employ best practices and benchmarking.
by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great
you know you need marquee clients, but how do you attract, develop and retain them? you do it by attracting, developing and retaining partners with industry, consulting and technical skills.
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my basic belief is that accounting and auditing partners are the principal relationship partners in a cpa firm. they are the key to your business and the key to becoming a mid-market sustainable brand.
i have always believed that mid-market sustainable brands should be built by the tax planning and tax minimization advice provided by tax partners.
my experience, however, has found that tax partners at mid-market sustainable brands are good technicians but poor relationship partners.
a while ago, i surveyed partners in one firm. one of the most interesting revelations was that tax partners prefer not to interact with clients. they are awkward at relationships and see the accounting or auditing partners as their clients. very unfortunate, but nevertheless, a reality.
while there certainly are exceptions, tax partners are essentially “order takers” from the accounting and auditing relationship partners. don’t get me wrong: tax partners are very important to our practices, but typically they would rather stay in their offices doing tax returns as opposed to visiting with clients. the typical scenario: the relationship partner meets with the clients, realizes that the client could benefit from an estate plan, goes back to the office, and gives the tax partner a “ticket” or an engagement to develop an estate plan for the client.
consulting partners are a hybrid of accounting/auditing partners and tax partners. they know that they have to build relationships with clients (and in many cases do it effectively), but their relationships tend to be short-term. consulting partners tend to be project-oriented – in when a project starts and out when it’s completed (hopefully on time and on budget).
industry specialization
so how do accounting/auditing partners – the relationship partners – create value for clients? they do it principally through industry specialization that provides insightful and personalized accounting, tax and consulting to clients by understanding the nuances of their industry environment and tailoring their services to assist in meeting business objectives. industry specialization also identifies “best practices” and benchmarks clients as they seek to improve.
in my experience, if you want to be a mid-market sustainable brand, you eventually need to specialize in eight to 12 industry specializations, including the following:
- real estate
- retail and consumer products
- construction
- manufacturing and wholesale distribution
- financial services
- professional services
- private equity
- non-profits and higher education
- hospitality
- technology and life sciences
- health care
so, let’s get a bit granular. what does it really mean to have industry specialization in your firm? what does it mean for your partners and managers?
in my view, the most effective way to drive industry specialization throughout your firm is by having your partners and managers concentrate, if not dedicate themselves to one, maybe two, industry groups.
objectives of industry practice group
the industry practice groups (“ipgs”) need to be charged with meeting the following objectives:
core
- to fully understand the nuances of the industry and demonstrate expertise in the marketplace
- to provide the greatest financial return to the firm and significant value to clients
- to build depth of resources and industry capability across the firm’s geographical regions
- to communicate effectively with office managing partners and incorporate the industry practice groups’ objectives into each office’s plans
marketing
- utilize the strength of the firm’s marketing professionals to build brand identity and market awareness and position the firm as a leader in the industry
- identify and target marquee prospects within the industry to upgrade your client base and leverage these relationships to maximize practice development efforts
practice development
- generate top-line revenue growth through new business acquisition in accordance with assigned goals
- develop strong referral relationships with industry centers of influence
- produce top-line revenue growth through cross-selling services to clients
professional development
- build industry understanding and expertise via education and training seminars
- client service
- offer value-added service to clients provided by specialists throughout your firm
national ipg director
each industry group requires a national ipg director who has the following roles and responsibilities:
strategy
- set the strategic direction of the ipg
- identify and align resources of the ipg to achieve strategic goals
- clearly communicate the ipg’s long-term objectives and manage the team to achieve these objectives
development and accountability of the team
- select industry leaders, and approve industry team members,
- celebrate ipg successes
- participate in staffing strategy discussions. work to attract talent to the firm who possess the critical skills necessary for success of the ipg
- ensure that the talent is managed for high performance, skill development and career growth
- oversee and evaluate industry office leaders to ensure that they have prepared and are executing appropriate business plans; monitor and evaluate these business plans
- coordinate and lead all meetings. conduct followup actions, prepare plans and produce meeting minutes
marketing
work with industry marketing director to:
- build brand identity
- advertise appropriately
- provide individual office marketing direction, suggestions and key prospects for the industry office leaders
- develop sell sheets and literature to assist in the proposal process
- develop newsletters, e-mail blasts and other communications for ipg members, clients and potential clients as appropriate
- develop market and competitive data by region
training
- coordinate specific training that will be required of the ipg members
communication
- coordinate ipg meeting schedule and minutes
- communicate to the firm, industry office leaders and industry team members on an ongoing basis as required
- develop an intranet strategy for the ipg and identify key items to be included within the site. utilize this intranet site as a means of communication to the entire firm
- communication would include:
- minutes of meetings
- new business, lost business, prospects
- industry
- intranet updates
- cpe opportunities
- personnel issues
financial results
- oversee the financial results for the industry group as a whole. report new and lost clients by office and firm
- review service offerings and consulting capabilities. identify strategic alliances
- monitor realization rate/hour. review of key clients by office
- status report on cross-selling opportunities
ipg office leaders
each national ipg director also needs to have office leaders who need to have the following roles and responsibilities:
core
- participate in all meetings
- contribute to developing the ipg business plan of the group and office and implement the plan at the office level
- be leaders of the industry team members in the office
- get the leadership group involved in ipg activities
marketing/practice development
- oversee regional marketing director regarding ipg office marketing plan
- participate and oversee key proposals at the office level and work with the office managing partner and ipg directors as appropriate
- maintain followup on key prospects, and office centers of influence
training and staff development
- keep abreast of industry trends and best practices
- maintain technical competency
- mentor and groom next level of leadership within the office
communications
- report to ipg directors
- interact with other office leaders – utilize firm resources
- keep office managing partner informed of ipg activities
- report to ipg directors on a quarterly basis regarding plan objectives, successes, etc.
