Yesterday (7th May), I had the pleasure of interviewing Damien, a partner in a regional firm doing 50% in value add work and turning over approx $5m.
Here’s what you missed if you couldn’t make the live call…
Damien shared a raw story with all the good bad and ugly bits that resulted in the journey he took to create a TRULY PROACTIVE FIRM. It’s a firm that clients now flock too and accountants are lining up at the doors to work with.
Whilst I am waiting for my marketing team to get it ready for you to watch online, let me share a quick snapshot of the discussion.
What the firm looks like today:
- $5m plus revenue
- 35 people
- 650 clients with an average fee of $8,000
- 3 locations
- 2 senior partners and 4 junior partners
Damien’s role:
- High end client strategy work only
- Mentoring the team
- Strategic development of the practice
- Build relationships with networks and potential big business clients
- Excited and challenged
Team responsibilities:
- All the clients meeting
- Proactively seeking out opportunities within clients for more vas
- Selling vas projects
- Handling all the client s day to day
- Engaged and loving what they do
What the firm looked like 6 years ago:
- $2.3m
- 20 staff
- 3 partners
- Average fee approx $3000
Damien’s role
- All client meetings
- Managing team and all the work
- Seeking new clients and extra work
- Trying to get out and network not overly successful
- Frustrated and slightly disengaged – bored
Team functions:
- Processors
- Not interested in more responsibility
- Looking around for more pay
- Disengaged
Damien’s 6 steps to transition
- Mindset – Decide to actually do it not just talk about it
- External advisor – critical to getting out of the day and keeping you focused on strategic and stepping up. Someone to keep you accountable plus the advice is invaluable
- Change client perception- get out of the way and let the team handle them, back the team up by not falling back into the daily stuff
- Systemise – make it a nonnegotiable common tools and same way for everything
- IP sharing – work to individual strengths and create a process.
- Team engagement – they handle the work and know there KPIs and are rewarded for meeting and exceeding KPIs. Including a reward for bringing in the work, whether it’s their client or not
Damien’s elevator piece of advice to you
Let go of your ego. The team will step up and step outside your comfort zone by not just deciding to do it, but taking on the mindset of actually doing it.
You have to take some risks in order to step outside your comfort zone and the rewards will come.