Sarah Johnson Dobek, Author at CPA Trendlines

Five Lead Generation Mistakes to Avoid

Who is listening?

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

We work with a lot of professional service firms. The one thing they always want is to generate more leads.

MORE: Five Post-Tax Season Growth Ideas | Six Tips for Winning More Proposals | Six Ways to Engage Young Managers, Staff in Firm Growth | The Right DNA for Growth | How Crisis Illuminates Your Biz Dev Skills | Business Development and Sales Aren’t Scary
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Many of them have more leads than they realize at their disposal, but they are making some common mistakes.
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Five Post-Tax Season Growth Ideas

Pull out your notes from client meetings.

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

We believe you should be marketing your services during tax season because it’s the very best time to grow your business. We also realize that many professionals experience a lull in their business development and marketing activities simply because seasons overlap.

MORE: Six Tips for Winning More Proposals | Four Ways to Propel New CPAs into Growing Your Firm | Four Ways to Help Young Rainmakers Build Their Skills | Seven Reasons Your Growth Plans are Stalled | Take the Pressure of ‘Selling’ Out of ‘Cross-selling’
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Spring taxes are followed by conference season, which leads into summer vacation – and next thing you know, kids are going back to school and the fall deadline is whispering your name. We want to see you grow in every season so we’ve compiled five ideas to keep your growth momentum going.
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Six Tips for Winning More Proposals

Go beyond the basics.

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

The public accounting marketplace has become an increasingly competitive marketplace. You want to easily win more proposals, but decision-makers are savvy purchasers. No longer do they just talk to one firm; they often talk to multiple firms.

MORE: Four Ways to Propel New CPAs into Growing Your Firm | Five Better Ways to Say No | Are You Solving Your Clients’ Problems? | Five Ways to Grow New Service Lines | Don’t Confuse Marketing with Biz Dev | Business Development and Sales Aren’t Scary
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Whether you were referred to an opportunity through your network or the prospect found you through the fantastic interweb, we have six tips to help you be more successful with every swing at the plate.
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Four Ways to Propel New CPAs into Growing Your Firm

Practice makes progress.

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

It’s no secret most accounting firms are facing partner succession and will continue to do so for years to come. The most common area of concern is how to involve new CPAs in your firm’s growth activities.

MORE: Five Better Ways to Say No | Six Ways to Engage Young Managers, Staff in Firm Growth | The Right DNA for Growth | How Crisis Illuminates Your Biz Dev Skills | Business Development and Sales Aren’t Scary
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The short solution is young staff members should be involved in anything that will help them learn the business and develop the skills they need to lead one day, whether that means the partner track or some other role. It’s never too early to start. In fact, immersion should be expected from the first day they walk into the firm.

Here are four instant and easy ways to get your young people involved in the business:

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Five Better Ways to Say No

Keep the flow going.

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

Learning to say no is an important part of growing your business. It helps you stay focused on your strategy and goals and helps you ensure you are using your time most effectively. However, saying no can sometimes also impede your growth.

MORE: Six Ways to Engage Young Managers, Staff in Firm Growth | Four Ways to Help Young Rainmakers Build Their Skills | Are You Solving Your Clients’ Problems? | The Right DNA for Growth | Seven Reasons Your Growth Plans are Stalled | Five Ways to Grow New Service Lines
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

You get referrals that don’t fit your target market, employees bring you ideas that don’t fit your strategy or you say no because of previously bad experiences or results from a situation. When these situations add up over time with individuals, it can stifle their willingness to refer you more business or share their ideas. The result is stifled innovation, loss of referrals and loss of growth opportunities.
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Sarah Johnson Dobek

MORE AT STORE.CPATRENDLINES.COM

Sarah Johnson Dobek is President and Founder of Inovautus Consulting, a national consulting firm that develops strategies, programs, and training designed to help accounting firms grow faster and in the right direction.

She is a contributing author to Bridging the Gap: Strengthening the Connection between Current and Emerging Leaders in the CPA Profession

Sarah and her team work with firms to assess their growth goals and execute practical marketing and business development plans. With her unique background in operations, human resources, practice management, and marketing, Sarah delivers insightful, practical advice that guides organizations down the right path toward achieving the growth they desire. Sarah's ability to understand where an organization is starting from, coupled with her disciplined approach to best practices, drives results for firms and helps them to evolve.

Prior to forming Inovautus, Sarah was the Director of Marketing for a Chicago-based accounting firm and the Director of Consulting Services at PDI Global, where she learned the nuts and bolts of public accounting firms and the importance of aligning marketing, people, and practice management strategies to achieve growth.

Sarah is a sought-after speaker for conferences, board meetings, and professional service associations and societies. She is a thought leader appearing throughout the profession through articles, podcasts, and videos in Accounting Today, CPA Society publications, the AICPA Journal, CPA Practice Advisor, and more.

Having been named a "Top 100 Most Influential Person" by Accounting Today in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and a three-time "Top 20 Under 40 Vendor" by CPA Practice Advisor, Sarah is without a doubt glued into the profession. Living and breathing her passion, she's also a member and former board member of the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) and the past President and member of the CPA Consultants Alliance.

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