How to Judge CPA Firm Leaders

Rick Telberg's latest blog post, How to Judge CPA Firm Leaders, makes an excellent point. The ultimate test of leadership is in how results are achieved through the actions and behaviors of others.

Leadership is one of the Seven Keys to Successful CPA Firm Management identified by Capstone Marketing and Bay Street Group LLC. Details of our research will be unveiled in a series of monthly webinars starting Tuesday, July 14, 2009, at 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern, with "Leadership: New Rules for the New Normal."

In "Leadership: New Rules for the New Normal," Caragher and Telberg will reveal:
- Essential Qualities for Accounting Firm Leaders in Today's Economy
- How to Be a Leader if "Leader" Isn't in Your Job Title
- Key Skills Every Accounting Firm Employee Needs to Know
- Bridging the Generation Gap in Today's Workplace
- Why Teams Don't Work, and How to Fix Them
- What's Wrong with Every Firm's Compensation System

Registration for the one-hour webinar on Leadership, July 14, is now open. Price: $79; or $449 for the entire seven-part series, a 20% discount.

AAM Summit Video Highlights

What I've learned so far is that networking is a tremendous source for business development and education. Here is feedback from our accounting marketing colleagues on the best idea they learned from the recent AAM Summit 2009. Check back often this week for additional video highlights.

Seven Keys Webinar Series

CAPSTONE MARKETING AND BAY STREET GROUP LLC INTRODUCE
SEVEN KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL CPA FIRM MANAGEMENT

Seven Keys to be Shared in Webinar Series

CHESAPEAKE, VA, JUNE 23, 2009 – Bay Street Group LLC and Capstone Marketing, two leading marketing and market research firms to the CPA profession, have joined forces to conduct a ground-breaking and comprehensive investigation into the critical success factors for today’s accounting firm. The Seven Keys to Successful CPA Firm Management, www.baystreetgroup.com/sevenkeys, is based on research conducted over the past year including thousands of survey responses and interviews with leading authorities.

The Seven Keys are:
1. Leadership,
2. Technology,
3. Marketing & Business Development,
4. Client Satisfaction,
5. A Great Place to Work,
6. Learning Organization, and
7. Strategy Execution.

“Our research identifies the best practices and common characteristics that separate the competitively successful firms from the not-so-successful,” explains Jean Caragher, Capstone Marketing. “We're calling them 'The Leaders vs. The Laggards.'”

“Leaders enjoy above-par, even world-class, performance in the generally accepted metrics of practice management,” continues Rick Telberg, Bay Street Group LLC, “including revenue growth, profit margins, technical excellence, client satisfaction, staff morale and tenure, and professional reputation and brand value. Leaders clearly do things differently. And they clearly get superior results. ”

"Leaders," for instance, are 19 times more likely to show superior revenue growth than "Laggards."

Details of the research will be unveiled in a series of monthly webinars starting Tuesday, July 14, 2009, at 1 pm Eastern, with "Leadership: New Rules for the New Normal."

In "Leadership: New Rules for the New Normal," Caragher and Telberg will reveal:
- Essential Qualities for Accounting Firm Leaders in Today's Economy
- How to Be a Leader if "Leader" Isn't in Your Job Title
- Key Skills Every Accounting Firm Employee Needs to Know
- Bridging the Generation Gap in Today's Workplace
- Why Teams Don't Work, and How to Fix Them
- What's Wrong with Every Firm's Compensation System

Registration for the one-hour webinar on Leadership, July 14, is now open at http://baystreetgroup.com/store/product_detail.php?id=7keys-LE-09. Price: $79; or $449 for the entire seven-part series, a 20% discount.

For further information contact Jean Caragher, Capstone Marketing, jcaragher@capstonemarketing.com, 757.673.6826 or Rick Telberg, Bay Street Group LLC, rtelberg@baystreetgroup.com, 914.674.4531.

Advice from Ed Russ

I received a pleasant suprise when reading the May 30, 2009 issue of Marketing News. The Viewpoint column featured our friend, Ed Russ, chief marketing and sales officer in the U.S. for Grant Thornton. Did you know that Ed trained to be an Olympic gymnast? Perhaps that's why he has been instrumental in vaulting Grant Thornton's Net Promoter Score to 62% (from 49%) and the firm's brand familiarity to 64% (from 43%).

What is Ed's advice for young marketers? First, "Do something you really like doing. I don't care what industry it is in ... My second piece of advice is to have empathy. Look at the world through your clients' eyes. Look at the world through your employees' eyes. Look at the world through your boss's eyes."

AAM-MAA Rocks!

I'm back from attending the Association for Accounting Marketing's 20th Annual Summit held in Austin, TX. The AAM conference is always a time for education, renewal, and fantastic networking. Stay tuned for future posts on conference sessions.

One of the most valuable take-aways is the AAM-MAA Rocks! book, a 236-page compilation of all AAM-MAA entries, including photos and descriptions of the campaigns. This book can be purchased for $129 from AAM, 816.221.1296 or info@accountingmarketing.org. Order yours today while supplies today!

A Surprise at the Pump

I recently visited with a client in the Northeast. I stopped at a gas station on my way to the airport to fill the tank of my rental car. As usual I stepped out of the car, swiped my credit card, and started pumping gas. I looked up and noticed that a man was watching me, not saying a word. Now, I'm wondering why this man is watching me. Finally, I asked, "Is this a full service station?" He nodded and said, "Yes." What a surprise! I haven't been to a full service gas station in 20 years. He finished pumping the gas, handed me my receipt, and said, "Have a nice day."

What a pleasant experience I had at that gas station, unusual to say the least. It was like the pizza delivery man arriving earlier than expected or a retailer honoring an expired coupon. What is your firm doing to unexpectedly delight clients? Calling them rather than sending an e-mail? Taking them to lunch rather than just calling them? Delivering a project or report early? Identifying solutions to problems they didn't even know they had?

Today's economy is causing many CPA firms to refocus their marketing efforts. Client service and satisfaction is a key component. Be sure to pay attention to your clients and do what it takes to ensure their satisfaction and loyalty. Your competition is more than willing to do so if you are not.

Performance Management Do's and Don'ts

Heidi Brundage, CPA, PCPS Project Manager, AICPA, presented "Performance Management Do's and Don'ts" at the recent Practitioners Symposium. Performance management is becoming increasingly important in team development and accountability. How effective is your firm in modeling these best practices?

Managing Partner Do's:

• Be a role model
• Link compensation to performance
• Support annual process training
• Learn about diversity among team members
• Encourage mentoring and soft skills training

Performance Champion Do's:

• Gain executive buy-in
• Review process periodically
• Communicate the process
• Tie performance plans to learning
• Offer process training
• Support those who counsel poor performers

Counselor Do's:

• Practice and prepare examples
• Understand competencies in the competency model
• Educate counselors on opportunities for growth
• Ask questions
• Balance good with bad
• Offer help in negative situations

Counselee Do's:

• Recap what you have done over the past year
• If successful, explain why
• Gather feedback from multiple sources
• If not successful, explain why and future plans to change
• Review goals in relation to actual