Sarah Johnson Dobek, Author at CPA Trendlines

Six Ways to Engage Young Managers, Staff in Firm Growth

Shareholders have a role, but less hands-on.

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

Growing your accounting firm takes a lot of time and effort and, because of this, developing the skills of staff and managers takes a backseat. While each shareholder should take responsibility to contribute to growing the firm, that doesn’t mean they need to do it all themselves.

MORE: Four Ways to Help Young Rainmakers Build Their Skills | Are You Solving Your Clients’ Problems? | Five Ways to Grow New Service Lines | Don’t Confuse Marketing with Biz Dev
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Engaging your managers and staff is beneficial for three reasons:

It teaches them growth is important to the firm and helps establish a culture around growth.
It empowers them to learn how to market and sell, which should be key for anyone who wants to progress in their career.
It allows you to execute on key problems without everything falling on a shareholder’s plate.

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Four Ways to Help Young Rainmakers Build Their Skills

Were you thrown to the wolves? Did you appreciate it?

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

If you talk to most CPA firms, rainmaker succession is a critical issue. Building and developing the next generation of business cultivators is critical to a firm’s success.

We see two common problems that prevent firms from succeeding in this area:

MORE: Are You Solving Your Clients’ Problems? | The Right DNA for Growth | How Crisis Illuminates Your Biz Dev Skills | Business Development and Sales Aren’t Scary
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Not Transferring Knowledge

Firms unintentionally bottleneck their progress by hoping that young rainmakers will learn through osmosis. These up-and-comers need to hear from experienced rainmakers on how it all works. Encourage rainmakers to spend time with their protégés before and after they go out on calls with clients, prospects and referral sources in order to help them prepare or debrief on meetings.
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Are You Solving Your Clients’ Problems?

Have a conversation, not a pitch.

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

Why focus on solving your clients’ problems? The simple answer is, why wouldn’t you?

MORE: The Right DNA for Growth | Seven Reasons Your Growth Plans are Stalled | Five Ways to Grow New Service Lines | How Crisis Illuminates Your Biz Dev Skills | Take the Pressure of ‘Selling’ Out of ‘Cross-selling’
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Most people don’t get into business to not solve their clients’ problems. When we go out and present ourselves to potential clients, we tend to forget to focus on the very simple concept of problem-solving. Instead of learning how we can help their business, we tend to focus on making sure they know we are credible or have been in business for xx years.
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The Right DNA for Growth

Are you providing training and tools?

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

Just as every person has a unique personality, every business has a unique culture. While possessing a distinct culture is a great way to separate a business from the pack, our clients don’t often talk about how to change, improve or grow their unique culture.

MORE: Seven Reasons Your Growth Plans are Stalled | Five Ways to Grow New Service Lines | How Crisis Illuminates Your Biz Dev Skills | Take the Pressure of ‘Selling’ Out of ‘Cross-selling’ | Don’t Confuse Marketing with Biz Dev | Business Development and Sales Aren’t Scary
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

When I speak with partners about growing their firms, the conversation almost always goes to bringing in more business. And while I don’t disagree that bringing in more business is a key component to growth, I often have to step back and ask why a problem exists in the first place. What I’ve learned is that many times firms hit a wall because they haven’t established a culture of growth.
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Grow Your Prospect Lists in 5 Steps

Are you overlooking an easy source?

By Sarah Johnson Dobek
Inovautus Consulting

Prospects are one of the greatest keys to increasing revenue but unfortunately, many accounting firms are struggling to grow their prospect lists. Often, this struggle comes from not knowing how to grow a prospect base in a way that generates results.

MORE: Seven Reasons Your Growth Plans are Stalled | Five Ways to Grow New Service Lines | How Crisis Illuminates Your Biz Dev Skills | Take the Pressure of ‘Selling’ Out of ‘Cross-selling’ | Don’t Confuse Marketing with Biz Dev | Business Development and Sales Aren’t Scary
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Prospect lists must be permission-based, otherwise, you’ll run the risk of poor outcomes. Here are three practical and easy ideas for growing your prospect base and making the most out of your communications.
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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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