Accidental Branding

I attended the Hampton Roads American Marketing Association luncheon today to hear David Vinjamuri, the author of Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Brands. The program didn't disappoint.

Accidental Branding tells the personal stories of eight entrepreneurs who built some of the biggest and best-known consumer brands in the world. While the book and presentation are focused on products the lessons are equally valuable to professional services marketing.

Here are the six lessons of accidental brands:

1. Do sweat the small stuff. Pay attention to execution.

2. Pick a fight. Define what you are against. Then, people will know what you stand for. Who do you disagree with? Otherwise, you're doing the same as everyone else.

3. Be your own customer.

4. Be unnaturally persistent.

5. Build a myth. Tell your story so it explains the value of your brand. Make other people want to tell it for you.

6. Be faithful. Remember the customers who helped you grow. Get customers to be recommenders.

Click here to purchase Accidental Branding.

How to Motivate and Influence Others

I was pleased to be a panelist for this AAM Seasoned Marketers (those with 10+ years accounting marketing experience) Call yesterday along with two esteemed colleagues, Sally Glick, CMO, Sobel & Company and Tracy Crevar Warren, The Crevar Group. The call was moderated by Jill Lock, Director of Marketing, Isdaner & Company, LLC.

Here are a few points of discussion along with bonus information that wasn't included due to time running out.

• The top characteristics for great marketing leaders to be able to motivate others, most are themes included in Marketer of the Year applications: confidant, able to get things done, a "go to" person, energetic, passionate, able to quantify results, emulates firm leaders, and able to empower others.


• The difference between being perceived as a cheerleader vs. an inspirational leader: Find out how you are currently perceived. Ask colleagues, both internally and externally, for unbiased, helpful feedback. Conduct a personal SWOT analysis. What are you skills? What are you known for? Create your personal brand. When was the last time you learned something new? Is your network continuing to grow? Are you considered a mentor/coach or the party planner? Use all this information to walk the walk. This includes leading by example, the way you dress, your work ethic, what you read, community involvement, bringing new ideas to the table and linking these ideas to firm strategy, undestanding the accounting profession and how your firm makes money. These steps will enable you to position yourself not only as enthusiastic but a smart, focused businessperson.


• How to motivate young professionals to start marketing: Sponsor Young Rainmaker Roundtables, Emerging Leaders Councils, or other forums to exchange ideas and experience. Also, utilize senior partners to break down generational gaps by sharing their experience in marketing and sales. Find out what motivates them.


• How to motivate senior professionals to take on more marketing responsibilty: Do they have clear expectations for marketing activities. Are these expectations included in their performance evaluations. Link their enhanced activities to the growth of the firm and how firm growth will enable them to achieve their personal goals. Also, link their activities to the firm's vision. Be sure to utilize their unique skills.


• How to influence partners and gain buy-in when presenting new marketing strategies: Determine your objective, know your audience, try out your strategies in advance, and identify key steps in presenting a solution.


• How to deal with senior leaders who are negative and vocal about marketing: Uncover the reasons behind the negativity. Often, it's fear. Build a strong one-on-one relationship; be genuine and gain their support. Educate them about the goals of the marketing program and what it means for them. Tell him, "I want to help your team be successful. I need you to be a part of the solution." Be professional - don't whine about the person to everyone else.


• Celebrating successes: UHY Town Hall Meetings, Our Winning Culture Awards; Cowan, Gunteski & Co., Brandies Awards; Stone Rudolph & Henry, Cream of the Crop Award.


• BONUS INFORMATION! Books that we recommend on motivating others: The Psychology of Achievement, Brian Tracy; The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn; The Brand You 50, Tom Peters; Encouraging the Heart, James Kouzes and Barry Posner; The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone and Ben Zander.

What I've learned so far is that learning is continuous. Learn something new today. Your curiosity will motivate and influence others.

From the Mouths of Referral Sources

It's not only CPA firm marketing professionals and consultants who encourage CPAs to ask their referral sources for leads. Referral sources themselves expect to be asked for leads. Recently, I moderated a panel of referral sources for a client's training program. They described good referral sources as those:

• who reciprocate leads
• who provide value for fees paid
• who are reponsive to both the client and the referral source
• who are team players and take an active interest in the client and the community
• who evaluate the chemistry between the client and the potential referral source

Their additional advice?

• Develop a specialty and be the "go to" person for that specialty.
• Allocate time for face-to-face meetings.
• Get out there and become known.

What I've learned so far is that working your network is both a professional and effective way to generate new business leads. Learn how to ask, reward your referral sources, and watch your firm grow.

2008 Best Accounting Firms to Work for

Congratulations to the 60 accounting firms named the 2008 Best Accounting Firms to Work for in the first annual program created by The Accountants Media Group, publishers of Accounting Today, Accounting Technology, CPA Wealth Provider, Practical Accountant and host of WebCPA.com and Best Companies Group.

