All posts by Kevin Phillips

Sooner or later nearly all tax or accounting professionals reach a point in their careers where they decide if they will make a move to ownership or partnership of a firm. Sometimes it is an easy transition. They pick up the skills essential to generate business and service clients, while developing the leadership abilities necessary to run a firm. Usually it is a challenge to master the skills while juggling the delivery of services. 

The typical path has been Darwinian in nature; where the strongest survive. Not much effort has gone to developing capable talent. Instead there was an expectation from those who made it that others should do as they had. Consequently, some great potential is not realized.  This may be in a multiple partner firm, where a young CPA is beginning a career, or it could be an owner of a solo practice. One is competing inside a firm while the other is fighting competition in the marketplace. Either way, some do not make it and remain on the delivery end.

One solution to this challenge is mentoring. In a larger firm, it may be a partner or someone in management grooming a junior. For an entrepreneur it may be someone in their network, mastermind group or perhaps a professional coach. It should always be someone who can play a role in overcoming obstacles and challenges.

Here are 3 roles a mentor may undertake:

• Role Model: This person sets an example for the mentee to follow. The role model may establish trust, listen to challenges, counsel and provide guidance as necessary.
• Guide: This person helps navigate and understand organizations and situations. They often refer and make introductions to persons or opportunities that will enhance the mentee’s career. They may open doors, help the mentee network and stay in touch for professional purposes. They can also sponsor, creating challenging and instructive opportunities that may not be available.
• Coach: This person takes an active role in observation, assessing capabilities and providing feedback and instruction. They teach, advise and motivate. They help cultivate professional interests and set career goals. They often help to keep focused on the performance and pushing through tough times, while developing, self respect and a sense of self-worth. Mentoring is an intentional process, with both parties sharing responsibility. 

Along the way, the person being mentored can slide into one of the roles and begin mentoring others. For the mentee the benefits are obvious. There are benefits to the mentor as well that we’ll address later.

Where in your business can you use help? Where can you give help? What value would you find with a mentor? Being a mentor?

Take a few minutes and respond below.

Comments (0) • Posted October 20th, 2010 at 10:37am

In a recent article on WebCPA, Make This Year’s Partner Retreat More Productive, Steve Erickson highlights the value of partner retreats. 

“Firms must be able to make strategic decisions and then execute quickly and efficiently,” Erickson writes. “Unfortunately . . . many partners spend a significant amount of their time at retreats talking about the past and issues that cannot be changed.”

Erickson goes on to describe the unproductive use of time many partners experience on retreat and how many partners find it difficult to engage in authentic dialogue on the topics that matter most.   

This may be because partners lack training in group process.  They rise based on their technical ability or their business development skills rather than their ability to manage human capital. 

We also find many firms are partnerships in name only.  They consist of four or five independent silos.  Each partner works alone supported by common staff members.  Partners share an office, a coffee pot and a Christmas party.  But, sometimes that is about all.

Attempts to create economies of scale, synergy between specialties and shared goals – all of which increase profitability – have been frustrated by an inability to engage with one another in authentic dialogue. 

So they meet for a partner’s retreat.  They adopt many elements of a plan recommended by Erickson:

• Focus on the future
• Prepare in advance
• Have an agenda
• Adopt and enforce ground rules
• Remember their conversations define their relationship.

The first three of the five recommendations are easy enough.  It is the last two that frustrate real progress. 

They may adopt ground rules but enforcement is problematic.  And although they try to remember that their conversations defined their relationships, when they get into the meat of a critical issue, relational habits kick in. 

Despite everyone’s best intentions, a cycle of domination and avoidance results that undermines their agenda. Dialogue breaks down.   

It starts simply enough.  An item has been placed on the agenda.  It could be anything -- partner’s compensation, marketing strategy, staff roles. At some point in the discussion, someone becomes anxious. 

It may be that the issue is particularly sensitive.  It may simply be that someone feels frustrated at the pace of the discussion.  Whatever the reason, a partner begins to push.  In reaction to the push, one of two things can happen depending upon the relational styles in the room.  

1)      Someone pushes back.  The energy of the dialog escalates.  It reaches a point of risk.  Both partners withdraw rather than jeopardize the relationship.  2)      No one pushes back.  The energy of the dialogue fades.  The result is the same in both cases.  Real issues are not addressed. 

Partners will experience this cycle only a few times before determining that there is no value in a partner’s retreat.  But the deeper truth is this:  truth is, there is no value in a partner’s retreat that lacks process discipline. 

Just as a CPA would never dream of attempting a complex audit without having first planned an appropriate strategy or process for the audit, neither should partners gather for an important meeting without first defining their process. 

If the partners lack the skills, the experience, or the training to do it right, it is time to look for a process facilitator.  A business sometimes needs to hire an accountant to keep its books straight.  An accounting firm sometimes needs to hire a facilitator to keep their partnership straight.    

What is your experience with partner retreats?

Leave us a comment, or contact Kevin.

Comments (0) • Posted June 1st, 2010 at 5:35am

We recently spoke to an accounting practice owner in Portland, Oregon who told us his practice was growing 20% a year, year over year. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in October of 2007, the unemployment rate in Portland, OR was at 4.5%.  By October of 2009 the unemployment rate had jumped to 10.7%.  (It is now hovering around 12%.)

Between the end of 2007 and 2009 while the unemployment rate more than doubled, this accounting practice had grown 40%.

What is the owner’s secret?  He told us he does not know, he just gets lots of referrals.  Although he does not know what he is doing to acquire new clients, he does know what he is doing to serve them.  He values his clients highly, provides exceptional service and stays in regular communication with them through a monthly newsletter.

“We stay in touch with our clients and manage the relationship.  Even if we have a problem client, we do our best to treat them right.  Even if we have to let them go, we try doing it in a way that leaves them with a positive experience.”

Following his intuition about the value of customer service, this practitioner has inadvertently developed a client referral program that works.

A Referral Ready Accounting Firm

No client will refer friends and neighbors to a service they do not believe in.  Some clients may refer people to a service they find helpful.  Most clients will refer a service that they experience as exceptional and unique. 

What can you do to create a referral ready accounting firm? 

1. Manage the relationships with the clients you he already have. Make sure they are well-served.  Anticipate their needs.  Respond to their concerns in a timely fashion.  Work to maintain a relationship of value with each and every one.
2. Stay in contact with your clients.  Distribute a monthly newsletter.  Survey your clients to check your quality.  Ask how you may better meet their needs. 
3. Educate your clients on how you firm can serve them. Use a monthly newsletter to make it easy for them to talk to their friends and neighbors about how you can help them solve their problems.  Tell how you have saved a particular client money, or resolved a tax issue, or provided sound advice.
4. Give your clients something to talk about. By being intentional about how your clients experience your service.  Find small ways to make it special, unique:  One practioner we know has M&M figures throughout his office...many given to him by clients over the years.  When you visit his office, you tell people about it.  People do not tell stories about a work product.  They tell stories about what they experience.

What are your thoughts on developing referrals?  We would love to hear them.

Comments (0) • Posted January 27th, 2010 at 10:23am