. Or they can’t get their capital gains records from their financial advisor…guy named Madoff…he just disappeared!
5 reasons to reorient your networking.
By CPA Trendlines
Last century’s networking model still works and is still worth doing, but you can do better in the 21st century by inverting the old model. Rather than going to the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary meetings to promote your services, go with the intention of gathering other people’s services.
As a CPA, you, more than anyone else, are at the center of local business. You know more about a bunch of businesses – your clients – than virtually anyone else. You know what they’re doing. You know what they need. And they most certainly need far more than what your firm offers.
But your firm can offer more. You can offer the services of dozens of indirectly related companies and professionals, among them:
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This is one of those times when a small investment pays a big return.
By CPA Trendlines
Nobody knows your clients like you know your clients. You know them from deep inside. Even a simple tax prep gives you insight into the nature of a business – its services, its efficiency, its growth or stagnancy, its honesty and dependability. Some of this you can glean from the process of tax preparation, audits and such, but it also comes from the chats you have with the client during the course of the year.
As you have certainly noticed, none of your clients run a perfect business. They could all be more efficient. They could all come closer to their potential. They could all use something that you can help provide – even if it’s not one of your services.
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… unless you want to grow your business.
By Wesley Middleton
Middleton Raines LLP
This is not only directed at the profession of CPAs of which I am a proud member, but to the clients we serve. I see so many posts on how we need to change and evolve that I am almost disgusted. We have what everyone wants: trust. The absolute trust of our clients. More than doctors, more than lawyers, more than any profession that I can think of. And we need to evolve? What we should do is NOT lose it!
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Well, yes, we do need to evolve. But not from the perspective of being more to our clients than what we are. It is our business model that must evolve as CPAs.
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When you’re weeding out, make sure you’re asking the right questions.
By August Aquila
Creating the Effective Partnership
If your partners are putting up a fight to keep clients who should be let go, take a look at your compensation system. It’s not just about billable hours.
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Here are 16 tweaks to your firm’s compensation system. While the list is not exhaustive, it does provide criteria that firms can consider beyond revenue. READ MORE →