2008 Best Accounting Firms to Work for (alphabetical order, no ranking)

· Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP
· BARFIELD MURPHY SHANK & SMITH
· Bartolomei Pucciarelli, LLC
· Berlin, Ramos & Company, P.A.
· Bernard Robinson & Company, LLP
· Berntson Porter & Company, PLLC
· Biscotti, Toback & Company, CPA's P.C.
· BKD, LLP
· Bland, Garvey, Eads, Medlock + Deppe, PC
· Bond Beebe
· Boyer & Ritter, CPAs and Consultants
· Briggs & Veselka Co.
· Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz
· Brown Smith Wallace, LLC
· Burr, Pilger and Mayer, LLP
· Citrin Cooperman & Co.
· Clifton Gunderson LLP
· Cohen & Company
· Cowan, Gunteski & Co., P.A.
· Daszkal Bolton LLP
· DiCicco, Gulman & Company LLP
· DiGiovine Hnilo Jordan + Johnson Ltd.
· Ernst & Young
· Frazier & Deeter, LLC
· Friedman LLP
· GALLINA LLP
· Garcia, Espinosa, Miyares & Company, LLP
· Glenn M. Gelman & Associates, Certified Public Accountants and Business Consultants
· Heinfeld, Meech & Co., P.C.
· Henry & Horne, LLP
· Johnson Lambert & Co. LLP
· Kaufman, Rossin & Co.
· KPMG LLP
· KraftCPAs PLLC
· Kreinces Rollins & Shanker, LLC
· Lanigan, Ryan, Malcolm & Doyle, P.C.
· LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand
· Mahoney, Ulbrich, Christiansen & Russ PA
· Mark Bailey & Company
· Martin Starnes & Associates, CPAs, P.A.
· McKonly & Asbury, LLP
· PETRINOVICH PUGH & CO, LLP
· PKF Texas
· Porter Keadle Moore, LLP
· Presser, Lahnen & Edelman, PA
· Rothstein Kass
· RSM McGladrey/McGladrey & Pullen
· SAS 70 Solutions
· Sharrard, McGee & Co., P.A.
· SingerLewak
· Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk & Loyd, LLC
· The Rehmann Group
· Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer, P.C.
· Whitley Penn LLP
· WHITLOCK, SELIM & KEEHN, LLP
· Wilkin & Guttenplan, P.C.
· William Vaughan Company
· Windham Brannon
· Wipfli LLP
· WithumSmith+Brown, P.C.


The ranking of the Best Accounting Firms to Work for will be unveiled and published in the January 5, 2009 issue of Accounting Today.


This survey and award program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in the accounting industry, benefiting the nation's economy, its workforce and businesses. The Best Accounting Firms to Work for list is made up of 60 companies split into three groups: 5 small-sized companies (15-24 employees), 40 medium-sized companies (25-249 employees) 15 large-sized companies (more than 250 employees).


Firms from across the country entered the two-part survey process to determine the Best Accounting Firms to Work for. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration, survey and analysis process and determined the final rankings.


For more information on the Best Accounting Firms to Work for program, visit www.BestAccountingFirmstoWorkfor.com.

Revenue Enhancement Innovation

I am proud to brag about one of my clients, Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer, P.C., winners (for the second year in a row) of a Practice Innovation Award sponsored by Practical Accountant. Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer, P.C. formed its Revenue Enhancement Committee (REC) about 18 months ago to focus client retention and acceptance, and on pricing. The REC meets monthly as well as communicates via e-mail between meetings.

Activities of the REC include:
· Establishing client acceptance criteria.
· Strategizing pricing options for clients and new business prospects.
· Evaluating the lowest realization clients (largest write-offs) for each partner and manager and brainstorming ideas to improve work efficiency and job profitability.
· Developing a Client Evaluation Form (and process) for use by managers to identify problem clients and solutions.
· Reviewing WIP adjustments.

The REC’s efforts have resulted in 10% improvement in realization. This is attributable to many factors initiated by the REC including better pricing, more discussions with clients regarding preparation they can complete to make our work more efficient, more up front discussions with clients about fees, and better management of fees incurred while work is ongoing.

The benefits of the REC’s efforts also include:
· More input from managers on client billing and about clients, in general.
· Many procedural features that improved WEC’s own quality control.
· Identifying additional service opportunities that were communicated to clients resulting in better client service and extra fees.

What I've learned so far is that marketing plays a role in enhancing a CPA firm's revenue. Understand how your firm works and how it makes money. Know your firm's client base. Assist your firm's partners and managers with revenue-enhancing ideas and implementation.

To subscribe to Practical Accountant call 800.221.1809 or e-mail custserv@sourcemedia.com.

"Your call is very important to us ..."

I recently received an e-mail to renew my online subscription to a well known greeting card company. Since I didn't use it very much (I still like to buy cards in a store and mail them) I decided to cancel my subscription. They didn't make it easy.

1. I couldn't cancel online. I had to call the company. If I didn't call my subscription would automatically be renewed.
2. I was placed on hold for nearly eight minutes and had to endure their on hold messages: "Never miss an occasion ...," "Ask about our print and mail option," and the popular favorite, "Your call is very important to us and will be answered in the order it was received."
3. When a company representative finally came on the line I was offered a free 90-day extension to my subscription. Of course, I declined because I'd only to have to go through this miserable experience again - if I remembered to cancel it in the first place. This is where the sneeky automatic renewal comes into play.

What I've learned so far is that client service is vital to the success of a business. This experience was quite annoying and left me with negative feelings about this company. How do your clients rate your firm's client service? When was the last time you reviewed the processes your firm has in place regarding client contact?

John McEnroe Fires His Accountants

Tennis legend and insightful sportscaster John McEnroe recently fired his accountants (“John McEnroe Is Still Pretty Complicated,” The New York Times Magazine, August 24, 2008) “only after his former numbers men of 10 years ‘dropped the ball’ several times.” Known for his high expectations and “You can’t be serious!” attitude, I find it interesting that he endured several mistakes before making the change. What I've learned so far is that client retention is an important business strategy. How many dissatisfied clients are hiding in your client list? What are you doing about it?