- communicate to core group members of office as required
finally, each industry office leader needs team members. the following identifies criteria for partners and staff to participate as an industry team member of an ipg:
- manager-level or above. in certain circumstances, an experienced senior may be invited to attend the group if the industry office leader believes that person has significant talent and spends a large amount of time within the ipg
- industry experience
- technical skills necessary to provide audit or tax services to clients
ipg team members
the following summarizes the key activities of the industry team members:
core
- attend and participate in office/regional industry team meetings
- champion the efforts of the industry practice group
- execute duties assigned by the industry office leader
- get core group involved in ipg activities
marketing/practice development
- take a proactive role in developing centers of influence relationships and prospect relationships
- assist in marketing activities
- join trade organizations and industry organizations to promote the firm
- co-write thought leadership articles and white papers for internal and external distribution
- assist in writing proposals
- be willing to participate in sales calls
- cross-sell value-added services to clients
training and staff development
- develop skills in particular focus areas to increase their industry expertise
- attend cpe sessions as appropriate
communications
- provide input to ipg regarding various tax and accounting issues.
- communicate to the industry office leaders on any issues as appropriate as they relate to:
- client problems
- client questions
- new business
office marketing directors
the following summarizes the key activities of an office marketing director assigned to an industry practice group:
core
- attend all meetings
- assist with the development of the ipg business plan
marketing/practice development
- conduct marketing study, by office, of key prospects, and provide market and competitive data concerning the specific industry in the region covered by the office
- provide support to the regional marketing director (who is responsible for tactical marketing strategies at the office level) and to ipg leaders
- identify key marketing strategies that should be implemented by the regional marketing directors, including:
- website
- industry surveys
- mailings/newsletters
- trade shows
- development of sales materials
- peer-to-peer meetings
- trade and industry organizations of industry group
- trends in the industry/market research on the industry
- consistency of the proposal process
communications
- keep consulting and tax specialty services in front of group and measure success in utilizing services
- provide semi-annual report on marketing activities of group and successes
- generate financial and statistical data. this may be done at the office level and consolidated by the ipg director, including:
- number of proposals by office and won/loss ratio
- new business generated by office and firm
- lost business by office and firm/reasons why
- number of clients and fee revenue by office and firm
- prospects
regional marketing directors
the following summarizes the key activities of the regional marketing directors in supporting the industry office leader and team members:
core
- participate in regional industry group meetings; review ipg meeting minutes
- support regional industry team in maintaining relevant client data, including:
- number of industry clients
- fee revenue from industry clients
marketing/practice development
- assist the industry marketing director in determining attractive market segments, and analyzing key prospects within the geography
- assist the industry marketing director in capturing relevant client data used in evaluating practice size and strength
- develop and execute regional marketing plans in coordination with industry office leader and industry team members. coordinate plans with the industry marketing director and report quarterly on regional activities
- meet regularly with the industry marketing director to implement the regional marketing plan:
- support the regional industry team in identifying and penetrating relevant industry associations
- place industry targets on industry mailing lists
- hold roundtables as appropriate
- share target lists with regional centers of influence
- identify trade associations and participate as appropriate
- hold client and prospect clinics as necessary
communications
- encourage office managing partner to involve industry team members in new business activity within the industry, and update office managing partner on industry practice group activities
- prepare industry proposals that are consistent with the corporate standard
- provide sales pipeline and financial data to the industry marketing director for use in industry reports, including:
- number of proposals for by region and firm and won/loss ratio
- new business generated by the region
- lost business by office and reasons why
- capture client testimonials and generate case studies