For the better part of 30+ years I have been on a journey to share with my colleagues in the accounting profession some ideas I have that will help them help their clients and themselves have a better life by having a better business. This has become our by-line Better Business*Better Life. Continue reading “What’s holding YOU back?”
Category: Uncategorized
Timesheets and Managing a Professional Service Firm
One of the most common questions I get asked is: “What do you think of the idea of trashing timesheets?” My standard answer is: “It might be a great initiative for your firm if it is a catalyst for creating a client value centric business model but some form of time monitoring does provide useful management information.” Continue reading “Timesheets and Managing a Professional Service Firm”
If you’re smarter than Ben Franklin this post will not interest you
Recently I was talking to the owner of a business who I admire greatly and I asked him if he would nominate a book that he could confidently recommend as a source of inspiration and advice to anyone who wanted to build a really successful business. I was expecting him to refer to one of the modern popular works on management from the likes of Peter Drucker and his ilk but he instantly (and without hesitation) said “Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography.” Continue reading “If you’re smarter than Ben Franklin this post will not interest you”
KISS is the answer to creating a firm that yields at least $1 million for its owners
In exactly 7 days from now I travel to San Diego to deliver an 18 minute presentation on how to create a firm that yields a net profit per owner of at least $1 million. Less than 2% of firms are able to achieve a result of that magnitude and an even smaller percentage are able to sustain that for an extended period of time. In an industry where business practices are highly transparent and there are few, if any, proprietary technologies that confer a competitive advantage, the question needs to be asked: why can’t all firms achieve a result of this magnitude? I suggest they can and in this post I explain how. Continue reading “KISS is the answer to creating a firm that yields at least $1 million for its owners”
The $50k Question
You’ve got to be in it to win it. By that I mean if you want to grow your business you must, I repeat must, get out from behind your desk and talk to people. And one great way to do that is to have conversations with clients about things that are not directly associated with the typical stuff that accountants do. Continue reading “The $50k Question”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
In Principa I talk a lot about the the centrality of 3 P’s — People, Positioning and Process — to the Delta4 business system we have created, so my antenna was alerted when I heard the the 7 P’s mentioned! Continue reading “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
No Low Clients – An Eavesdropping Video
While I was fiddling around in my office on a Saturday afternoon preparing to create a training video the phone rang. It was from a Principa Insider Member – who therefore holds a Saturday-afternoon-interrupt-Ric pass. She wanted an answer to the question: why should I refuse to do work for a small tax client when I can still make some reasonable money from it?
I did not realize it at the time but the camera was rolling and the entire conversation was caught on video. Nothing of a confidential nature was discussed so I thought I’d share the views I expressed because this is certainly not the first time this question has been put on the table and I doubt that it will be the last.
The Power Of a Word and The Need For Management Innovation
I’ve been working on some pretty amazing initiatives that I know will turn a few heads in the coming months and in the course of doing some research I recently came across something that I thought I’d share. It relates to the incredible advances that are being made in neuroscience due in large part to Continue reading “The Power Of a Word and The Need For Management Innovation”
The Walk & Talk Client Retention and Growth Strategy
I was listening to an interview with Jon Ferrara, the founder of Goldmine, one of the first CRM systems and was so impressed with his observation that professionals need to get out of their office and connect with their clients that I recorded this part of the interview. Listen to Jon’s insights.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Interestingly (to me anyway) this was exactly what I was saying at A Day with The Disrupters Conference I presented at in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I thought you might be interested in what I had to say because it may apply to you as well …
Ric Payne – A Day With The Disrupters.
Accountants as sales specialists
My attention was drawn to an interesting blog posted on the accountingweb.uk portal this morning which addressed the question “can accountants make good salespeople? The author of the post was discussing some thoughts expressed by Paul Shrimpling a professional service firm marketing specialist. Click here to get to the blog.
The blog is definitely worth reading if only because it references a very useful sales meeting protocol developed by Shrimpling under the acronym PROGRESS where P=plan the meeting, R=rapport is essential, O=opening the meeting, G=gather relevant information from the client, R=reveal your solution, E= engage with the client, S=seal the deal, S=see it through by delivering on your promise. This protocol reflects the essence of our own recommended sales process and I know it will work if implemented and practiced.
Of less interest in the blog was a discussion of the question “can accountants sell?” This was presented in the context that the increasingly competitive landscape mandates that they need to develop this skill. The answer is OFF COURSE accountants can sell. Shrimpling is of the view, as am I, that it’s not a question of can, it’s a question of will. Or as some sage once said don’t say “I would if I could”, say “I could if I would.”
I commented on the blog and I thought I’d restate my thoughts here just for fun …
Selling starts with two fundamental questions: first, can I add value to this person? and if yes, am I willing to get in front of him/her and explain how? The first question is about client selection, the second is about self-confidence.
I often get asked to recommend a great sales training book. There are thousands out there–just Google it! My recommendation is an oldie but a goodie–How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Interestingly, Warren Buffett says it was one of the only TWO books that changed his life, the other was Ben Graham’s book The Intelligent Investor.
Selling is something we all do all the time (see Dan Pink’s latest book To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others) in all aspects of our lives as fathers, mothers, siblings, partners, managers, leaders – you name it! I can’t think of any life role in which selling is not a central part of the communication process intended to influence people for good and sometimes bad. To suggest that accountants can’t sell is absurd. They may choose not to commit to add value or not to develop the skill to articulate how they could add value but that is different to saying they can’t sell because of some personality issue. When I was in practice I passionately believed that it was my professional responsibility to create value for my firm’s clients if and when I could see an opportunity to do so.
I don’t believe this an issue of responding to competitive pressure. It is now, and always has been, a a question of our responsibility and our willingness to make a difference to the lives of people. That’s a defining characteristic of a profession and a professional. Better business means a better life. Accountants are in the perfect position to help people make better choices in their business and consequently to experience better outcomes. Spend more time seeking clients in respect of whom you can create value and less time chasing easy, mindless work and everything will change for you