Making Practice Development a Team Effort

Source: Possibilities for CPA Firm Leaders

Following is a complete blog entry by Rita Keller, reproduced with permission.

Gale Crosley has a great article in the November 16-December 13 issue of Accounting Today. As she states, she is committed to bringing the art and science of practice growth to forward-thinking firms, helping them to pursue their pathways to growth.

Crosley stresses that the first foundational element is to realize that this is a team sport and to get our act together by clarifying and assigning team positions. This is a standard operating procedure within successful corporations, but was more or less unknown in our profession. CPAs typically pursue growth as an individual sport (think golf). I want them to learn to play a team sport (think football), with assigned roles for everyone.

I believe that this is one of the stumbling blocks for firm partners and managers. They rely on one or two rainmakers to feed the animal and too many firm leaders take a back seat, justifying their inactivity because of their technical role in the firm.

Crosley adds: Successful firms go to the market using the combined wisdom and expertise of all partners to figure out the compelling value that will resonate with the buyer. This does not diminish the role of the business developer, but it does require that partners learn and use marketing, selling and product management strategies.

Editor's note: You may want to read the entire article, but just in case you don't, Crosley also mentions the following concepts:

• Partners should conduct penetrating analyses of the needs of prospective clients rather than emphasizing social events.
• CPA firms usually create a self-centered perspective on client needs. They try to conform the client's needs to the services they feel comfortable performing. But firms should instead focus on the needs of the clients and match them to the firm's resources.

It's a great article, click here to read it.

From Possibilities for CPA Firm Leaders, the blog of Rita Keller, president of Keller Advisors, LLC, [email protected], December 3, 2009, "FIRM GROWTH-- THINK FOOTBALL, NOT GOLF." Visit http://cpamanagement.blogspot.com.