Is Your Firm Client-Driven?

Source: Partner Insights

Editor's note: CPA firms often believe they are client-driven, but some firms are more likely driven by their need to respond to their clients' every whim. August Aquila and Bruce Marcus, in their article entitled "Is Your Client Really at the Core?" have a different perspective. Following are excerpts from the article.

It has only been recently that firms are becoming concerned with how they effectively develop relationships with clients.

Clients go to accountants because they have to cope with problems that are beyond their knowledge or competency level. What they are looking for is a professional -- someone trained, experienced and qualified in the skills they need to solve their problems or enhance their ability to seize an opportunity

What today's clients need and want are not only great sophistication and skills, and more imaginative applications of those skills, but also a more meticulous understanding by professionals of these needs and wants, and how best to meet them.

Today's client is a participant in his or her accounting and consulting process.
Any accountant or consultant who isn't willing to accept this new relationship -- this new demand for participatory skills -- is going to lose out to the professional who does accept the new paradigm of client service.

The new perception of professionals plays out in a number of ways. More sophisticated clients no longer accept the advice of the professional without questioning, challenging and even demanding more reasoning and detail. These clients also demand that the professional know more about their business and industry than ever before."

Marketing has educated the client, who was once willing to accept credentials and skills unquestioningly. Not anymore.

Structuring the Firm to Serve Its Market
Unless a firm services one type of client only, it should have several practices within itself.

The firm can structure itself by meticulously defining its market, focusing, defining and developing its skills in terms of that market and then projecting its ability to meet those needs. The firm with this focus, this kind of understanding of the value of being relevant to the needs of its market, is the one that grows and succeeds.

Factors that turn a group from a collection of prospective clients into a focused and cohesive group that can be reached more effectively with a sound marketing message include:

• A common need for specific skills, such as public companies that need to comply with Section 404 of Sarbanes Oxley.
• A common industry or subset of an industry, such as real estate developers of a certain size.
• A geographic area, such as a city, state, region, or the entire country.
• A common demographic, such as age, women business owners, etc.
• Competition. Like GE, can you be one or two in the market or will you just be one of many?
• Cost to penetrate the market.
• Pricing. What kind of pricing will the market bear? Fraud investigation and litigation support work tends to be more valuable to clients than tax compliance.
• Return on investment. Is the market large enough to offer an acceptable return on investment?
• Untapped opportunities in the market.

For the complete article, click here.

From Partner Insights, Aquila Global Advisors, LLC, January 12, 2010. http://www.aquilaadvisors.com