All posts from December 2009

For many firms, January through April is the most critical time of their year, with most of their revenues derived from year-end financial statement work and tax compliance services. The long hours leave staff and principals exhausted and often overwhelmed. During this period, maintaining a business development mindset can be vital, especially for practices that perform a wide range of services.

In our fifteen years of evaluating practices, we have seen varying extremes in revenues per client. Our experience has shown that the more profitable practices are paying attention to client development during the busy season. If these competitors are in the market when you are not, they will get the new clients you are seeking, and perhaps will get your clients over time.

This tax season will be demanding, but it does not have to be chaotic. Spending time planning, educating the staff and developing a business development strategy will increase:

• Profitability
• Sales per client
• Potential referrals

This is the time of the year where your clients, the public, and the business world are all paying attention to accounting. There is a tremendous opportunity to grow your practice.

Firms need to look at the busy season as a stepping stone for 2010, while your clients are focused on taxes/accounting more than any other time. Benefits from maintaining a business development strategy are numerous and include:

• Accounting draws attention: The tax season is the time where you get the opportunity to meet your clients in person. Accounting is an important issue that, generally, captures an audience.
• Competitive advantage: Firms that make an effort at marketing during the busy season gain a competitive advantage over other firms who are not in the marketplace.
• Strengthened relationships: It is an opportunity to further strengthen relationships with existing clients.
• Increased referrals: Strengthened relationships will improve both quality and quantity of referrals.
• Accelerated growth: It offers opportunities to increase business and should not be wasted.

How does an accounting or tax firm develop business during tax season? It certainly is a challenge.  If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. There are a numerous ways, but none of them will be successful without the proper foundation; planning and preparation.

We will address other business development issues that your firm can employ to go from busy season to always busy and enhance your firm’s value in greater detail in our blog during the weeks to come.

Comments (0) • Posted December 16th, 2009 at 3:10pm

Most firms are looking at tax season as a stepping stone for 2010. New business development should always start with your current clients. Your current clients are the targets for other firms looking for more business, so maintaining your relationships is a crucial first step.  Improving that relationship and treating clients favorably, will lead to loyalty, repeat business, and referrals to additional clients.

Client relationship management is an indispensable part of business development especially with regard to existing clients. We have a saying in our office that clients don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. Client relationship management is all about showing that you care about them both professionally and personally.   

Here are some key techniques that will help you to maintain strong client relationships:

Communication: Keep in touch with your clients.  Use tax season as a way to re-connect and build a better relationship. Plan to keep in touch throughout the year.

Appreciation: Listen to your clients. Find out what is happening in their lives and businesses. Show a genuine appreciation of who they are and what they are experiencing, in addition to what their current tax needs are. Let them know you care and appreciate their business.

Reinforcement: Educate your clients on the areas of tax and finance that affect them, as well as strategies that may benefit them. Reinforce your ability to HELP them.

Endorsement: Building a highly successful business is all about referrals. After you have taken the time to show how much you care, it is time to have a discussion of referrals, in this order:

• Think of someone you know that may need the services your client provides. Provide the referral to your client.
• Think of someone you know that may provide a needed service for your client that you do not provide. Refer your client to them.
• Remind your client of all the various services that you provide. Let them know how much you value their referrals. Reciprocating interest in each others businesses will strengthen the relationship.

Although important, client relationships are only one facet of business development. We will cover other business development issues in greater detail in our blog during the weeks to come.

Comments (0) • Posted December 8th, 2009 at 2:50pm

We recently surveyed more than 1000 accountants on issues such as economic pressures, client relationship management, business development and marketing activities. Over our next several blogs, we will discuss some of our findings along with related tips to leverage tax season to increase the value of your firm.

More than 40% of the respondents in our survey said that their team was responsible for business development activities and only 25% disagreed with that statement. To leverage tax season and the face time with clients to expand the business, a team effort is essential, yet only 24% of our respondents report that their team is trained in business development. Taking the time to work with your team on a business development strategy will increase profitability, more sales per client, and potential referrals.

So what is a business development strategy? A business development strategy is used to support your main business plan and effectively it sets out a methodology for developing new opportunities, either from existing clients or by actively targeting new client prospects to develop new business.

Here are examples of steps you might take to develop a strategy to increase the value of your firm:

• First step is a thorough firm evaluation. A SWOT analysis to identify and analyze the Strengths and Weaknesses of your firm can be used to formulate actions and strategies.
• Determine your annual revenue goals. Analyze your revenues. Ask yourself questions such as:
  • Where were they earned?
  • How much of your revenue is earned from January to April?
  • How much business from May to December comes from the same client base?
  • What services are you providing for them?
  • How do you expand this to the rest of your client base?
• Take a look at the issues that your clients are facing.
• Develop a mindset in your firm of client relationship management strategy involving your entire organization. Important aspects:
  • Communication: Listening and understanding the client
  • Consider up-sell and cross-sell opportunities for additional services that you may provide to them.
  • Grow your referral network
  • Utilizing social networking and other technologies

We’ll address many of the elements above in more detail in blogs to come.  

Comments (1) • Posted December 7th, 2009 at 11:30am