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!