In 1998 I was the CEO of Results Accountants’ Systems – the Accountants’ Bootcamp company. During a particularly difficult time I wrote a weekly report to our 100+ team scattered around the world. The report I wrote on August 15 talked to a “dream” I had about the way firms would be operating in the future. I picked 2008 as the year that defined the future but was out by 10 years. Continue reading “It was 1998 and I was thinking about the firm of the future”
Category: Your Practice
What I’m working on: The intersection between neuroscience and practice development
Yesterday, a good friend of mine asked if I was enjoying “retirement.” I explained that I haven’t retired (and never will) but have simply changed careers from running a consulting business to writing about the SME consulting process through the lens of my own experience, my observation of the experience of others, and based on some important science Continue reading “What I’m working on: The intersection between neuroscience and practice development”
A Day in the Office With Paul Kennedy: How One FirmTransitioned from Compliance to Advisory
This is the story of how O’Byrne and Kennedy changed their business model from an unremarkable suburban compliance practice with 500 clients to a remarkable niche business advisory firm with 50 clients and in the process dramatically increased profitability, client loyalty, and team member engagement while having a life-changing impact on the clients they work with. Continue reading “A Day in the Office With Paul Kennedy: How One FirmTransitioned from Compliance to Advisory”
More proof that delegation is the key
I was going through some early material from my days as the CEO of Results Accountants’ Systems and came across an Advisor Note written by Colin Dunn, one of our team members in the UK. On reading his note I thought it’s just as relevant today as it was back in 1998 when he wrote it -perhaps even more so. So, with a few edits by me, here it is … Continue reading “More proof that delegation is the key”
So you want better clients
“Explain how I can attract and retain better quality clients” was one of the responses from 92% of the people who attended a webinar I presented last year in which I asked the following question: what are the top 3 questions you’d like me to answer in the book I’m writing on practice development? Continue reading “So you want better clients”
The theater of service has been around for a long time
I’ve been reading a biography on the Wright Brothers that describes in minute detail the hugely difficult process they went through to create an airplane. One of the side notes that caught my attention was a reference Continue reading “The theater of service has been around for a long time”
The Why and the How to Measure Customer Lifetime Value
They–the nameless and faceless people who make predictions about everything from the weather to the stock market–say it costs 6 times more to acquire a customer than it does to retain an existing customer. Interestingly, the literature contains references to acquisition to retention cost ratios ranging from 3:1 to 30:1. Quite frankly, I don’t know if the 6:1 metric is an urban myth or a thoroughly researched observation but I do believe Continue reading “The Why and the How to Measure Customer Lifetime Value”
How you can get better clients
Yesterday I had a conversation with one of our clients who asked: “how can I get better clients?” He believed the problem he had was a marketing challenge. Continue reading “How you can get better clients”
Let’s do something
I recently finished reading Geoffrey Blainey’s A Very Short History of the World – all 450 pages of it! As interesting as it was, I’m so glad it was the short version. I came away from that book with a renewed appreciation of human accomplishment but that’s not want I want to talk about. Of the many things that resonated, one was Continue reading “Let’s do something”
The Three Business Owner Types and Why You Need to Know Who They Are
There are 3 basic types of people involved with business ownership. They are Investors, owner-managers who primarily work “IN” their business so we’ll call then IN-guys, and owner-managers who primarily work “ON” their business so we’ll call them ON-guys. If you want to grow the business advisory side of your firm you need Continue reading “The Three Business Owner Types and Why You Need to Know Who They Are”