How to Turn Big Firm Weaknesses into Your Strengths
Brandon Hall, CPA
CEO @ Hall CPA PLLC | Tax + Accounting Services for Real Estate Operators and Investors
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I’ve been fortunate over the past few months to get connected with movers and shakers at large firms ($25MM - $100MM in revenue).
When discussing their top challenges, they most frequently cite buy-in from leadership.
Digging further I've found three common issues preventing large firms from adopting a more modern and progressive model.
Love of Timesheets
I discussed my issues with timesheets in last week’s newsletter (link). And while I won’t go into every problem in today’s newsletter, I do want to highlight one point:
Not a single timesheet is accurate.
And I will die on this hill.
You round up/down to the nearest 6 minutes and 15 minutes, right?
If so, you don’t have accurate data.
You may think it’s not a big deal. An extra six minutes here and there isn’t material.
But multiply by 230-240 daily time entries per year and what was a small inaccuracy is now a bigger problem.
And when you extrapolate this among hundreds of employees... you see where I'm going.
I’m consistently amazed that business leaders have no issue using bad data in their decision-making.
Lack of Real Leadership
When I ask firm leaders/partners where they spend their time, almost all of them mention billable time, client relationships, and new business.
Few mention leadership and those that do typically describe “management” instead of leadership.
As your firm scales, you MUST learn how to drive results through people.
This means learning how to delegate work and client relationships while simultaneously learning how to support employees and unleash their talents.
Traditional accounting firms reward sole producers with promotions. Do a great job, exceed your billable hour targets, and you'll get promoted.
So firms end up with people, who thrive as sole producers, managing teams (and generally poorly).
Leadership requires a completely different set of skills than what the sole producer previously relied on for success.
Leadership requires a mindset shift.
It's no longer about "me."
It's about everyone I support.
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Great leaders know how to inspire and motivate each person on their team. They know each person's goals and life mission. And they support them in their journey of achievement.
Unfortunately, today's accounting firm partners don't have time to spend on leadership because they don't know how to deliver value at scale.
Unable to Deliver Value at Scale
If you want to make more money, you have to scale.
To scale a professional service firm to massive heights, you have to delegate everything that is not (1) leadership-related; and (2) one-to-many projects.
Too many accounting firm partners are caught up in their own billable hours. They are managing timesheets and hoarding client relationships. And as a result, they are not spending the necessary time to cultivate high-performing teams.
I spend ~25% of my time on digital marketing, ~50% of my time on mentoring, coaching, and leadership, and the remaining ~25% wherever I'm needed.
How much time do I spend on client relationships and client work?
~5% per year maximum.
Client relationships are important, but I bet you can hire someone who can manage the relationship better than you can.
Delivering quality work is important, but I bet you can hire someone who can manage the quality control and deliverable process better than you can.
Want to know what type of roles are really hard to hire?
Rainmakers and leaders.
Spend your time (1) developing leadership skills to support and cultivate a high-performing team, and (2) on one-to-many digital marketing projects (blogs, videos, webinars, courses, etc.).
One-to-one calls with clients are a waste of your time because you can't scale it.
And the hard truth is that clients don’t really care about you.
Your reputation may have sold them on your firm but what they really care about is whatever end result they are looking for (usually peace of mind, comfort, saving money).
If maintaining client relationships is a blocker for you, transition to monthly webinars (one-to-many) where clients can join and ask you questions for free.
How to Turn These Weaknesses into Your Advantage
Many younger accountants are looking to join more progressive firms right now.
If you structure your firm right, you'll end up with an endless talent pool while all other firms are seemingly struggling with recruiting. Your staff will be loyal advocates of your business and they will share their positive experiences on social media thereby further expanding your talent pool.
Dare to be different. You'll make millions of dollars and truly enrich the lives of your staff.
Drop the timesheets.
Develop leadership skills.
Delegate all client relationships, client work, and any one-to-one consultations/projects to your highly capable staff.
Spend 25% of your time creating content and 50% of your time coaching/mentoring staff.
Be the leader the profession needs.
Technology, training, and ongoing process improvement for over 20 years!
2 年Great article Brandon. I think many metrics, like timesheets call numbers, CTR, etc., become a symptom of a larger issue. They are quick ways to evaluate and take action, but as you pointed out they rely on accurate data. Sales Force’s Pardot gives co-opted open rate data which can lead to incorrect adjustments. But I think the larger issue is fear. ? Lack of leadership is often caused by fear. Fear that as the leader you will make the wrong decision, fear that others may not do a job as well as you, fear that you will be judged harshly for enforcing standards in a merit-based company. EVERYONE has great talents and abilities, but Gordon Ramsay in HR is probably not going to end well! ? You 100% on point about scale. 1-on-1 does not scale, except when moving to integration opportunities or partnerships. And even then, that can be replicated. Once you have effective scripts, let have prospecting team fill the pipeline. And your point about webinars is completely on target. I think that was the biggest take away. 5, 10, 50, or 100 in a webinar far outpaces the 1-on-1 on the sales front. ? Just my $0.02 but thanks for a great read!