Use the tools to gain an unfair advantage

“Life isn’t fair, it can be a wonderful and highly rewarding experience or it can be cruel and painful. The choice is yours. It’s what you make it.”

Those were some early words of advice from my father as I entered my late teens, and I’ll never forget the sincerity on his face as he passed on that fatherly advice.

As it turns out, these were not just the words of a man who had experienced both sides of the equation and came out a winner, wanting to pass on some insight to his son, but what would become a fixed mantra in my head as I grew up.

I have to say those simple words served me pretty well.

And so it follows that public accounting as a career can be wonderfully satisfying and highly rewarding, or it too can be a cruel and painful experience for the practitioner.

But what is it that makes the difference? Why are some practitioners so wonderfully successful while others (who are just as technically competent) struggle to build a practice?

It’s a question that fascinates me, the elements of success. What makes a winner win?

How can we build growing and successful practices?

I am in the fortunate position of working with a wide range and large number of highly successful practitioners, while also being able to help those who are less successful to achieve better results.

It seems there are a number of common elements among the highly successful public accounting firms, and I thought I would use these pages to pass-on a few tips to give you some direction and food for thought for how you might develop your own firm, whether you’re going gangbusters right now, or just getting by, there should be something here for everyone.

Be Selective

Not all clients or potential clients are born equal. Don’t treat them as equals. Our better clients, we should spoil and service way beyond their expectations. We need to say ‘No’ to some potential (and maybe some existing) clients.

Let me give you an example…

Has anyone ever pretended not to be in when they see a certain name on their caller I.D. display? Yes, I occasionally did that too, when I was in public accounting. We all have the ‘problem client’ don’t we?
Yes, I am sure you know whom I am talking about. The client who is always asking a hundred questions, who calls us almost every week, who asks the same question five times – each time a different way - before they move on to the next ‘urgent’ issue.

These are the same clients who have probably the worst accounting records in Christendom, despite our little pep talk with them about it each year.

These are also the same clients that begrudge us every cent that we charge, often complain about our fees, who never pay us on time, and are a real pain to deal with.

Sound familiar?

And worst of all, while we are dealing with these individuals, we are taking our time and attention away from our best clients, who just might need us too!

We need to seriously review whom we accept as clients and let some of the real troublesome ones go.

Use Leverage

Some of my most profitable clients have little contact with the client’s file as it passes through the office. Sure, they talk often with their clients, and yes, they meet with them probably three or four times a year, but the ‘nuts and bolts’ of doing the audit or preparing the financial statements, are left, until the review, to other team members.

Leverage is a great thing to develop. We should be able to have one or two people per partner who are the go-to people for our clients’ daily trials and tribulations, thereby removing ourselves from the day-to-day grind that distracts us from our goals.

Use I.T.

Technology can free your mind! Our time and billing systems can produce a wealth of reports, reports that we either don’t bother to produce, or print out and file away religiously. Either way is wrong!

We should use our systems to produce the right information that will help us run our practice more profitably.

Which clients are your most profitable? Which clients are your least profitable? Which staff are your most profitable? Whose work has the most write-offs? These are simple examples of the type of information we need to know in order to make smart business decisions, yet it is often precisely that stuff that we do not produce!

Hire Great People – Even If You Don’t Have Enough Work For Them

We are in a people/relationship business. If we come across great people who would love to join our firm, we should always try to find a position for them, as if we intend to grow, we will have sufficient work for them before long! And we don’t want our competition hiring them do we?

Build For The Future With Certainty – And Act As If It’s Already Happening

Act as if your plans are definitely going to become a reality and in many cases they will do! As crazy as it sounds, this is one of the most important things I learned from Tony Robbins.

If you plan for the future with certainty and act as if you’re already there, it’s highly contagious. It’s one of the ways we create a ‘buzz’ around the office and that is an upward spiral that is full of energy.

Never Be Embarrassed About Fees

The only people who really have a problem with the fees that we charge, is us! We need to add tremendous value to our clients and tell them all about it, so that fees are never an issue because of the value we offer.

One quick thought on fees… ever notice that your area’s biggest, most successful accounting firm, is often the most expensive?

And what about motor vehicles? If price was the only issue, there would never be any Jaguars, Mercedes or BMWs on the road, we would all be driving the oldest Hyundai or Kia, wouldn’t we? Yet ask any prestige car owner, and they’ll tell you that they are the best VALUE car on the road! Go figure!

Strive to offer clients the best value on the block (not the lowest fees on the block) and you will be successful.

© 2004, MFA Group Inc