Have accountants forgotten they are in business or do they think they are a community provider?
Community providers have an obligation to provide services to all customers within their marketplace, it’s why there are usually not for profit by nature.
What’s interesting is most regional accounting firms believe they must do the same! Be all things to all people…
So many firms are conflicted with what they need to do to earn super profits or be experts in their field of genius. The mere thought of;
- eliminating services
- removing clients
- sacking nonperforming team members
- adding additional services that don’t serve the majority clientele
- pricing something more than an hourly rate, value price
- changing direction to meet the market
- redesigning the business operational model for future growth and profitability
Sends shivers down their spines, “what will the community say”, “how will I be perceived”.
Been in business is about creating profits or return on investment for shareholders and for regional firms. It’s about supporting the community they reside in. Nowhere does it say they must be all things to all people and not do the things that need to be done to make super profits. Yet, that’s what regional firms are doing right now. And it’s affecting not just themselves but the very communities they are trying to protect.
- The level of business consulting skill is low and that means the local business are not getting the chance to thrive
- They are too busy to really build the quality relationship needed with clients to ask the deeper questions, so they don’t fully understand what their clients desire
- Their own profitability is suffering that’s leading to conservative spending
- They have no time or energy to truly give back to the community organisations that desperately need able bodies and skilled thinkers
- Their people are trained to survive not thrive
Yet, a very small few are leading successful accounting firms, are achieving more and giving their communities thriving futures. These successful firms know 5 key areas they must get right:
- They know exactly who the true client is and focus all their efforts on finding and retaining those clients and are clear on how to serve the true clients, in a way they exceed clients’ desires
- Their people are aligned in their thinking, language, and activity
- They hire on attitude and develop highly expert skills
- They develop scalable ways of delivery
- They understand and can talk client language
Therefore, they embrace moving forward and making changes, in fact, they have a seasonal cycle of innovating services (raising the bar on services that work and introducing new services that thrive) and eliminating clients and services that no longer fit.
TwentySix Group Business Accelerator Session
A one-on-one Online discussion that identifies the drivers that will determine your one critical decision, which model is right for your Firm of Tomorrow. Facilitating this process, it is important that you and your partners understand how your firm sits in the market now and how it should sit in the future. Even more critical is to know, how clients will determine the value to them and their business. You will walk away with a plan on how to bridge that gap that exists between where you are now and your desired firm of tomorrow.
Coverage of the Program:
Focus – Identify your target client
Clarity – Understand your Unfair Advantage
Confidence – Know the gap between where you are now and the firm of tomorrow